Harmony Valley Farm: December 15, 2022 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Horseradish

Well friends, this is it. The final CSA box of the 2022 season. We have eaten our way through spring, summer, fall and now we will eat our way through winter as we circle back to do it all again! Thank you for coming along with us for the ride this year and I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey. This last box is packed with a lot of potential and I hope you find some delicious ways to put these vegetables to use this winter. Lets kick off this week’s Cooking With the Box article with our featured vegetable, horseradish. Our featured recipe this week is for Crispy Potato Horseradish Cakes (see below), a simple recipe that pairs well with a simple burger for dinner or serve it with fried eggs for breakfast. I also included a past recipe for homemade Prepared Horseradish, a simple means of having finely chopped horseradish ready for use in your refrigerator. Additionally, I have included more horseradish recipe suggestions gleaning ideas from around the world!

As I was researching horseradish recipes and uses this week, I came across this recipe for Pyttipanna—Swedish Hash. This is a classic Swedish dish made from diced leftover meat, potatoes, and onion. Traditionally it is served as a midweek meal, but may be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The name of this dish translates to “Teeny Pieces in a Pan.” Many versions of this recipe are available on the internet, as each cook customizes it to fit their needs and likes. So, do not be afraid to improvise by substituting some of the potato with other vegetables such as carrots. This dish is traditionally served with pickled beets or gherkins.

Photo from www.swedishfood.com

I found several interesting recipes utilizing celeriac, starting with this recipe for Curried Celeriac. In sticking with inspiration from Indian cuisine, you may wish to serve it with Beetroot Chapatti.

As we move into the winter holidays, consider making this elegant Savory Potato Tart with Celeriac & Porcini Mushrooms. It’s a rich dish full of earthy flavors that would make a lovely vegetarian main dish for Christmas dinner.

Another classy vegetarian main dish recipe is Celeriac & Lentils with Hazelnuts and Mint. If you are a fan of Ottolenghi, this is one of his recipes.

I tried to include a wide variety of suggestions this week ranging from Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas to Roasted Butternut Squash Pie and Cardamom Pistachio Carrot Cake. Sometimes winter roots and storage vegetables can become repetitive, but there really are so many different ways to put these winter storage vegetables to use and I guarantee that with a little bit of creative cooking, you need not grow weary of any vegetable this winter!

Thanks again for your support of our farm this season. We hope you enjoy the winter months and look forward to growing for you again next year. See you in May for ramps, asparagus and rhubarb!

—Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Horseradish

by Andrea Yoder

We’re wrapping up the season with a unique vegetable that is more of a condiment and less of the main attraction. Horseradish is a bold, pungent vegetable with powerful plant compounds that give it its peppery flavor, but also have the ability to attack cancer cells and boost our immune systems. As we head into winter, horseradish is a good health ally to add to your diet and it doesn’t take much to have an effect! If you’re not so sure about trying horseradish, I ask that you proceed with an open mind and give it a try. You just might be surprised!

Horseradish is a perennial that we plant in the fall from seed pieces that are taken from cuttings when the previous crop is harvested. A nice seed piece is a straight piece usually about 8-10 inches long with the diameter of a fat pencil or a thin marker. Seed pieces grow off the main root which is the most saleable portion of the plant on the wholesale market. Any pieces that are smaller than is needed for wholesale or seed are called whips. Whips are usually thrown away, but this is actually the part of the root I prefer to work with for several reasons. First of all, I think the skin is thin and tender enough on these pieces that you don’t need to peel it. The less you have to handle horseradish, the better! I also think the whips are a more manageable size to deal with instead of a big root.

As I mentioned in the introduction, horseradish is intended to be used in small quantities as more of a condiment or accompaniment. The purpose of a condiment is to add and enhance flavor or even to introduce a new contrasting flavor to foods. Sometimes it plays its role by being incorporated into a dish while other times it may be served alongside. It may be freshly grated or chopped and added to foods, however once you start cutting, grating, or chopping horseradish you release the volatile oils that give horseradish its bite. This is when you need to make sure you have adequate ventilation to decrease the chances of your eyes tearing up. Also, make sure you wash your hands after handling horseradish, so you don’t accidently get these peppery oils in your eyes. While many recipes tell you to grate the horseradish on a box grater, this is difficult to do with the smaller whips. My recommendation is to just cut the whips into 1–2-inch pieces and chop them finely in a food processor. You could also use a blender, a hand chopper or a basic chef’s knife.

When using fresh horseradish, it’s important to chop or grate it as close to when you’re going to eat it as the volatile oils that contribute to its flavor will dissipate into the air and disappear. Once it’s chopped, you either need to eat it right away, add it into a liquid such as cream or milk that you want to infuse, or stabilize the oils so the flavor and spice remains. Often times you’ll see a recipe that calls for “Prepared Horseradish.” This refers to horseradish that is pre-chopped/grated and stabilized in a vinegar solution which sets the flavor and prevents it from dissipating. It is very easy to make “Prepared Horseradish,” and you can keep prepared horseradish in the refrigerator for several weeks like this before it will start to lose its pungency. This can be super handy to have as you can just take a teaspoon or two as needed for different recipes without having to chop it fresh every time.

Richard checking the Horseradish field

Horseradish goes well with rich and fatty foods such as salmon, beef, sausage, and ham. It also goes well with more acidic foods such as tomatoes, apples, lemons, and other citrus. It’s a good accompaniment to mild foods that give it a base, such as sour cream, cream, butter, seafood, potatoes and root vegetables. Prime rib and/or roast beef is often served with a creamy horseradish sauce. Horseradish is a key ingredient in the classic ketchup-based cocktail sauce served with poached shrimp. If you’re into Bloody Marys, you’ll know horseradish is part of this drink recipe as well.

Store your horseradish whips in the refrigerator in the bag we’ve packed them in for you. They will keep for not just weeks, but months. If you don’t like spicy things or don’t think you’ll like horseradish, consider giving it a try and just start small. Stir a little bit of freshly chopped horseradish into mayonnaise and spread it on a sandwich or make horseradish cream and drizzle it lightly over roasted root vegetables. You just might find you like that little bit of kick and flavor it adds!

Take a moment to visit our Cooking With the Box article on our blog this week where I have provided links to over 10 recipe suggestions to get you started!

Crispy Potato Horseradish Cakes

Yield: 4-6 servings

Photo from food52.com

1 onion, grated

3 large potatoes, peeled and grated

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, plus more, as needed

2 large eggs

3Tbsp finely grated fresh horseradish

½ tsp lemon zest

¼ cup fresh dill or 1 Tbsp dried dill

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground

6 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup crème fraiche or sour cream

In a bowl, combine the onion and potato. Dust with the flour and mix to disperse it. Add the eggs, horseradish, lemon zest, dill, salt and pepper, and mix until well combined.
In a large non-stick sauté pan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Once the bubbles from the butter subside, spoon 3 heaping tablespoons of the potato mixture into the sauté pan. Repeat, making 8 to 12 pancakes. Cook pancakes about 4 minutes on each side, assuring that both sides are well browned and the potato is cooked through. Reduce the heat of the pan if the potato cakes are browning too quickly in order to make sure the inside is cooked completely. Remove the cakes to a paper towel lined plate as they finish, and season with salt while hot. You can cover them with foil and keep in a 200°F oven to stay warm until ready to serve.
To serve, transfer potato cakes to a platter and dollop each one with crème fraiche.

Recipe courtesy of Michael Symon as published on www.foodnetwork.com.

2 comments:

Pola Rest said...: No potatoes are listed in the ingredients. I think they got left out. Please advise.; December 14, 2022 at 5:41 PM
CSA Coordinator said...: Pola, thank you for catching that. I have the corrected now to include:
1 onion, grated
3 large potatoes, peeled and grated; December 15, 2022 at 8:23 AM