Name: Southern Pimento Cheese
Prep time: PTH30M
Cook time: PTH20M
Yield: About 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients: 1 red pepper; 4 ounces cream cheese, softened; 8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated; 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; ¼-½ cup mayonnaise; salt and pepper, to taste; ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Southern Pimento Cheese

April 9, 2018

Southern pimento cheese is a classic staple of wedding showers, baby showers, and Southern lunches in general. This is my creamy, from-scratch version!

There was a huge pimento cheese boom a few years back, and you could barely set food in a restaurant – at least here in the South – without seeing a pimento cheese sandwich and perhaps a pimento cheese burger on the menu. I think that the trend has died down a little bit, but Southern pimento cheese is just one of those foods that is good enough to be on restaurant menus that range from fancy to totally casual.

The fact of the matter is, when pimento cheese is in the house I have a hard time controlling myself. Whether it’s this Southern pimento cheese that I make myself or a tub of smoked Gouda pimento cheese from The Chef and His Wife, I can’t resist dipping crackers or pretzels or whatever other crunchy, salty snacks I have in the house into it. I actually rarely make a pimento cheese sandwich in the house but I am known to order it whenever it sounds particularly tempting on a restaurant menu.

I’m not too concerned about it. I’m a good Southern girl and that means that I have to love good Southern pimento cheese, right? I’ve also upped the flavor quotient a little bit with a couple of additional ingredients. I find this version to be more spreadable than the version made in the food processor. Feel free to add some cooked, cooled, and crumbled bacon if you want (and really, why wouldn’t you?).

Some people would tell you that my addition of cream cheese makes this pimento cheese inauthentic, and I suppose they might be right. I find, though, that using a little cream cheese in place of some of the mayo (always Dukes in my house – always) makes the pimento cheese less greasy. Actually, in the The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook , Matt and Ted Lee suggest that if you are going to use your pimento cheese in grilled cheese sandwiches or for melting on a burger that you omit the mayonnaise and mold the cheese into a block that you can cut slices from in order to eliminate the grease factor. Makes sense to me.

What’s your favorite way to eat pimento cheese?

This post contains an affiliate link. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite and The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Mary

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups

Southern Pimento Cheese

PTH30MPrep Time:

PTH20MCook Time:

50 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

1 red pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼-½ cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper, to taste
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions

Set a rack on the top level of the oven and turn the broiler on high. Slice the “cheeks” or the sides off of the red pepper, leaving the seeds and stem behind. Place the pieces of pepper skin side up on the broiler pan or a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil until completely charred. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic for 15 minutes.
Scrape the charred skin from the roasted red pepper. Cut the pepper into strips then finely dice.
Place the cream cheese in a medium bowl and use a spatula to “cream” the cream cheese until it is a spreadable consistency. Add the red pepper, cheddar, the mustard, the Worcestershire sauce, and the cayenne, if using. Add mayonnaise until you reach the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.

Recipe Type: cheese, Southern, appetizers, snacks

https://chattavore.com/southern-pimento-cheese/

Sriracha-Ranch Chicken Nachos

January 25, 2018

This post was sponsored by Cost Plus World Market. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Chattavore running!

There’s nothing quite a like a huge platter of cheesy nachos to satisfy everyone’s tastebuds on game day! These Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos check off all of the flavor boxes!

What are your game day traditions? Do you invite friends over, or do you go to them? Or maybe you congregate in a “neutral” location? I don’t know about you, but for me, the only game day tradition that matters is game day food. It’s certainly no secret that I could live the rest of my life eating snack and finger foods only, so tailgating food is my jam. And I’ll be honest – we are not people that watch football religiously, but we do love to watch the “big game”…and for me (surprise) that’s because of the snacks.

I tend to err on the side of salty rather than sweet, well, 95% of the time. And besides popcorn, there is really no better snack in my book than nachos. A trip to Chattanooga’s Cost Plus World Market, one of my very favorite places (follow this link to find your local store), delivered all the inspiration that I needed to create the perfect platter of nachos for an easy game day snack, down to the actual platter and a great galvanized tub to hold our beverages (scroll to the bottom for links to all products). Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos seemed like a pretty perfect place to start (did you know that Sriracha is almost as popular as ketchup in the U.S. these days? It’s a fact!).

Some shredded chicken (however you want to do it – I just put some chicken thighs in the Instant Pot, but you could totally use leftover or rotisserie chicken), Sriracha, mayo, sour cream, and some Cost Plus World Market spices were all I needed for a tangy and spicy topping for my nachos. A creamy, peppery cheese sauce, a drizzle of lime crema, some Sriracha peas, and sprinkle of cilantro were all it took to perfectly finish off the Late July tortilla chips that I found at Cost Plus World Market. I piled the Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos on a big platter and served it with appetizer plates so everyone could help themselves.

I love to shop the food section of Cost Plus World Market, but it’s also one of my favorite places to shop for textiles and dishes. I found a great party bucket to fill with fun sodas, global beers (no complaint from Philip there!), and Clearly Canadian (CLEARLY CANADIAN!!!!!). They always have the cutest napkins, which I stock up on for my photos, and now they have Duralex shatterproof glasses, so I was able to replace the two that I somehow managed to shatter (only I could shatter shatterproof glass) in a freak vacuuming accident.

How do you celebrate the big game? If you need a new tradition, these Sriracha-ranch nachos are a perfect fit!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

Mary

Yield: 6-10 servings

Sriracha-Ranch Chicken Nachos

15 minPrep Time:

5 minCook Time:

20 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

2 cups shredded chicken, warmed
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 2-ounce wedges Northwoods Jalapeño Jack cheese, grated (see note)
1/4 cup milk
2 bags Late July tortilla chips (I used Mild Green Mojo and Jalapeño Lime)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 cup Hapi Sriracha peas

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, sour cream, mayonnaise, Sriracha, and herbs/spices. Set aside.
Place 3/4 of the cheese in a small bowl. Add the milk. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until the cheese is melted and the milk is completely incorporated to make a cheese sauce. (See notes for alternative to this cheese sauce if you are not able to find Northwoods Jalapeño Jack cheese).
Pour the tortilla chips onto a large platter. Drizzle the cheese sauce over the top then distribute the chicken over the chips. Sprinkle with the reserved shredded cheese and microwave for one minute to melt the cheese.
Sprinkle the cilantro over the top of the chips. Stir together the sour cream and lime juice and drizzle over the top (I like to put it in a sandwich bag and snip off the corner to do this). Sprinkle the Sriracha peas over the top. Serve immediately.

Recipe Type: snacks, appetizers, main dishes, chicken

Notes

If you can't find Northwoods Jalapeño Jack cheese, you can use regular pepper jack to make the cheese sauce. Grate 8 ounces of pepper jack cheese. Set aside 1/4 of the cheese to melt on top. In a medium skillet, melt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and whisk to combine. Cook for about one minute. Add 1/2 cup milk and whisk until thickened. Add the remaining pepper jack cheese. Add more milk to thin the sauce to your desired consistency. If needed, add salt to taste.

https://chattavore.com/sriracha-ranch-chicken-nachos/

There's nothing quite a like a huge platter of cheesy nachos to satisfy everyone's tastebuds on game day! These Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos check off all of the flavor boxes! #sponsored #worldmarkettribe #gameday #nachos | Recipe from Chattavore.com

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Easy Sausage Balls from Scratch + Video

December 3, 2017

These easy sausage balls from scratch are a classic party favorite without the need for boxed mixes! Scroll down for video!
There are so many things to eat at Christmas. I could never pick a favorite. I mean, ranch Goldfish? My grandmother’s egg soufflé? All the cheese balls?? For Christmas dinner, we eat prime rib and twice baked potatoes. Can you see why I❤️Christmas?

At every Christmas gathering (including my family’s Christmas breakfast) you are likely to find sausage balls. Little nuggets of breakfast sausage, cheese, and biscuit mix (aka Bisquick), these things are addictive. They’re low-calorie too, so you can eat as many as you like (⬅️that’s a total lie). Truth be told, though, I don’t wait for Christmas to make sausage balls.We love to eat them for breakfast or for an occasional Saturday night snack (Saturday night is snack night in my house).

I have nothing against Bisquick. My mom makes her sausage balls with Bisquick and Cheez Whiz (because Cheez Whiz helps them to mix up more easily) and those things are goooood. I’m a biscuit purist, though, so I don’t keep Bisquick or any other type of baking mix in the house, so I’d rather just make my own than go buy a box when I want to make sausage balls.

These take approximately one minute longer to make than sausage balls made with a baking mix (that minute being used, of course, to measure the ingredients) and they are every bit as delicious. So, whether you want to go the traditional route and use a baking mix or make these easy sausage balls from scratch, just make some sausage balls. It’s Christmas!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

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Yield: about 60 sausage balls

Sausage Balls from Scratch

20 minPrep Time:

20 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled
1 pound breakfast sausage (mild or hot, your choice)
1 pound cheddar cheese (2 8-ounce blocks), grated
milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. If desired, spray 2 sheet pans with cooking spray (I actually never bother).
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the sausage and cheese to the bowl along with a couple of tablespoons of milk. Using your hands, work the ingredients together until well-combined, adding milk a tablespoon at a time to moisten the mixture so that you can get all the dry flour (you can also use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to do this, but I just prefer to use my hands).
Portion the sausage ball mixture into tablespoon size pieces (I use a cookie scoop to do this) and roll into balls using your palms before placing them onto the baking sheets.
Bake the sausage balls until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. Stack on paper towels for a few minutes to absorb excess butter. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

https://chattavore.com/easy-sausage-balls-from-scratch/

Jalapeño Popper Cheese Ball + Video

November 26, 2017

This jalapeño popper cheese ball is a delicious party snack that’s a little bit kitschy, a lot delicious, and sure to be a crowd pleaser! Scroll down for video!

To me, Christmas season is cheese ball season. Woe is the holiday gathering that does not have at least one cheese ball for me to dip a zillion crackers into. Have I told you the story about the work Christmas party where my BFF and I ate approximately 3/4 of the mango chutney cheese ball so that we could avoid uncomfortable interactions with our coworkers? I’m pretty sure I have. I am definitely a “linger by the refreshment table” sort of girl. It’s a blessing and a curse, really.

I certainly do not need a holiday or a party to enjoy a cheese ball, though. Show me any random Saturday night and I will show you a cream cheese based snack that Philip and I can enjoy in front of our favorite shows on Hulu. Actually, we enjoyed this jalapeño popper on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, when I had been cooking all afternoon and just couldn’t quite bring myself to assemble a full meal. And then again for a mini-lunch on Thanksgiving day, because my family ate late in the day.

Cheese balls seem pretty kitschy, and I’m sure that you could dig around in your mom or grandma or even great-grandma’s recipe file and find a few cheese ball recipes. You know what, though? Kitschy food can still be darn tasty, and I promise you that I’m only on board for flavor. I don’t care too much about trends (though I’ll hop on board if they’re delicious). You probably won’t catch me posting any aspics on here, but I will never apologize for my cheese balls.

My jalapeño popper cheese ball has all the flavors that I think that a perfect jalapeño popper should have: jalapeños (duh), cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, and ranch. There’s no stuffing, roasting, grilling, or frying involved, though, and that makes this jalapeño popper cheese ball approximately 1 million times easier and less mess than an actual jalapeño popper. I used canned diced jalapeños, which meant that I didn’t have to slice and dice a bunch of peppers, but you could definitely sub in 1/2 cup of diced fresh jalapeños, or add them to the canned peppers to increase the spice level if you’re brave. Me, I found the faint tinge of spice provided by the canned peppers to be perfect for my wimpy taste buds.

But you…you can feel free to customize this jalapeño popper cheese ball to meet your spice needs!

Shared on The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Mary

Yield: 1 large cheese ball

Jalapeño Popper Cheese Ball

15 minPrep Time:

15 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces (2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 ounce can diced jalapeños, drained
4 ounce can diced fire-roasted green chilies, drained
1 cup chopped pecans

For the ranch seasoning (can sub in 2 packages of ranch dressing mix, like Hidden Valley)

3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried dill
1 tablespoon dried chives
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Place all ingredients, including ranch seasoning ingredients, EXCEPT pecans, in a large bowl. Stir until well combined (I used my Kitchenaid mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed to do this). Form into a ball and roll in the chopped pecans until thoroughly coated. Chill for at least an hour. Serve with crackers.

Recipe Type: snacks, appetizers, holidays

Notes

I did not include the time to cook the bacon in the prep/cook time.

https://chattavore.com/jalapeno-popper-cheese-ball/

This jalapeño popper cheese ball is a delicious party snack that's a little bit kitschy, a lot delicious, and sure to be a crowd pleaser! | recipe from Chattavore.com

Beer Cheese Bread (Quick) + Video

October 22, 2017

This quick beer cheese bread is easy and so tasty that you’ll want to make it every week! It’s great with soup or just as a snack! Scroll down for the video.

So…when your husband co-owns a beer store, you have a pretty big selection of beer at your disposal and you only have to send a text to get it (just FYI, we do pay for the beer we bring home, lest you think that we are rolling in “free” beer). That seems like a pretty good excuse to incorporate beer into as many recipes as possible, no? Honestly, though, I could make this beer cheese bread on the weekly and just leave all the other recipes…that’s just how good this bread is. I promise you, it’s better than any beer bread you ever made from a pricey mix.

The tricks to this bread (which I adapted from a recipe in the Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book <–affiliate link):

1) Lots of cheese
I mean, it’s beer cheese bread. Why skimp on the cheese? Cutting the cheese into cubes instead of grating it results in the most amazing little pockets of cheese distributed throughout, and crusting the top and bottom with Parmesan means that your bread will have a nice, sharp, crusty, cheesy edge.

2) Lager or Pilsner
I mean, you can certainly use whatever beer you want (I wouldn’t recommend something chocolatey or anything like that), but the light flavor of a lager or pils works really well here because it lends a little bit of a beer “tang” to the bread without overpowering the flavor of the cheese. Philip doesn’t really drink a lot of lagers or pilsners (and you guys know I really don’t drink a lot of beer at all), but they really are perfect in this application.

3) Sour cream and Butter
The sour cream and butter up the moisture factor (but if you are out of sour cream, you can use Greek yogurt too). Full-fat will definitely lend the best texture and flavor.

I took a loaf of this into the shop and got rave reviews – including one guy who told me that it was the best bread he had ever had (I am not joking) and another who told me that it tasted like a Cheez-It, which is one of the best comparisons that you could possibly make in my book (I❤️Cheez-Its). Trust me, you want to make this bread (and it comes together in just about 15 minutes, so you really have no excuses).

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!
Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

Mary

Yield: 1 loaf

Beer Cheese Bread (Quick)

This recipe is adapted from The Cook's Illustrated Baking Book

15 minPrep Time:

50 minCook Time:

1 hr, 5 Total Time:

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Ingredients

butter for greasing the pan
3 ounces (1 cup) Parmesan cheese, grated on the large holes of a grater (divided)
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (you can also use half whole wheat flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, cut into cubes (about 1 cup or 1/2 of a regular block from the grocery store)
1 cup lager or pilsner beer
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg, beaten

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350?. Grease a loaf pan with butter. Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese on the bottom of the loaf pan.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne, and black pepper. Add the cheddar cheese and toss to coat with the flour mixture.
In a smaller mixing bowl or a large mixing cup, combine the beer, sour cream or Greek yogurt, melted butter, and egg. Pour over the dry mixture and stir to combine until no large dry spots remain.
Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden on top.
Cool for at least an hour on a wire rack before serving.

Recipe Type: bread, baking, snacks, appetizers, sides

https://chattavore.com/beer-cheese-bread/

Southern pimento cheese is a classic staple of wedding showers, baby showers, and Southern lunches in general. This is my creamy, from-scratch version!

There’s nothing quite a like a huge platter of cheesy nachos to satisfy everyone’s tastebuds on game day! These Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos check off all of the flavor boxes!

But you…you can feel free to customize this jalapeño popper cheese ball to meet your spice needs!

This quick beer cheese bread is easy and so tasty that you’ll want to make it every week! It’s great with soup or just as a snack! Scroll down for the video.

<img src="https://i0.wp.com/chattavore.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Beer-Cheese-Bread-pin.jpg" data-recalc-dims="1" />