Homemade Hot Horseradish
While commercial horseradish is pretty good (I like Gold’s but there are a bunch of others out there) nothing beats homemade horseradish… you can control the heat and the texture. Here’s what you need to make your own.
1 horseradish root, about 1 3/4 pounds (about 10 inches long)
White distilled vinegar
Coarse kosher salt
With a stiff bristle brush, scrub the root under running water. Peel or cut off the skin. Chop the root into small pieces. (Use a heavy sharp chef’s knife for the chopping. The horseradish root is very tough and could break a ceramic knife.) Place the pieces in a food processor and finely mince. (Do not breathe the vapors… believe me!)
The longer the root is processed – or even letting it rest without adding vinegar – the more heat it will develop. If you want very hot horseradish, wait three minutes before adding the vinegar. When it’s to your liking, pour in enough vinegar to cover the grated root. (Use two to three tablespoons vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon salt for each cup of grated horseradish.) Process again and then strain out the vinegar.
Use a ladle and a canning funnel to fill sterilized pint jars with the prepared horseradish. Fill the jars, seal them, and refrigerate. Do not process the jars. The horseradish will maintain full strength for a couple of weeks but will still be strong tasting for a month.
Horseradish mustard
1/2 cup dry mustard
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons grated horseradish root
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
6 whole black peppercorns, crushed (about 1/4 teaspoon ground)
2 whole allspice berries, crushed (about 1/8 teaspoon ground)
In a small bowl, whisk together the dry mustard and water until smooth. Let the mixture sit, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring twice.
Combine the vinegar, horseradish, salt, garlic, sugar, peppercorns and allspice in a food processor. Process until the garlic and horseradish are puréed. Drain the liquid by pressing through a very fine strainer.
Add the drained horseradish to the mustard mixture and place in the top of a double-boiler. Bring it to a simmer and stir constantly while cooking, about five minutes, or until thickened. (If the sauce is not thick enough use a cornstarch slurry to thicken.) Remove from heat and cool.
Seal the horseradish mustard in a pint canning jar and refrigerate. It will keep for months. However, the longer it sits, the more the heat will mellow.
Horseradish root... about 1 3/4 pounds (about 1 1/2 pounds after trimming)
Horseradish root in the blender (Do NOT breathe the vapors, believe me!!)
Into the canning jar
A bit more horseradish made into a mustard sauce
Can't wait... a bit of hard salami on a crostini with the horseradish-mustard sauce
