It hit me hard. A craving for pimento cheese just came out of nowhere and wham! I had to have some.
The mother of one of my good buddies from my childhood in Hawkinsville made the best pimento cheese… and that’s the recipe I wanted to try. I couldn’t remember exactly how she made it, so I tried to recreate hers. Low and behold, I came out with a version I’m quite proud of. Like any dish, simple but good ingredients make the difference, and with pecans falling, a fall spin on this Southern classic was born.
Toasted pecans make just about anything better...tomato soup, any dessert, salads, and now pimento cheese. That essence, that flavor of goodness from a toasted pecan makes my taste buds sing.A slight salting doesn’t hurt either. A few of these from the farm goodies tucked into my pimento cheese sandwich were quite good my friends, quite good.
Now on to my next pimento cheese condiment…Wickle’s Pickles. Those of us who attended Auburn or are from that neck of the woods know what I’m talking about. These Dadeville, Alabama exports are pickles with a kick and are super right out of jar or on a sandwich or burger. (Try my pimento cheese and these pickles on a burger…wow!) Many of the major grocers are now carrying this brand so go get some as soon as you can! Be sure to try them with my pimento cheese and toasted pecans too...yum!
I seldom watch football. But, I never pass up a Super Bowl party. It’s not the football game that lures me. It’s the food. Super Bowl Sunday is one of the best food days of the year. While the football fans hoot and holler, you’ll find me dipping chips, nibbling spicy chicken wings, loading up a bowl of chili with lots of toppings, slipping sliders onto my plate and maybe grabbing a slice of pizza.
Choux pastry is one of the most important kinds of pastry in French cooking. The translantion of the word “choux” is cabbages. Actually, “my little cabbage” is a term of endearment in France. With choux, you can make petite sweet pastries called profiteroles, and savory cheese puffs, gougeres. The basic dough is always made the same way with the same proportions — 1/4 pound butter, 1 cup water, 1 cup flour and 4 large eggs. This scientific formula will produce hollow puffs when baked, golden brown and crispy on the outside. With choux pastry, I make Cream Puffs.
There must be as many ways to make chili as there are shades of Sherwin-Williams paints. There’s no right or wrong way to make chili. It’s all about what pleases your taste buds. And, I’m always willing to give a new twist to a pot of chili.
Snickerdoodles are a New England favorite, but the exact origin of the cookie seems to be a mystery. The Joy of Cooking claims that Snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and that the name is a corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln, which means "snail dumpling.
