Monday 30 May 2011

Ho Ho Horseradish!

Everything you read about growing, harvesting, grating & preserving horseradish is true!

It's easy to grow. I shall plant out this piece again and we'll have another good harvest next season. And any little pieces of roots that you leave in the ground will grow, too.It's a bugger to dig up, if the soil is rocky, hard and/or clay.Wash and peel the roots, then chop into chunks, and grate or grind in the food processor. Open the lid very, very, very carefully, and ideally in front of an open window. And away from your face. Don't breathe! The fumes are incredible. They'll clear your sinuses in no time!
Add some vinegar and salt, if you'd like to have some ready to eat. (Quantities are stated in a post written last season.)
Taste a tiny bit - it's potent stuff! You don't want it to blow off your head. It'll keep for quite a few months in the fridge. It will get milder in time.
Or add some cream to your grated horseradish for immediate use. Very, very nice! Especially with smoked salmon.
I've also filled several small containers with the grated horseradish and put them in the freezer. Nice! :)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your horeseradish looks good. My grandmother used to make her own HR preserve, it had a great flavour. I must grow some next season (tastebuds are doing cartwheels just thinking about it)
Jill

Veggie Gnome said...

Jill, you can have some roots to get you started, if you like. What kind of HR preserve did your grandmother make?

Katie M said...

Oh interesting! I planted some over Summer. The plant never looked expecially luxuriant, so I dont' know if it would have done much underground or not. Suppose I can only dig it up and see!

Sue Garrett said...

WE've grown horseradish for years but daren't use it!

Veggie Gnome said...

Hearts - give it a go! Let us know, if you do - and what you found. :)

Sue - it gets milder with the addition of vinegar and if you let it 'mature' for a few weeks/months. Or when you put it in cream. :)

Rowena said...

I appreciate this! We put in a young horseradish plant this year just out of curiosity and the vendor said that it'll be ready to harves in a couple of years. Your description of the potency will serve to remind me what to be careful of if the plant survives and does well in our garden. Great post!

Veggie Gnome said...

Rowena, good luck with your plant! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do. :)