Pizza Pimento Cheese

Pimento cheese has been a staple food down south for generations, and now it's becoming ubiquitous in other parts of the country. At least that's the way it seems to me, a Marylander. My state is technically south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but up here in Baltimore we are definitely not the South. Still, I see pimento cheese popping up on menus everywhere around town, put to use as a burger topping and even as an accompaniment for the unusual (but tasty) combination of fried oysters and waffles. And why not? It's delicious, and if you have the right ingredients on hand, simple to make.

While there is both cheese and pimentos (or roasted red peppers) in pimento cheese, mayonnaise is possibly the most important ingredient. Without it, it's difficult to get the cheese to spread. Duke's is the mayo to use, if you can find it, otherwise, use your favorite. Other than that, pimento cheese requires seasonings, which can be as simple as salt and pepper and a dash of hot sauce, or a bit more complicated with the addition of garlic and onion powders, maybe a bit of Worcestershire sauce. Chef Richard Blais' recipe strays from the South to the Southwest, with the addition of cilantro and poblano peppers. I bastardized the concept quite a bit when I added feta and harissa paste to make a Mediterranean-style pimento cheese, and now I'm going to do it again with my latest cheesy invention: Pizza Pimento Cheese.

Seemed like a no-brainer: add sundried tomatoes and pizza herbs, swap out the cheddar for mozzarella. Add pepperoni, too, because why not? and garnish with fresh basil and thyme. Toasts topped with this concoction made a perfect alternative to a hot grilled cheese sandwich when eaten with a bowl of chilled gazpacho on a hot summer day. And it tasted like pizza. What's not to like?

Pizza Pimento Cheese

8 sundried tomato halves
3 tablespoons softened cream cheese
1/4 cup Duke's mayonnaise
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped roasted red pepper or pimento
1/2 cup finely diced pepperoni
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Rehydrate the tomatoes by soaking them in boiling water until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain well and chop finely. Set aside.

Combine the cream cheese and mayo in a large bowl. Add the cheeses, pimento, pepperoni, and seasonings and stir well to combine. Alternately, you can pulse it a few times with a food processor. Stir in the chopped sundried tomato. Taste for seasonings and add more oregano or garlic if you feel it needs it.

Spread on lightly toasted bread. Top with fresh basil and thyme. You could also add more pepperoni, if you want.

Makes 3+ cups.

Tastes even better after a day or two in the fridge.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Blue Pit BBQ

We'd been meaning to try Blue Pit BBQ for a while and finally got around to it last month. Located in Hampden across Union Avenue from Union Craft Brewery and Artifact Coffee, Blue Pit is a bourbon bar as well as a 'cue joint. They offer 40+ bourbons, plus 20+ ryes, and dozens of other whiskies. There are a few cocktails, a list of beer in cans, and if you simply must have wine with your pulled pork (weirdo), they have a bottle or two of that hanging around, too.

Service is pub style. You order at a counter, take a number, then sit somewhere patiently and wait for your food to be brought to you. The bar area on the first floor has a few tables, and there's a patio, but we chose to eat upstairs where the tables are larger, the light is better for photographs, and there were no other diners (for it was 4pm on a weekend afternoon). The lack of chatter around us, however, meant we noticed the seemingly endless loop of music by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Fine if you like that sort of thing (and my Dad did get into it quite a bit).

We went whole hog, so to speak, and ordered three kinds of meat and three sides--a pound of brisket, a half rack of ribs, and a pound of pulled pork, plus mac and cheese, collard greens, and baked beans.

I am going to confess that we are semi-regulars at Andy Nelson's, that 'cue stalwart in Cockeysville. Andy's grub has only gotten better over the years (his beans are a-maze-ing), so it was really hard, nay, impossible, for me to not make comparisons. But I'm going to be as fair as I can here.

The brisket, rubbed with local Zeke's coffee before being barbecued, was pretty darn good. Smoky, but not overwhelmingly so, with a nice edge of fat that kept the meat moist (dry brisket is a sad thing). The bourbon-glazed St Louis-style ribs also tasted good, but they were very hard to cut apart with a plastic knife. That's not to say the meat wasn't tender, but there was some connective tissue thing going on in there which led to a bad hack job on our part. The glaze on the ribs is lightly sweet, but if you want more wet sweetness, there are several styles of sauce available in squeeze bottles on each table. Out of the sauce choices (which included mustard, vinegar, sweet and hot, and smoky), I liked the Zeke's coffee-spiked sauce. It was a bit sweeter than the others, but it reminded me a good deal of the house sauce at Cafe Tattoo, a bbq joint that used to be in Gardenville on Belair Road. (God, I miss that place.)

The pulled pork was nicely moist, if not particularly smoky, and was just fine without an extra dose of sauce (although I'd probably add some if I were eating it in a sandwich).

All three sides were good. The collards, made with neck bones and flavored with sherry vinegar were extremely tender; I can never get mine so soft. I loved the vinegar flavor, wished there was even more, and doused it with a bit of the vinegar sauce on the table to bring the tang up a tad. The baked beans, made with bits of both brisket and pork, were fine (and the only thing I'm going to compare unfavorably to Andy Nelson's, mostly because I love the latter so much). Finally, the four cheese mac and cheese was a nice creamy and slightly bland foil to all of the other textures and flavors on the table.

In addition to all the meaty goodness, Blue Pit also offers the new yuppie bbq nod to vegetarians and vegans--pulled jackfruit. I'd really hate to be a vegan in a bbq joint, but I suppose if they drink enough bourbon they won't notice that their sandwich isn't full of beef.

Service was great, mostly in that there was so little of it needed. Someone took our order and gave us cups for soft drinks. Someone else brought our liquor, and a third person brought all of our food--pretty quickly, too--and pointed out the location of extra utensils, and should we need them, carry-out containers and bags for transporting them home.

So...while not that favorite county bbq joint, Blue Pit more than holds its own. Plus it's a non-chain restaurant in the city. With enough good bourbon to drown in. Go.

Blue Pit BBQ
1601 Union Ave
Baltimore, MD 21211
(443) 948-5590



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Pimiento Cheese

Pimiento cheese sounds like a mistake from the Kraft labs, doesn't it? Like some pinkish-orange paste that would come in a little jar in the dairy case. Something my mother would have regarded with near disgust had I indicated that perhaps she buy a jar (despite her own love for Velveeta), you know, just to try it. Like I had to try lima beans before I decided that I loathe them.

Oh wait, pimiento cheese does come in a little jar in the dairy case. Lookee there!

What exactly is a pimiento anyway (and why doesn't anyone pronounce the second "i" - pih-mee-ento)? They're the red thingies in green olives, right? That taste just like roasted bell peppers? Ah - they are peppers, but a cultivar also known as a cherry pepper, and not your standard bell pepper. But why mash them up with cheese and mayonnaise? That seems a little cruel, to both the pepper and the cheese.

...and I've just offended scores of Southerners with my ignorance. I may live south of the Mason-Dixon line, but I am a yankee at heart. (Notice I spelled that with a lower-case "y" so as not to be confused as a fan of a particular New York sports team, which I am most definitely not.)

I must admit I've always been a leetle, tiny, weensy bit curious about pimiento cheese, but I've never tried it. That is, not until Richard Blais' cookbook, Try This at Home, came into my life. In it, he offers a recipe for a decidedly non-traditional pimiento cheese with jalapenos, poblanos, and nary a pimiento to be found.

The white cheese + the green peppers makes a pretty Spring-like color combination that reminds me more of egg salad than of pimiento cheese. And the addition of cilantro and lime takes the flavor profile in a westerly direction, so the result is more Austin than Atlanta. But - cheesilicious. And, if you think about it, I still haven't tried pimiento cheese, at least not the authentic stuff.

I used Kewpie mayo; if you do, too, omit the salt. Also, I didn't like the texture at first - it was like cheese salad. Food processor to the rescue!

Richard Blais' Pimiento Jack Cheese (adapted from Try This at Home)

8 ounces white pepper jack cheese, coarsely grated
1 small poblano pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced (or more to taste)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
Kosher salt to taste

Combine the cheese, chiles, mayo, cilantro, lime zest and juice, and salt. Pop the mixture into the food processor and give it a couple of pulses to break down the cheese a bit more and better amalgamate the mixture.

Serve with crusty bread or crackers or use in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Collard Greens and Biscuits

Although I'm a big fan of gumbo, shrimp & grits, and the like, I don't cook a lot of Southern-style food at home. But on a recent trip to the grocery store, I noticed big bags of collards on sale and thought why not make a "mess o' greens" for dinner one night?

I had made greens twice before, but a dozen years ago by now. The first time, I used bundles of fresh collards which required stem stripping and thorough washing. The second time, I thought I'd get smart and buy frozen greens, which I assume had been de-stemmed. Wrong. Even after hours of cooking, chunks of stem retained their odd sharp crispness. It was like eating a bowl of razor blades.

The bagged greens should have been pre- cleaned and trimmed, but I still found tons of stem while giving them a bath. Bah. Better to buy whole greens and do it all from scratch. That said, they still tasted pretty great after several hours spent sharing a pot with three hamhocks and some spices.

Man, however, does not live by greens and hamhocks alone. Biscuits were also necessary to sop up all of that gorgeous "pot likker." And by biscuits, I mean drop biscuits with cheddar cheese and chives. And duck fat. There was a pint of duck fat left over from Thanksgiving dinner, and I put some of it to good use as a substitute for shortening in the biscuits.

Best biscuits I ever made. They were so tender and fluffy, they were practically floating off the table. It had to be the duck fat.

Collard Greens

3 smoked ham hocks

2 quarts water

1 tablespoon Creole seasoning (I used Emeril's Essence)

1 teaspoon hot sauce

2 lbs collard greens
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and add ham hocks and Creole seasoning. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 hour.

Wash the collard greens thoroughly. Remove the stems that run down the center (they are tough). T Stack 6 to 8 leaves on top of one another, roll up, and cut into a chiffonade Place greens in pot with meat; cook for 60 - 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. When done, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Cheese Drop Biscuits

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup duck fat (you can use shortening)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in duck fat with a fork or your fingers. Stir in milk and cheese. Drop by large spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 425°F for 10-12 minutes. Makes 6 fist-sized biscuits or 8-10 smaller ones.

Langermann's

On my birthday, Mr Minx and I had a lovely dinner at Langermann's in Canton. We had a Groupon (damn those things are addictive) and it was half-price wine night - how could it get any better?

With nice ambiance, great service, and good solid food, all of which Langermann's had in spades.

We started out with warm-from-the-oven cornbread that was very tender and somewhat sweet. As we dug in, our appetizers arrived. Mr Minx went for the Carolina gumbo, which was quite spicy. It didn't have quite the depth of flavor that I like in my gumbos, but it was good and hearty, and somehow the brown rice served with it wasn't overtly crunchy (a big plus).

I was torn between the Low Country Louie, and the whole belly clams; my mind was made up for me when our waitress announced that they were out of clams.

The generous portion of chilled seafood salad contained pieces of lobster, crabmeat, crawfish, and chunks of crispy sweet yellow corn in a mayonnaise-based sauce flavored strongly with mustard and cilantro. An odd combination that somehow worked really well.

We were both feeling rather pedestrian as far as entrées were concerned. Mr Minx chose the NY Strip with sautéed spinach and potato croquettes. I thought the steak was nicely seasoned and had a nice beefy flavor, but the sides were on the bland side.

My crab cakes, billed as "jumbo lump" on the menu, may have contained a lump or two, but were otherwise full of much smaller pieces of crab and a bit of filler. I didn't find this objectionable, however, and thought they had a nice flavor, as did the corn and black-eyed pea succotash. The crispy shreds of potato atop the dish were delicious, but their size and shape made eating rather awkward.

Although we had pumpkin cupcakes waiting for us at home, we were tempted by a huge slice of pumpkin cheesecake with a thick and buttery graham cracker crust. It was a perfectly lovely example of the genre - neither heavy nor light, nicely spiced, and filled with autumnal flavors. I'm glad we indulged.

Overall, I enjoyed our meal. The service was prompt and extremely friendly, the ambiance - despite the large room with very high ceilings - was cozy (we sat near the fireplace), and the food was pretty solid. If I find myself in the Canton area with a hankering for a nice seafood cocktail, I'd definitely make a return visit. Maybe they'll have the clams next time....

Langermann's
2400 Boston Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
(410) 534-3287