Keep looking – the OH! so tasty pimiento cheese IS in there – under a bit of grilled onion and jalapeño and bright, shiny, yellow mustard (my mustard of choice for burgers and hot dogs).
I’ve done two versions of pimiento cheese; Paula Deen’s creamy, cheesy classic, and a spicier, drier (no mayonnaise) version that makes for a nice accent on crudités. For today’s Parfait! – and in honor of the upcoming unofficial start of high grilling season – I’ve reworked both a bit with an eye to topping burgers and such with a creamy, slightly spicy, spreadable cheese.
Ermmm, I’ve also, sorta kinda, done away with the pimiento.
See, when you go to da Google and key in ‘pimiento’ – you’ll get a lot of stuff about red things stuffed into green olives and the like; BUT (!), you’ll also discover that a pimiento is really just a sweet, red cherry pepper. Admittedly a touch sweeter than red bell peppers – I posited that some of my Trader Joe’s fire roasted red and yellow peppers would make an acceptable substitute when a search of my pantry turned up no pimiento.
Mmmmmm; I was correct.
INGREDIENTS
•8 oz cheddar
•2 or 3 fire roasted peppers, diced
•1 tsp pepper jar juice
•1 tsp (or more) Sriracha
•1/4 cup mayonnaise
Shred the cheddar cheese – I used my food processor for the whole deal, a nice side effect of using roasted peppers instead of pimiento is that the peppers don’t stain plastic.
Add the peppers, pepper jar juice, Sriracha (or Mae Ploy), and mayonnaise to the cheese and stir (or process) to combine. Pop into a lidded jar and let rest in the fridge (overnight is best) until you’re ready for a tasty, tasty cheeseburger – on the grill, or fresh from the skillet with sautéed onions and jalapeños. Rich had his on pretzel rolls, I had mine with toasted English muffins.
Yum.