What can I do With Horseradish?

[baymule]

Yay!! Journey sent me some horseradish to plant! The only exposure I have had to horseradish is the little jars from the grocery store. I mix it up with ketchup, tabasco, worchestershire and lime juice for a sauce to dip boiled shrimp in. It's good, but having fresh horseradish takes me to another level. The only problem is, I don't know what floor I'm on......... runs to check elevator Yup, my elevator don't go to the top floor!

So I have questions for ya'll that already grow your own horseradish..........what recipes do you use it in? How do you prepare it? What dishes do you cook with it? Can you cook it by itself or is it always used as a condiment?

Total horseradish newbie here......

 

[dandelionchick]

I was wondering this too baymule. Mine are 2 years old now. I know DH will grind some up and add vinegar but isn't quite happy with the results.

 

[seedcorn]

Wife mixes it with beets. Tames it and spices up beets as a relish.

 

[journey11]

Yea! I'm glad to hear it made it safely. They asked me if I wanted to insure the package, and I'm like well there's more where that came from! You'd be surprised what a tiny piece it can sprout back up from too. I found one that had broken off when I was planting rhubarb nearby (which will have to be moved, actually) and it was only as big as the tip of my pinky and it was growing leaves! I'm pretty sure you couldn't kill it if you tried.

The two ways I've used mine so far is to run a root through the foodprocessor with a little white vinegar until it is mush, then I spread that liberally on a beef roast prior to cooking. You would think it would be super-spicy, but it mellows out during cooking and the flavor turns into that something special you couldn't otherwise put your finger on. It would be good to mix a little bit into a hamburger or onto a steak too, before cooking. Mixed with vinegar, it will keep a long time in the fridge. Pieces of root wrapped in a slightly moist papertowel then put into a plastic baggie with the corner cracked open will keep a good while too...maybe a couple months.

The other thing I do is to take the first mix of horseradish and vinegar and mix a little of that into some mayo. Then it becomes a spicy condiment. It sounds like you are already more creative with it than I have been, but those are my two favorite ways to use it.

The weird thing about horseradish is that when you first dig it, it is sweet and not spicy at all, but the longer it is exposed to air, the spicier/hotter it becomes.

 

[baymule]

That sounds like it would be real good. I'm going to plant them in a big tub in the next couple of days. Then I guess I wait for spring! Fresh horseradish! Thanks Journey for the horseradish start!

 

[journey11]

Your welcome! Enjoy! :happy_flower

 

[lesa]

I will be interested to hear how you do with yours...In cold upstate NY, we don't dig horseradish, until after frost. They claim that makes it hotter. I wonder what will happen with your temps? Keep us posted.

 

[dandelionchick]

We just had out first hard freeze......it is time to dig!

 

[baymule]

You mean you can't dig it any time of year? Freeze? (visions of me dragging big tub through house and cramming in freezer while meat and veggies thaw........... )

 

[journey11]

I ended up digging a little in summer when I tried to put a rhubarb plant in the ground nearby. (That's when I realized how far the horseradish had traveled.) What I had accidentally dug, I went ahead and used. It tasted good to me, but of course a little bit of hot and spicy goes a long way with me, so maybe I'm no judge.

I lived in Killeen, TX for a couple of years and used to get nagged by my coworkers for only wearing a sweater or jacket most winter days. I'm like...45 degrees is NOT cold. LOL. Putting yours in a tub above ground may actually work to your advantage there, since it will get colder above ground than it would in the ground...