Horseradish

Fresh made

Buy one of these gnarly looking roots at your fancy grocer.


Peel it with a carrot peeler.



Cut the ends off and pick out any dark spots.



Julienne and chop into 1/4" cubes.

About half of that root yielded 3/4 of a cup.



Break out the food processor. Load it up.

Recipes vary in quantity, but agree on ingredients. Sugar, salt, water.

I used 1 tbsp of water, 2 tsp of sugar, and just a dash of salt.

Thing about horseradish is this:

horseradish root usually keeps its harsh isothiocyanates safely contained in its cell walls under chemical lock and key. When the cells are damaged, enzymes in the root are able to free the isothiocyanates.

So, the longer you wait to add the vinegar, which halts the release of isothiocyanates, the stronger it will taste.




I waited about 25 min before I added vinegar.


I strained the excess water and added a couple tsp of light Mayo.

Its not crazy hot, but it gets your attention.


Edit: upon further review, it's crazy hot. My nose is running.

Nice! I have an aged Aunt who used to harvest roots around here somewhere. I need to ask her where. She'd hand out little jars of it.

Kinda makes me wish I liked horseradish.

isothiocyanates

And just the other day footer suggested an emulsion. After Alton Brown did his thing, it's like we've all taken AP Chemistry and Physics and are applying it to our food. I dig it!

Gravdigr;961612 wrote:

Kinda makes me wish I liked horseradish.

Commie

That right there is an un-American activity.

lumberjim;961596 wrote:

Edit: upon further review, it's crazy hot. My nose is running.

Ha! Hope you didn't touch your wang.

With my nose? I'm not that flexible.

...which indicates that he's tried...:mock:

I wasn't trying to touch my nose. And neither were you when you tried.