Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwich and a Freebie

I'm still on my tomato soup kick.  It makes my husband look at me funny, but I'm okay with that.  I was about to make another grilled cheese to go with it, but I thought, wait right there, hold the phones.  I've been wanting to try to make my own pimento cheese lately, so this seemed like a good time to do it.  

All I really remember about pimento cheese is that my dad took it in his lunch at least 80% of the time (along with Little Debbie Nutty Bars) and I never even once tried it.  Wouldn't touch the stuff.  It just looked gloppy and yucky.  But now I'm older, and slightly more adventurous, and this is what I came up with.

I liked this recipe because it used cream cheese instead of mayo.  I didn't read the whole recipe ahead and didn't realize I was going to have to blister and peel the red pepper so that threw me off a little, but other than that, there's nothing easier.  And it was perfect with my tomato soup!  

Here it is, from Serious Eats:

Ingredients
1 red bell pepper

8 ounces (about 3 cups) finely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese

2 ounces (about 1/4 cup) softened cream cheese, cut into pieces

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Turn on the broiler. place the pepper on its side in a dry skillet and slide it under the broiler until the skin blackens on the side facing up, about 3 minutes. With tongs, turn the pepper so that an unblackened side faces up, and repeat until the skin is blackened on all sides. Place the pepper in a small bowl, cover it, and let it steam for 5 minutes as it cools down.

2. Uncover the bowl. When the pepper is cool enough to handle, transfer it to a cutting board, reserving any liquid in the bowl. Remove the blackened skin with your fingers and discard. Using a paring knife, cut open the pepper, remove and discard the stem and seeds, and chop the pepper into 1/4-inch dice. You should have a scant 1/2 cup.

3. Place the grated cheddar in a medium bowl and add the cream cheese pieces, the diced red pepper and its liquid, and the red pepper flakes, distributing them evenly over the cheese. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, blend the ingredients together until the spread is thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

4. Turn the blended cheese out onto a cutting board and use a spatula to gather it into a rectangular block about 5 inches long and 3 inches wide, and 2 inches high. Wrap the cheese tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour, or until ready to use. Slice and serve. Grillable pimento cheese keeps for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.  (I didn't do all that, I just smeared it on)

For Each Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients
Two 1/3-inch-thick slices Sally Lunn or other white bread (I used potato bread)

Three 1/3-inch-thick slices Pimento Cheese for Grilling

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Procedure
1. Lightly toast the bread in a toaster or under the broiler. Place the cheese between the slices of toast.

2. In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium hear. As soon as the butter is frothy, place the sandwich in the skillet. Pan-fry the sandwich for 6 minutes. Flip it with a spatula, cover the skillet, and cook for 3 minutes more.

3. Transfer to a cutting board, slice the sandwich diagonally with a serrated knife into two portable pieces.

I've got a few more of those little cookbook magazines to share with some one if you're interested.  There's nothing really ground-breaking or earthshattering in any of these, but there's some yummy sounding stuff and nice pictures.  

Some of these are pretty old, a couple are little tattered and wrinkled (like me :), from the early 90's even.

 If you're interested in receiving these just put the codeword "FREEBIE" in your comment somewhere, and I'll randomly pick a winner later this week, probably Thursday.