pimento cheese and dorito sandwich-yummy

as a kid i have tried many sandwich combos and many failed. let's take the grape jelly and mayo-fail! peanut butter and pickles-fail! bologna and potato salad-fail, no wait, that was gooood. anyway, one of my all time faves is pimento cheese and nacho cheese doritos-excellent. it is even better when the pimento cheese is homemade. i had a whole bag of chips on the counter and to eat them by themselves, no thanks, so i whipped up a batch of the sandwich spread. i have posted before on my pimento cheese, but this time i made it a little different. it is not bad, not quite as tangy as i usually make. it is a good starter pimento cheese for those folks who don't have a clue what i am talking about. pimento cheese, huh? it's creamy and rather mild, not too mention pale. go easy when spreading it on your squishy white bread though, it is still very rich. hmmmmm, i wonder what cool ranch doritos would taste like, tasty too, i bet. enjoy.

beth's pimento cheese spread

with your mixer, blend the following

6 oz soften cream cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup mayo
1 4oz jar of chopped/diced pimentos, not drained
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1-2 dashes of hot sauce
pinch of sugar

whip till well blended. taste and adjust seasonings. some folks like a little onion powder in theirs, not me. put in the fridge to chill and let the flavors blossom(how cute). i like this on fresh, plain ole white bread, but it is great on crackers, too.

hummus, just too easy

i love hummus!! i could eat it everyday with some pita and feta cheese, simply divine. i went to trader joe's today with the mindset of whipping up a fresh batch. i have always purchased the housebrand and have never made my own. i grabbed some canned chickpeas, fresh garlic and tahini. No wait, i didn't get no stinkin' tahini, because TJ's doesn't sell it! pleeeeeze, they sell everything else, why not tahini? i guess they want you to buy hummus rather than make it. i'd showed them. i made mine without the tahini, so there. it was delicious, too. it was not the best, but dang close. it got better the longer it sat. it was creamy and garlicky, just yummy. now, i do plan on buying some tahini next time i see it, but meanwhile i can do without. you know, i have mixed emotions about trader joe's. i find that most of the time i am disappointed with my purchases once i get home. i do have a few staple items from there, evoo, red wine vinegar and chewable melatonin(helps my adhd daughter sleep, great stuff).

tj's, i go once in awhile, spend way too much money and regret it only to return weeks later to start the process all over again.

beth's hummus

in a processor, pulse till smooth the following:

one clove of garlic
one can of drained chickpeas
juice of a half of lemon
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

stream in about two tablespoons of evoo till it is the consistency you like, taste and adjust seasonings. some folks like to add cumin, not me. if you have tahini you could mix it with the evoo and then add. let this sit for little while for the flavors to blend. i like to drizzle a little more evoo on top before diving in with a hunk of pita bread. try not eat all at once. enjoy.

a redneck cuban?

is there such a thing? sure there is. what's a redneck cuban you ask? let's tackle that question in two parts, first the redneck. i think if you are at all familiar with the southern u.s., you already know, but for those folks who don't live in these here parts, it is a slang term referring to an individual with a lower socio-economic and educational status. originally, farmers were dubbed a redneck because they walked behind their horse drawn plows in the fields and would get a sunburned neck.

next up, the cuban, and i don't mean mr. castro, but the sandwich. it is a wonderful pork sandwich brought to the u.s. by cuban immigrant workers. now, let's put the two together. here is my redneck cuban. i had some leftover roasted pork tenderloin that i combined with deli virginia ham, swiss cheese, dill pickles and yellow mustard on french bread. i put is in my fancy panini press, oh wait a minute, i ain't got no fancy panini press. i had to improvise, hence the redneck in my cuban. i simply melted some butter in a non-stick skillet and placed the bready goodness in and grilled 3-4 minutes on each side. i used another smaller skillet piled high with whatever cans that were in the cupboard. initially i was planning on using a brick paver, but this hillbilly version worked pretty dang good once i got the cans strategically balanced. the end result was a crispy, cheesey, slightly salty FLAT sandwich that would even make fidel happy.

apetito del bon!

















i would so do this again, and i will.

bumpkin sandwich of love

a grilled pimento cheese. does it getter any better? i get hankerings for this stuff, so i whipped up a batch. it is insanely easy and just as delicious.

in your processor fitted with the grating blade, shred an 8 ounce block of good sharp cheese. don't go house brand on this, kraft is okay, cabot is good, tillamook is da bomb. pop the cheese into a bowl while you switch over to your steel blade. toss cheese back in and then add a small(4oz) jar of diced pimentos, juice and all. throw in a healthy dollop of good mayonnaise, duke's or hellman's are good choices. then hit it with a 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash of pepper and a pinch of sugar. pulse a few times to get the consistency you want. you might need to add more mayo. keep tasting and adjusting your seasonings as well. don't taste while you pulse, it's not a good idea. i like mine somewhat smooth, but still able to identify the pimentos. don't pulverize the mixture. transfer to a bowl, cover and keep cold. this neon orange love is great stuffed into celery, piled high on saltines, or grilled on buttered white bread till nice and melty. enjoy.