food processoror a box grater, mixing bowl, and spatula.
Ingredients
1poundsharp cheddar cheese
4ounceschopped pimentos and their liquidfrom one small jar
¾cupmayonnaisepreferably Duke's
1clovegarlicgrated
dashhot sauce
Instructions
Fit the food processor with the grater attachment and grate the cheese, or use the large holes on a box grater. Use a microplane grater to grate the garlic.
Remove the cheese from the food processor and insert the blade attachment. Add the cheese, pimentos and their liquid, and all remaining ingredients back into it.
Pulse a few times until the mixture is incorporated and until the cheese has broken down into smaller pieces, but is still crumbly, we still want big boulders of cheese.
Notes
If you're making this with a box grater, you can just give the cheese a rough chop with a knife (or not) to break it down a bit before adding it to a bowl and stirring in the other ingredients. It's really up to you.
I prefer to grate the garlic before it goes into the processor (or bowl if not using one) because it distributes the garlic more evenly. You'll get a milder flavor and don't have to worry about biting down on a big chunk of garlic.
Any true Southerner is probably going to tell you to use Duke's Mayonnaise. It has no sugar, and contains more egg yolks than most other brands, giving it a smoother, richer flavor. Because we're making our pimento cheese dip without cream cheese, this particular brand of mayonnaise will add that creaminess that you're looking for without making it too heavy. But you can absolutely use other brands if that's what you have.
Adapted from chef Edward Lee's recipe from his cookbook, Smoke & Pickles.
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