In my house, mom wants every holiday menu to be exactly the same, and what mom says goes. We have matzo ball soup on Thanksgiving and turkey during Chanukah, and without fail, the buffet line will end with a Bundt shaped cranberry Jell-O mold with mini marshmallows — always for dinner, never for dessert.
But Passover, by default, is a little bit different. Since there’s no challah to dip in the soup and no crackers for the baked Brie, there’s one day a year that I’m given the poetic license to spruce up the holiday with a few fun sides.
Though I offered to make the gefilte fish from scratch this year, mom wasn’t ready to make that leap. It’ll still come from a jar that expires in 2017, and it’ll still be served evenly spaced on a platter of lettuce, evocative of the era of perfection salad. (And I’ll still love it, mom.)
But this year, mom has allowed me to add some zest to the gefilte accompaniments, so I’ve decided we’ll be topping our fish loaf with carrot citrus horseradish from The Gefilteria. Since The Gefilteria is no longer producing this Passover appropriate condiment, they’ve released the recipe, allowing seder-goers to make it from scratch.
So, mom, get excited for this year’s homemade, farmers-market sourced, organic and seasonal carrot citrus horseradish. I’m willing to bet Moses wouldn’t have had it any other way.
—
The Gefilteria’s carrot citrus horseradish
Yields about 24 oz.
1 lb. carrots, washed, peeled, and trimmed
1/2 lb. horseradish root, washed, peeled, and trimmed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup kosher for Passover white vinegar
1 cup water
3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Place carrots in a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover them. Boil carrots until lightly cooked but not mushy (about 5 minutes, although times vary depending on thickness of carrots), drain and set aside.
2. In a separate saucepan, combine water with the sugar and vinegar. Heat until mixture arrives at a slow boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Place horseradish root in food processor with cooked carrots, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt. Pulse processor, pouring vinegar solution into the processor gradually, making sure to stir ingredients between pulses. You do not want the mixture to be soupy, so add liquid only until the carrot-horseradish mix is fully coated, shiny and moist. Be careful not to put your face too close to the processor while taking the top off. It will be intense!
4. Place horseradish in a sealed container. Add more vinegar solution if mixture looks dry. Let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before eating.
Want more than Manischewitz to serve with your seder? Read our story about Gefilteria’s beet kvass here.
