Pimento Cheese Grilled Cheese

I've been in a Southern mood lately. The cuisine is just so inviting! From Fried Green Tomatoes to beignets!! Today I'm going to enjoy another Southern delight, pimento cheese. The South knows comfort!! This cheese is ridiculously delicious!! The smokiness of the pimento is so amazing. Big flavor in such a tiny diced pepper. I love the bright deep red color of the pimento, very pleasing to the eye.

This cheese is full of full fat ingredients as to why this cheese is amazing!! Mayo, cream cheese are major players in this cheese. It's really simple to make. I made it in the food processor. I added puréed 1/2 of pimentos then add the  cream cheese and pulse until blended. Then add the cheese handful by handful and pulse until incorporated. Finally add the mayo and pulse until incorporated. Pour it out into a bowl and mix in the reserved pimentos and you're done! So easy!! 

You can totally just eat the cheese with crackers, but why not make it into a grilled cheese!! I took my favorite bread, sourdough, and did just that!! 

In order to get a crispy sandwich I spread butter to the outside, works every time. The cheese was oozing out! So exciting!! 

The outcome was so GOOD!!!!! 

This dish is definitely worth every sinful bite!! It's a must try!! 

Buen Provecho!!

8oz of shredded sharp cheddar

Place about half of the pimento into a small processor and puree.

Add 4 oz of cream cheese with pimento puree and process...

...Until it looks like this

Add cheese in batches and process until....

...it looks like this.

add mayo  & process until smooth

Yummy Pimento Cheese!

Slather bread with cheese, don't be greedy! 

Add butter to the outside for a crispy sandwich.

Griddle up or Pan up1

Until bread is brown & toasty and cheese is ooey gooey!

Such beauty!!!!

Look at that deliciousness! Gooey cheese & crispy bread! Perfection!

Pimento Cheese Grilled Cheese - yields about 1-2 cups of pimento cheese

Ingredients:

8oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
4oz Cream cheese, room temp
7oz pimento jar
1/4 cup Mayo
4 slices of Sourdough Bread
melted butter for grilling

Roadmap:

1. Puree 5 oz of pimentos in a small processor. Add cream cheese and process.

2. Add shredded cheese in batches and process. Add mayo and process until smooth.

3. Pour mixture into a bowl. Add remaining pimentos and mix well with a spoon.

4. Preheat griddle or non stick pan. Add a generous spoonful to all 4 slices of bread and make sandwiches. Brush melted butter to the outside bread, to ensure a crispy exterior.

5. Add buttered sandwiches to griddle and toast until golden brown.

6. Drain on a paper towel, let sit for for a couple of minutes, until its cool to touch.

7. Store remaining pimento cheese in an air tight container. Keeps good for 1 week. Enjoy!!! 

Steak Sandwich

Growing up there was this steak house that we would always go to Palace Steakhouse in the Mission District. My favorite item from the menu was the Steak Sandwich. The steak was always cooked perfectly and the bread was the perfect thickness, covered in garlic butter then mayonnaise. It's an art in simplicity.  Sadly the owners retired in 2009 and those amazingly delicious steak sandwiches disappeared from my life forever. I've tried to find a replacement, but alas they are nowhere to be found. I found good steak sandwiches but the bread just wasn't the same. It was a special bread, thin, crispy and no extra filler. The search continues for this mystical bread. In the meantime I make my version of this childhood favorite, which is still really tasty, on a baguette or ciabatta.  

I make some garlic butter, spread it on the bread and toast it on a griddle. Grill up a piece of steak or in my case this time around leftover Rib-eye warmed through. Add mayo to the toasted bread, place the steak in between and your ready to enjoy a taste of heaven. No extra frills just the steak and the bread. Simple. Delicious.

Buen Provecho!

Garlic butter ingredients

Mix together, place on plastic wrap

Wrap into a log, put in fridge.

Spread garlic butter.

Toast bread

Toasting other side

Rib-eye warmed through on griddle.

Mayo then steak. Look how beautiful!

Time to eat!

Steak Sandwich - Yields 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 leftover Rib-eye Steak, sliced
2 Baguettes or Ciabatta
4 Tbsp garlic butter
2 Tbsp Mayo

Garlic Butter
1 stick of butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 Tbsp cilantro
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp Lime

Side note- You can make the garlic butter ahead of time. The longer it melds the better the flavor. After putting the butter together place it in plastic wrap, shape it into a log and store in refrigerator.

Road map:

1. Preheat griddle or non stick pan. Make garlic butter. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Spread butter on split baguettes. Toast bread on griddle, butter side down.

2.  On the griddle alongside the bread, take your leftover sliced rib-eye warm it through, 1-2 minutes. 

3. Once bread is toasted and steak warmed through, add mayo to the bread and fill with steak.

4.  Enjoy!

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