thesouthernc:

Chef Hugh Acheson’s new cookbook, A New Turn in the South, is a must today in every southern kitchen.  The new twist on our southern classics is inspiring and in turn delicious!  You will enjoy the photography by his friend and collaborator, Rinne Allen, as much as the recipes.  I was fortunate to get them to share the pimiento cheese recipe with guide2athens and Bulldawg Illustrated: for our chapter in Myrna and Loran Smith’s new cookbook, Let the Big Dawg Eat…Again.  You should add both of these cookbooks to your collection.

XOXO- CL

Pimiento Cheese 

Pimiento cheese was a hurdle I couldn’t get over until about ten years ago. I just didn’t like mayo and cheese together, they were too similar in texture. But after my wife Mary insisted on it, I started experimenting and came up with a winner. Now I can’t get through the week without at least one great sourdough and pimiento cheese sandwich with pickled okra on the side. It’s a versatile component as well. Serve it as a sandwich, a spread for crisp toasted breads, a filling for celery, a topping for burgers, or in finished grits.  

 

Makes 4 cups

 1 pound sharp white cheddar, such as an 18-month-old 

2 large, sweet red peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced

1/2 cup home made Mayonnaise (or Duke’s in a pinch)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 tablespoon smoked sweet Spanish paprika

Pinch of cayenne

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Grate the cheddar by hand to a medium shred and place in a large bowl. Add the peppers, mayonnaise, mustard, paprika, cayenne, and salt and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

Mayonnaise

1 whole egg

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup olive oil

In a stainless steel mixing bowl set over a bowl of salted ice, whisk together the egg, egg yolks, lemon juice, and Dijon.

Slowly whisk in the vegetable oil and olive oil to emulsify. 

Immediately refrigerate and use within 2 days.