The horseradish ice looks fancy but is easy to prepare. And when you take the icy sweet horseradish granita and the warm juicy tomatoes in one bite, summer meets winter, sweetness meets heat, and the saline beads of moisture on the surface of the tomatoes are enough to make a drizzle of olive oil wholly unnecessary. It nearly goes without saying, but this side dish is excellent with a steak.
6-8 servings
- Whisk together the milk, horseradish, sugar, and 3/8 teaspoon salt, and pour into a glass dish. Freeze for 1 hour, or until the milk at the sides of the dish begins to freeze.
- With a fork, rake the frozen sides into the slushy center. Freeze for another 30 minutes. Rake it again, and then freeze until solid, another 30 to 60 minutes. Just before serving, rake it again to make fresh shards of horseradish ice.
- Slice the tomatoes and lay them out on a platter. Drizzle the tomatoes with the lemon juice and sprinkle with a fine spray of salt, pepper, and the chopped parsley. Let sit until the tomatoes start to perspire from the salt, 15 minutes or so. Just before serving, top the tomatoes with raked clumps of horseradish ice. Rush to the table.
Excerpted from The New Midwestern Table by Amy Thielen, copyright © 2013, published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Amy Thielen
Amy Thielen grew up a few miles from the headwaters of the Mississippi River in rural Minnesota. She spent the early 2000s cooking professionally in New York under David Bouley, Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Shea Gallante. Since returning to Minnesota in 2008, she has written for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Men's Journal, and Babble. She is a freelance recipe developer and teaches cooking classes in her home kitchen and at schools in the Twin Cities. She lives in Park Rapids, Minnesota, with her husband and their young son. (Photo credit: Jennifer May.)