HORSERADISH BUTTER

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Horseradish butter is a natural match and

delicious topping for perfectly cooked beef

tenderloin.  Don’t be daunted by the thought

of making your own prepared horseradish. 

There are many recipes that warn about

making this inside and recommend doing it

outdoors somewhere, using rubber gloves,

and wearing protective eyewear.  Unless

you are unable to refrain from stuffing your

head in the blender or spraying your kitchen

with the mixture, those warnings make it sound

scarier than it is.  It is a definitely a strong smell though so do resist the temptation to hover your head over the blender.  Make sure the blender lid is on tight and wash your hands thoroughly after preparation is in a safe jar of some kind.   If you are looking for that gourmet restaurant touch to your steak, it isn’t very hard to do.

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Start with a piece of fresh horseradish root.  Look for one with few blemishes and no signs of mold; the whiter the better.  This recipe is for a small batch as it lasts for about four weeks in your refrigerator and unless you use it in every meal, it will go to waste.  You can usually find horseradish root at Choices Market in Vancouver.

 

INGREDIENTS:
 

• 1/4 cup white vinegar

• 1 half-teaspoon salt

• Horseradish root – four or five inches goes along way – cut tough peal away exposing white center and chop into small pieces – should be around a cup.

Put the horseradish root in a blender or food processor and pulse a few times, and then increase speed until it looks shredded.

Next add the salt, vinegar, and blend.  Note the longer you wait to add the vinegar the stronger the end preparation will be.  If you want a wetter consistency add a little more vinegar a teaspoon at a time.

Place in a jar or bottle and store in refrigerator.  It gets better after a couple of days.

To turn this into the horseradish butter, soften an equal amount of butter to the amount of prepared horseradish you will use.  So if you were serving steak for two, a couple of tablespoons of butter to a couple of tablespoons horseradish would be a generous amount.

 

Of course you could skip the entire recipe above and buy a good bottle of prepared horseradish, making sure it's additive free can be tough though as lots of companies are adding calcium chloride or potassium sorbate. There are additive free ones out there, you just have to read a lot of labels to find them.

Mix the butter and horseradish shape into balls with a spoon.  Place them on wax or parchment paper and return them to your refrigerator until steaks are ready.  Voila!  You have a gourmet restaurant style steak topper.  For a variation you can add a little crumbled blue cheese to the mixture as well.  Enjoy!

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