Рецепт Dad’s Pimento Cheese
My love of pimento cheese started long before I moved to the South. My parents would raise pimentos is their garden for themselves and my grandmother to pickle and can. In fact, my grandmother was well know for her pickled pimentos.
Although my dad rarely cooked, he usually helped my mom use the canned pickled pimentos to make pimento cheese. My dad also seemed to be the one directing how the pimento cheese was made….what type of cheeses, how many pickles, etc. He was also the one who often operated the grinder…. yes, a hand turned grinder is the only way I ever knew pimento cheese could be made until I was an adult. The result was a delicious cheese spread that never had a recipe.
I have done my best to replicate what my dad did in recipe form. However, I found that getting the exact flavor does depend on having the right pickle juice. You see, my dad always used some of the liquid from the jar of home-canned pimentos and some of the liquid from my mom’s home-canned sweet pickles to make the pimento cheese and I find the most of commercially available products do not match. As I can not raise and do not have a large enough supply of picking cucumbers to make my mom’s sweet pickles, I also have been struggling to find a good substitute. If your in or near Holmes or Adams counties in Ohio, you’re in luck. There are two bakeries/shops called Miller’s in both counties that sell Hershbergers Cannery Sweet pickles…they are the closest thing to my mom’s homemade that I have tasted. I buy them by the quart and bring them back to Georgia to make pimento cheese and ham salads…okay, that sounds crazier than I thought when I write it out… Plus, my family eats them like a side dish or a snack by the quart as well.
It is a simple recipe that can be dramatically altered by small changes in ingredients.
Recipe: Dad’s Pimento Cheese
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. Extra sharp or sharp cheese
- 8 oz. Colby longhorn cheese
- 1 sm. jar pimento strips (not diced)
- 1/4 c. +/- sweet pickles
- 1/2 c. +/- Miracle Whip
- 2 – 3 Tbsp. sweet pickle juice
Instructions:
Using a hand or electric grinder, a food processor grind or shred cheeses.
Grind entire jar of pimento strips with its liquid.
Grind or chop pickles.
Combine the cheese, pimentos, and pickles with Miracle Whip in a large bowl.
Add sweet pickle juice to taste and a slightly looser consistency that you want your final spread to be.
Best if let sit for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator before using.
Serve on sandwiches, burgers, hotdogs, celery, etc.
Copyright © 2014.
Recipe by Paula, A Simple Home Cook.