Directions

• Pimento Cheese:
• Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. You can just dump them in, in any order. With an electric hand or stand mixer mix the cheese on low to combine and then on high for 1 minute.  If you don’t have an electric mixer you can also combine by hand, but it takes a bit of elbow grease. Also if you hand mix, you will probably want to let it chill for awhile longer and then mix it up again to really get the flavors combined well.
• Place the cheese in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least two hours so the flavors can meld.  This stuff will be good as soon as it is mixed but the garlic and onion flavor really distributes well when you let it sit a little bit.  You can keep it in the fridge for up to a week, so you can make it in advance for a party or just snack on it all week long.
• Spicy Green Tomato Chow-Chow:
• Place diced vegetables in a large bowl and season with salt, tossing to combine. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight.
• Set a colander into a large bowl and strain vegetables, reserving the liquid.
• Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium and toast mustard seed, fennel seed, turmeric, mace blades (or nutmeg), and black peppercorns for 2–3 minutes or until fragrant, tossing frequently.
• In a medium saucepan, bring vinegar and 2 cups of reserved vegetable liquid to a boil. Add sugar, stirring to dissolve, and toasted spices. Reduce heat to medium-low and reduce liquid slightly, about 4–5 minutes. Pour hot liquid over diced vegetables.
• Let cool to room temperature, place in an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Or, to preserve, ladle mixture into sterilized jars kept warm in hot water and preserve according to standard water-bath technique.
• Buttermilk Fried Chicken:
• In a large bowl combine buttermilk, salt, garlic and onion. (can also add in red pepper or hot sauce!)
• Submerged chicken into mixture.
• Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Stir in remaining spices (feel free to cut back on the spices by half if you don’t like extra seasoned chicken. I always taste my flour to make sure it’s seasoned well.)
• Remove the chicken from the buttermilk, letting most but not all of the excess buttermilk drip off.
• Place the chicken into the flour mixture and with the other hand, coat the chicken completely with the flour.
• Place coated chicken on a plate and continue until all the chicken is coated heavily with flour.
• Let the chicken rest until the flour looks as though it is getting absorbed (very important to prevent the coating for sliding off)
• When it’s time to fry the chicken, heat oil in a cast iron skillet. The oil is hot enough when a leftover clump of flour fries gently.
• Gently lower the tenders into the hot oil a few at a time. The oil should be steady with lots of calm bubbles. It should not be sputtering, smoking or popping out of the pan. Reduce the heat if needed.
• Cook until underside is golden and then flip and continue cooking until that side is golden and crispy. (Cooking times will vary based on thickness.)
• Remove from oil and let drain on a plate lined with paper towels or a cooking rack.
• Apocalypse Chow Po-Boy:
• Slice the French bread and spread with Pimento Cheese and crispy bacon. Place the chicken strips on the po-boy and top with the Spicy Green Chow-Chow and lettuce (optional) and serve.