Sunday, January 16

This and that and football and pimento cheese.



I just realized that it's going to take me forever to finish the vacation posts because I haven't posted all of the pictures to go along with the posts! Oh well, one of these days it'll all get done. Or maybe I'll just finish up the writing part and worry about pictures later.

Yesterday was Steeler madness around here. I woke up at 6:00am and was already full of anticipation for the afternoon game. When I am that pumped up at a game, all of my focus turns to the snacks that need to be prepared. We went to the grocery store early so I could get a few more things. Then I vacuumed and mopped all the while wondering why I actually bother to vacuum the living room when we're going to have folks over and food is going to end up on the floor. Then I realized that I was completely exhausted because once again I hadn't slept well for a few days. (I got in three good nights early in the week and then the restless nights returned.)

So at 10:30 in the morning, I went back to bed for a nap. This is something that I rarely do. I am not a good napper because I usually end up laying thinking about all the other things that I should be doing. But I needed it yesterday and I actually did fall asleep for a bit. Felt much better when I got up an hour later.

Turned on the NFL Network Game Day show and headed to the kitchen to start the snack preparations. Everything I put out is relativity simple, but every once in awhile I make something different.

Will's mom sent us home with a Southern Living magazine that has some good sounding hot dip recipes in it so I decided to make the Tex Mex Pimento Cheese Dip.

I'd never even had pimento cheese until a few years ago. I think they had a sample out at Whole Foods and I tried it and discovered that it's pretty addictive stuff. So I bought it a few times and sometimes it was really good and sometimes it wasn't.

While we were in Georgia, Will's sister made it just about everyday and I had a hard time resisting her mix of it although I was rather appalled by the amount of mayonnaise that goes into it. A lot of mayonnaise. A LOT.

Anyway, it became the chosen dip for the playoff game and I have to admit, I was excited about it all week.

So. The recipe.

1/4 cup green onions, chopped
12oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained and chopped*
1 jalapeno, chopped
1-1/2 cups of mayonnaise
8oz of extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8oz of pepper jack cheese, shredded
Cilantro for garnish (which I skipped of course)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the first 4 ingredients together then mix in the cheese. Spoon into a 2qt baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes or until dip is bubbling and browned on top.

Again, the amount of mayonnaise freaked me out a bit so I didn't add it all at first, but after I added the cheese, it seemed dry to me so I put a bit more in.

When it first came out of the oven, it tasted way too much like mayo to me, but as it cooled, the other flavors kicked in and it was super tasty. The kind of thing that you know you should stop eating, but you can't resist one more bite.

I think if I make it again, I'd cut down a bit on the mayo and I think I'd throw some green chile in there as well. And maybe some garlic.

We served it with crostini, Fritos and tortilla chips. But really it goes well with anything. We had burgers later in the evening and threw some on the buns instead of using mayo. Delicious. (Of course if you hate mayonnaise, it's probably not for you.)

I could even say that the pimento cheese dip got me through the incredibly stressful game we had against the Ravens. Good lord, I thought my head was going to explode. Seriously. And then we won and I could breathe again.

We are watching the Jets/Pats game now and it's really nice to see Tom Brady getting sacked. Really nice.

More soon my lovelies. Have a fantastic week! (I'm already planning the menu for next week's game!)

*Note: I just reread the recipe and saw that I misread it when I made it. It actually calls for 1/2 jar of roasted red peppers not a whole jar. The fact that I used more didn't seem to have an adverse result though.

2 comments:

  1. wow, that is an intense pimento cheese recipe!
    the one I make is cold and just mayo, cheese, red peppers, horseradish and a little garlic. it's more of a spread than a dip.
    I got these peppadew peppers at TJs that are sweet and tangy and were totally awesome in the pimento cheese.
    Now I can't stop thinking about it...may have to make some for the staff party tonight....

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  2. I saw pimento cheese' in the title and I actually went and got some salsa and chips before reading the whole post because I knew it would sound tasty. And it does. And Jeff and I are totally going to make this soon.

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