Have you ever had pimento cheese? An important caveat: have you ever had home-made pimento cheese? That neon colored sludge from the supermarket absolutely doesn’t count–that’s the stuff that gives pimento cheese a bad name. That junk forces anyone who doesn’t live in the south to think pimento cheese is somehow vile stuff. The real deal is not even close. Its nothing short of incredible really. Its a mix of sweet, sour, tart, rich, creamy cheeseiness.
Pimento cheese is actually very simple to make and uses a mix of other cheeses as a base (so don’t worry, you don’t have to make cheese from scratch for this). The end result is a cheese that is easily used as a dip or a spread. I like to fill omelettes with it and to use it as a topping on both burgers and sandwiches. Other common uses are on crackers and as the filling for grilled cheese sandwiches. Its works well in spreadable form
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Posted by mike on August 22nd, 2010 in Snacks
Wings are the kind of comfort food I don’t eat often enough, but when I crave them, I can pack them away. They don’t require much of an introduction–all the wing lovers out there know just what I mean. This is the kind of food where you want to plop yourself down for awhile, make a sloppy mess of yourself, and just indulge. They’re (to use a terrible cliche) finger-licking good and incredibly easy to make.
While the traditional tabasco (or Frank’s red hot)-based buffalo sauce is good, I prefer what I consider a more interesting sauce. For this recipe, I opted for a tangy, sweet heat in the sauce with one of my favorite ingredients: sriracha. Combined with some other Asian flavors (ponzu–a citric soy sauce–and a dab of hoisin), you’ve got something just as easy to make and far more interesting than straight tabasco/cayenne pepper and vinegar (my two inspirations here).
As for the wings themselves, to me, if you’re making
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Posted by mike on April 1st, 2010 in Asian, Chicken, Main course, Sauce, Snacks
While I tend to go all out with dinner, my weekday lunches tend to be fairly simple. I usually roast either a turkey or a chicken on the weekend, shred the meat, and portion it out appropriately for sandwiches. To keep this from being boring, I make small changes to each, whether it be the cheeses, sauces, or toppings–anything to trick myself into thinking I’m not eating the same thing everyday. There’s one thing that is constant though on every such variation of this sandwich though: pickled peppers. I used to think the jarred stuff from the grocery store was fine, but after seeing how simple home-made pickled peppers appeared, I couldn’t help but try it. Now, I can’t have enough of them. These are simply amazing.
Before summer is over and you can’t find good, fresh peppers, you seriously need to try these. Note, this is a fridge pickle and not a leave-it-in-your-pantry-for-months pickle–the salt & vinegar content is not
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Posted by mike on September 27th, 2009 in Fruit, Side dish, Snacks, Spices, dry rubs, and breadings
Growing up, I loved peanut butter…actually, anything peanutty, really. Peanut brittle fell into this category, and honestly, who doesn’t love peanut brittle? Since I’ve grown up, I’ve come to love a variety of other nuts, and one of my favorites (hazelnuts) is in season at the moment, so I thought I’d enjoy my favorite nuts with one of my favorite candies by trying my hand at making a batch of hazelnut brittle to complete my Thanksgiving dinner.
The result was more than I could have hoped for–distinctly hazelnutty, sticky, crunchy, sweet, caramelly, buttery, salty, and lightly tinged with that delicious bourbon aroma. And just look at it. Maybe I’m a sucker for brittles, but I drool like Pavlov’s dog at the sight.
I was largely inspired by a recipe I saw, and honestly, I was really impressed with the results, especially considering how phenomenally simple this was to put together. This is the kind of dessert you could make in a pinch
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Posted by mike on December 15th, 2008 in Dessert, Snacks
I’m not a big breakfast person, and probably in keeping with my sweet tooth, more often than not, you’ll catch me reaching for a pastry over an omelette. This was my nod at being seasonal and keeping my weekday breakfast interesting: a loaf of pumpkin bread with cream cheese swirled in the middle.
This was a delicious bread, kind of like a banana bread (which I’m sure we’ve all had before), but well, pumpkinny instead of banana-y, and richer in color. I included some of the usual suspects as far as pumpkin-friendly spices and a mix of nuts (walnuts, pecans) and chocolate chips. I’ve had images of deliciously frosted pumpkin cupcakes in my head for a while, so I also thought a swirl of cream cheese throughout the loaf would go nicely while still making a decent claim at this being breakfast friendly and not all out dessert. 
I’m also submitting this autumny bread to Art You Eat – Autumn Edition.
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Posted by mike on October 28th, 2008 in Breakfast, Cake, Dessert, Fruit, Snacks
I’m not sure if I’ve been living in a cave, but I’d never heard of brandied cherries before. When I first ran across them over at Sidewalk Shoes though, I knew I had to try them right away. I mean how good does it sound–preserved fruit, but in liquor! Right up my alley.
Unfortunately, like when making preserved lemons, I can’t tell you how this tastes yet. It requires a bit of time to age and mingle. Of course, seeing how I sampled as I cooked, I can say I’m eagerly looking forward to when I get to open this jar up. This could go on top of ice creams, in mixed drinks, or just make for a great adult snack. Plus, its a fun way to let you enjoy cherries out of season.
- ~3 cups cherries, stemmed but not pitted
- cognac (or plain old brandy)…enough to top off the jar
- 5-6 Tbsp sugar
- no more than 1/4 cup water
- 1 star anise
- 4 cardamom
- 5 peppercorns
- 1 vanilla bean
As with
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Posted by mike on July 30th, 2008 in Dessert, Fruit, Snacks
