Recipe: Kiawah Pimento Cheese

Pimento cheese is a staple in two places in my life - Clemson football game tailgates and weekends at the beach. Neither is complete without a little pimento cheese!

But it hasn't always been that way. I've only just begun to enjoy pimento cheese. In fact, the very first time that I tried it was down at Edisto Beach with Patrick's family - I had been watching them eat it all week long and finally tried it {on a steak!} when we went out to dinner at the end of the week.
 

I haven't looked back since. Pimento cheese is so good and can be found in pretty much any southern home at any given time. There's usually always a container of Palmetto Pimento Cheese in my fridge.
 

Although it was high time that I finally learned how to make it on my own. This past weekend, my mom and I took over the kitchen at our beach house on Kiawah and got to work on our recipe.
 

 

Kiawah Pimento Cheese
 

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 cups mayonnaise

3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp mustard

1/4 tsp black pepper*

1/4 tsp red pepper*

1/4 tsp garlic powder*

7oz pimentos, drained & minced

8oz block of extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

8oz block of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
 

* - add to taste! We ended up adding about a 1/2 tsp each of these three ingredients because in our house, we like things spicier & we love garlic!
 

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together mayonnaise, worchestershire sauce, mustard, black pepper, red pepper, and garlic powder.

2. Mince up pimentos on a plate using a fork - add to bowl and mix together.

3. Grate cheese and slowly add to bowl, mixing as you go along.

4. Refrigerate & enjoy!

Ok, so the trickiest part of the entire process? Mincing up the pimentos. They're too large when you get them out of the jar and they're best in smaller pieces.

My mom suggested that I take a taste of the recipe halfway through mixing in the cheese. Um, nope. I do not like mayonnaise {the only exception I'll make is for pimento cheese!} and there was no way I was going to try this recipe with only half the amount of cheese in it.

Nope. Nope. Nope.
 

Y'all - I made a massive bowl of this stuff on Sunday morning. Want to know how long it lasted?

 

Two days.

 

Between my husband, my friend who sits next to me at work, and me... we did work on that pimento cheese. Patrick was extremely sad when it was gone but luckily, he only has to wait until next week when it'll get made again for the first football game of the season.

Because when it comes to football in the south, pimento cheese is a must.

It's also, oddly enough, a must as a topping for my steak the next time that we grill out. I think the addition of the Worcestershire sauce to the recipe is what would make it perfect on top of a grilled piece of filet mignon. No? Just me? Patrick thinks so, too!

 

Let me know what y'all think!

 

{PS - ONE WEEK until football is back!}