Tomato Carpaccio with Horseradish Ice
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ cup grated fresh horseradish, or 3 tablespoons good-quality prepared horseradish
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Fine sea salt
- 2 pounds mixed heirloom tomatoes, beefsteak and cherry
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Whisk together the milk, horseradish, sugar, and ⅜ 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.
Notes
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.
Reprinted with permission from The New Midwestern Table by Amy Thielen.
