kitchen firsts: homemade horseradish + potato salad

I seem to be on a bit of a condiment kick these days! This week I finally got around to making horseradish from scratch, which had been on my to-try list for quite awhile. I actually already bought and wasted a horseradish root once a few weeks back, but my desire for potato salad with horseradish (scroll to the bottom if you’re in it for the potato salad only!) on the Fourth of July was strong enough to send me to the store for a second root.

I initially had a little trouble motivating myself to take the time (and dirty the food processor) to make something I could buy at the store in a little jar all ready to go. But now that I’ve tried preparing horseradish myself, I have to say that making your own is fun! I totally wouldn’t judge anyone for buying it pre-prepared, and for general purposes I will still be keeping a store-bought jar on hand, but I’ve also learned that it’s really quite quick to make, it tastes fresh, and it packs a real punch (although of course you get to dilute it at your discretion when you cook with it if you don’t want it too spicy). And it keeps for about a month in the fridge so you’ll have time to use it up in all kinds of tasty preparations– I’m including recipes below for how to prepare the root and how to make a delicious creamy horseradish sauce with it (great on sandwiches, steak, or pork), as well as the recipe for my current favorite potato salad with a horsey kick. If you’ve never tried using homemade horseradish in your cooking, I encourage you to give it a try! But of course, if you are not in possession of a horseradish root or inclined to whip out the food processor, both the creamy horseradish sauce and the potato salad can be made with store-bought horseradish. I hope that either way, some horseradish might make its way onto your menu this holiday weekend! Happy Fourth of July!

quesadilla pie

How did cinco de mayo come and go already? Usually we have a little fiesta at our place and use it as an excuse to go crazy with Rick Bayless recipes (I saw him tweeting about a bacon queso fundido the other day…), but somehow it kind of snuck up on me this year and we were without a mexi-plan for the evening! We ended up doing a quick but tasty taco potluck with friends, but I realized afterwards that I happened to have a little something in my recipe backlog that I’ve been meaning to post that would have been perfect for a cinco de mayo dinner (maybe if I had posted it a few days ago…): quesadilla pie! Luckily, it is awesome enough to enjoy on seis de mayo, siete de mayo, and just about any other day of the year.

new takes on toast

I’ve been sitting on these two recipes for weeks now and I almost feel guilty about it, they are so good. We are big fans of breakfast for dinner (b4d!) and weekend brunches around here, but I have to admit that as tasty as they are, things like scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, and even breakfast burritos get a bit tired after awhile. These two breakfasts, tartiflette toast and french toast with oats and almonds were a complete breath of fresh air.

Mushroom, Potato, and Chorizo Tacos

I’m always on the lookout for new recipes to incorporate into our mexican cooking repertoire.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to go wrong with beans, cheese, avocados, and salsa wrapped, folded, or otherwise squished into a tortilla, but I do love a good way to spice it up.  I used to be all about cooking up bits of boneless skinless chicken breast as my way of amping up the dish, but you know what’s better?

Chorizo!