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Piquant Salad
Mix one-half can of pimientos or sweet peppers with one cream cheese. Beat into mixture sufficient mayonnaise to soften it slightly and add a few drops of onion juice, more if a decided onion flavor is liked. Pack in mold, chill on ice and when ready to serve cut in slices and place on crisp lettuce leaves.
A pimiento cheese in molded form, meant to be sliced rather than spread. The whole thing hinges on getting the mixture soft enough to pack but firm enough to hold a clean cut.
- "One cream cheese"In this period this usually means one of the small foil-wrapped bricks, 3 ounces, not the 8-ounce block sold today. Use 3 oz, or scale the pimientos up proportionally if you work with a larger block.
- Half a can of pimientosCanned pimientos of the period were commonly sold in small tins of roughly 4 ounces; half is about 2 tablespoons drained and chopped. Drain them well and blot dry, or the liquid will keep the mixture from firming enough to slice.
- Onion juiceGrate a piece of onion on a fine rasp and press the pulp through a sieve, or grate directly and use the resulting slush. A few drops is genuinely a few drops; onion juice is far sharper than chopped onion.
- Mayonnaise as binderAdd it a teaspoon at a time. Enough to soften slightly means a paste that just holds its shape on the spoon; any looser and slices will slump on the lettuce.
- The moldA small loaf pan, a straight-sided tumbler or a cleaned can all work. Line with plastic film so the block lifts out whole, and press the mixture down firmly to eliminate air pockets that will crumble under the knife.
- Chilling"Chill on ice" means the refrigerator now. Give it at least three hours, or overnight; a warm cheese block will not slice cleanly. Cut with a thin knife dipped in hot water and wiped between slices.
- YieldWith a 3 oz cheese this makes four modest slices, enough for four salad plates. Double it for a lunch main course.