Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

One of Skyguy's coworkers gave us some little cherry peppers, AKA
pimento peppers.  I decided I would make some homemade pimento cheese,
or as we say in these parts, "perminner cheese", and attempted to google
a recipe.  Lo and behold, it appears that pimento cheese is a Southern
thing.  I had no clue.  Who would have thunk that and why would that be
so?  Surely pimentos grow other places in the country, and surely others
eat sharp cheese?

http://www.answers.com/topic/pimento

I had to pause and look around the web to try and answer my own
questions and found this site which states that Georgia is the only
state that really grows pimentos.  That is just amazing to me.  I have
never grown these little peppers because I thought they were sweet
peppers and I am a chili lover, but I know tons of people that grow
these things in their backyard.  Who knew they were pimentos???  Not I.
 Who know it was a Southern thing?  Not I.

I grew up disliking the stuff, even though I LOVE cheese.  My folks
would spread storebought pimento cheese on their white bread and I would
gag.  It wasn't until a year or so ago that my friend from LA (Lower
Alabama) introduced me to homemade pimento cheese from her grandfather's
recipe.  It is really simple:  sharp cheddar cheese, grated fine, a jar
of pimentos, mayo, (I also add a dash of garlic and onion powder), and a
dash of tobasco.  Oh my...whiz that around in the food processor and it
is heavenly.
So now, I have the real peppers, not a jar, and I scour the internet
looking for a recipe and cannot find one.  How weird is that?  So I took
the peppers, removed the seeds and the insides --- saved those
seed!!!--- and cut the peppers into strips.  I threw them in a small
frying pan with just a splash of olive oil and some garlic and salt.  OH
MY GOD, they were to die for!! I can't wait to make real pimento cheese
in a bit.  I don't think I will need the tobasco as these fresh peppers
have just the right amount of heat.  I simply cannot wait until next
year to grow these peppers!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6877304

I did find this NPR page, which gives a bit of cultural background in
the way of stories. Apparently, it is popular in the Philippines and in
Hungary, too, or at least they eat something similar.

But yeah, before summer wanes, I want a big tall glass of milk, a
homemade perminner cheese samwich, a huge dill pickle, and some tater
chips<g>.    Good eats.

I keep reminiscing about summers past and wondering why I would eat only
cheese(Cheez Whiz was my childhood favorite, but I don't like it now)
and not pimento cheese sandwiches.  Man, that was crazy.

--
Duct tape is like The Force:  There's a Light Side, a Dark Side, and, of
course, it holds the universe together.
EarthNSky Farm, NW Georgia, USA