{"id":17751,"date":"2015-04-15T09:34:08","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T16:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shescookin.com\/?p=17751"},"modified":"2022-08-16T13:43:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T20:43:34","slug":"the-99-grilled-cheese-and-the-tillamook-co-op","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shescookin.com\/the-99-grilled-cheese-and-the-tillamook-co-op\/","title":{"rendered":"The 99% Grilled Cheese and the Tillamook Co-op"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
Today being tax day, the 99% reference\u00a0is an homage to all of us who pay taxes and are not among the elite 1% who deftly manage to not contribute. Plus, I couldn’t let April go by without sharing a mouthwatering grilled cheese sandwich for National Grilled Cheese Month. After all, there’s little more comforting than a straight-from-the-griddle, oozing cheese sammy, is there?<\/p>\n
Perfectly happy with the ever-popular cheddar cheese and tomato combo, which I had for lunch yesterday to start the creative juices flowing, I felt the need to give you a little something more to chew on and spark imagination in the kitchen. I pondered flavor combinations that involved artichoke pesto, avocado, sun dried tomatoes, and pimentos. This led to me questioning what is a pimento anyway? No stranger to pimento cheese, I had never given the “pimento” in pimento cheese or the scarlet center of green olives much thought. Come to find out, they are red cherry peppers, which we had growing in our garden a few years back.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cherry peppers are mild chili peppers that are sweeter and more aromatic than red bell peppers – I found myself adding them to salads and all kinds of savory dishes when we were growing them. What surprised me most was discovering that the quintessentially Southern favorite pimento cheese\u2014the gooey concoction of shredded cheese, mayo, and diced red pimentos\u2014was actually invented somewhere else. According to Serious Eats’ in-depth research, pimento cheese originated in the North, New York City to be exact, as a product of industrial food manufacturing and mass marketing. Regardless, it is known as a southern institution, just as cornbread, Hoppin’ John, and shrimp n’ grits are.<\/p>\n
“So many of the things considered to be one of the iconic Southern foods today actually originated outside of the region. The entire history of food, after all, is the story of ingredients and recipes migrating from one spot on the globe to another and being transferred between cultures, often being transformed in the process. Why should pimento cheese be any different?” {Serious Eats<\/a>}<\/p>\n Now that you have the history under your belt, let’s get to this crazy-good grilled cheese sammy! Without sacrificing the deliciousness or comfort we derive from sinking our teeth into a buttery crisp on the outside, warm and cheesy on the inside sandwich, I sought to diminish the caloric impact that the beloved grilled cheese can have, as well as reduce the amount of sodium (unfortunately, bread and cheese are both relatively high in sodium) for those of us who need to watch our intake. By substituting creamy, slightly sweet whole milk ricotta for half of the cheese and Sprout’s Spelt bread with only 70 mg. of sodium per slice, the 99% grilled cheese was a huge success and no one was the wiser, except me doing the happy dance \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n