Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Pimento Cheese With Soul



 
 
I grew up eating pimento cheese sandwiches...made by mama and daddy.  We carried these sandwiches to school, on road trips, and served the Southern delicacy on open-faced sandwiches at Mama's parties.  Along with loving the pimento cheese sandwiches at The Augusta National golf course, I also developed a liking to The Fresh Market's pimento cheese.  Well, now I'm obsessed with the Palmetto Cheese...regular, bacon, and jalapeno.  I have to admit that the Jalapeno is my favorite.

Palmetto Cheese is the pride of Sassy and Brian Henry.  They enjoyed batches of Sassy's original recipe at Braves tailgate gatherings in the 1990's.  In 2002, the Henrys moved to Pawleys Island, SC to take over the the historic Sea View Inn.  It is there that Palmetto Cheese became a favorite appetizer for low country shrimp boils served on the inn's oceanfront porch.

 

 
 
The first retail container of Palmetto Cheese was sold in 2006 at a local seafood store in Georgetown, SC.  Today, Palmetto Cheese has grown from a local favorite into the most sought after pimento cheese on the market today.

So yes, it pays to enter those contests on Facebook y'all!  I replied to Palmetto Cheese's post and said that the Jalapeno is my favorite and they sent me 3 containers of their Palmetto Cheese...It is so good!


A few weeks ago we entertained friends for Happy Hour and I served the Jalapeno Palmetto Cheese with crackers and chips.  Everybody loved it.




I'm always craving grits and the other day I prepared my grits with some of the regular Palmetto Cheese and grilled shrimp.  Delish y'all, trust me!


I added more of the Palmetto Cheese on top of the grits...yummy!


Palmetto Cheese Grits and Shrimp
2 cups grits
4 cups water
1 cup heavy cream
1 tblsp salt
1 cup Palmetto Cheese with Bacon4 large shrimp
Garlic
Olive Oil


Sautee the shrimp in a pan with a bit of olive oil and garlic and set aside when done.  


Boil the water and then remove the pot from heating element and add the grits and stir.  Then add the cream and salt, stirring until there are no lumps.   Cook the grits on low until done, about 10-15 minutes.  Add ¾ cup of the Palmetto Cheese and stir.  Place the grits into a bowl and add remaining Palmetto Cheese on top.  Garnish with shrimp


Tonight I decided to make some Palmetto Cheese Cornbread to go along with our chicken and dumplins, lima beans, and turnip greens.


Recipe for Palmetto Cheese Cornbread:

1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
2 tblsp. vegetable oil
1 cup Palmetto Cheese with Jalapeno

Grease pan with the vegetable oil just until hot.  Place cornbread mix into large bowl.  Add egg and stir.  Add the milk and the excess oil from pan.  Add ¾ cup of the Palmetto Cheese and stir all ingredients very well.  Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.  When cornbread has cooled a bit, add the remaining pimento cheese to the top.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Miss Janice, I just discovered this cheese in my grocery store this summer and my family is loving it. Thank you for the recipes. I can't wait to try them.
Michele

Heather A. said...

Yum, the Palmetto Cheese is my absolute favorite- maybe even better than the homemade stuff I made last week! ;)

My Cherie Amour said...

Growing up, my mom would buy "Ruth's" brand pimento cheese. Since I discovered "Palmetto" cheese, nothing else will do. Thanks for sharing your recipes I can't wait to try the shrimp and grits