Porcini Infused Mustard

I love mustard and I love Porcini Mushrooms. What a great combo. But could I actually make mustard from mushrooms? I decided to give it a shot. All in all it was easy to do but with all creations it's a work in progress. I am not following a recipe which makes this fun and interesting. Add a little of this, a little of that and voilá you have a new recipe. Mustard is a little harder to create from scratch because you really don't know how it's going to taste for a couple of weeks. 

There is nothing complicated about this recipe other than combining ingredients and waiting. 

It may not look like it but here lies 3 oz of porcini mushrooms.

 I posted this picture to point out that specificity is important. This is exactly 2 grams of pepper corns.  

To a pot add the mushrooms, Wine, bay leaf, onions garlic and peppercorns. Simmer covered for 40 minutes than let rest for about 2 hours off the burner.  

After the elapsed time this is what it looks like.

 


Place a sieve lined with cheesecloth (butter-muslin is my favorite) over a pot and toss in mushroom concoction. 

Squeezed like no tomorrow. 

To this liquid bath of infused mushrooms I added the mustard seeds. I was not looking for a strong pungent mustard so I made sure the liquid was not cold but room temperature. I soaked the mustard seeds for two days at room temp which will create a less pungent mustard. After two days I tossed everything into a blender and added Balsamic Vinegar, Agave, more wine, mustard powder and salt. I processed until a desired texture was reached which of course is different for everyone. I refrigerated the mixture and tasted it after about 3 days. After three days I didn't like it at all. I waited another 3 days and low and behold the flavors started to improve. After about 8 days it really started tasting good. After about 2 weeks all the flavors started coming together. 


When it finally emerged from the refrigerator (14 days later) the mustard seeds had absorbed too much of the liquid so I adjusted the consistency with a little water. I also added a pinch of salt. It definitely need just a pinch more salt. That's the thing with mustard.... it requires time and patience. 

Review- It came good but not fantastic. I wanted more porcini flavor. I already have ideas on how I can tweak it to give it a more pronounced flavor. 

1. Add dried Porcini powder
2. Use water instead of wine

Apricot Brandy Mustard

A mustard born out of waffles. What? I have huge racks in my garage that contain lots of containers & food items. Anyhow while searching for my baking container to make some waffles I came upon some Apricot Brandy. An Apricot mustard is born.

Assemble your ingredients. Everyone has a different take on the best way to make mustard and they're all good. This is my method. I will talk about some other ones below. In fact I need to do a side by side comparison using different approaches to capture the nuances of each technique.

Mustard seeds measured out. If you notice in all my posts I use weight instead of volume. I find using weight is far more precise than volume and it make it easier to replicate a recipe. To the mustard seeds add the 170 grams of Apricot Brandy and mix and cover. Refrigerate until seeds can be broken between your fingers. Some people only wait a day. I like waiting three days. I have tried 24 hours and I found the seeds aren't soft enough for my liking. I have heard of people going as long as a week and with no degradation in mustard flavor. 

So after the elapsed time I tossed everything in my Vitamix. All done!!! Taste it I dare you. It doesn't taste all that great. After four days to seven days it will be great. Just be patient. If it's still too pungent just wait a little longer. 

Overall it came out pretty good. I wish more apricot flavor would have come through. I will have to adjust the recipe for the next batch. The mustard "Bark" will have to be toned down a bit in order for the apricot flavors to be more pronounced. 

How to process? I personally put the mustard in clean sterilized jars and refrigerate. Some people will hot pack. They heat the mustard up to about 180˚ƒ and place in hot sterilized jars and invert creating a vacuum and place in refrigerator or on shelf. My PH meter reader broke so I don't know the PH of the mustard (needs to below 4.6). The absolute proven processing technique is to hot pack and process on stove using the Hot Water bath Method. 

Note: Some people like adding the vinegar and other liquids right up front. I like to add the vinegar at the end. When you add the the vinegar in the beginning it will make a milder mustard. The temp plays a role too. Everything is a chemical reaction. Again, I need to do a side by side comparison. 

The Pungency of Mustard is always reduced by heating.

Cabernet Sauvignon Mustard

Wine and Mustard is always a great match. The famous Dijon Mustard is made with White Wine and and White Wine Vinegar. Mine is made with a Cabernet Sauvignon and Red Wine Vinegar. 

Instructions.....

To a stainless steel sauce pan add the onions and garlic. Add the wine. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes and reduce to 1/3. Strain and weigh. Add additional wine to bring back up to 270 grams. Combine mustard seeds and Wine and mix. Store in refrigerator for 2-3 days or until you can break a mustard seed between your fingers. 

Pretty pictures capturing what I wrote above.

Place in refrigerator for three days. 

After three days add everything to a blender and process until desired consistency. Add the marjoram at the end and only after everything is blended.  

All done!!! Taste it I dare you. It doesn't taste all that great. After four days it will be great. Just be patient.

How to process?

I personally put the mustard in clean sterilized jars and refrigerate. Some people will hot pack. They heat the mustard up to about 180˚ƒ and place in hot sterilized jars and invert creating a vacuum and place in refrigerator or on shelf. My PH meter reader broke so I don't know the PH of the mustard (needs to below 4.6). The absolute proven processing technique is to hot pack and process on stove using the Hot Water bath Method. 

Note: Some people like adding the vinegar and other liquids right up front. I like to add the vinegar at the end. When you add the the vinegar in the beginning it will make a milder mustard. The temp plays a role too. Everything is a chemical reaction. Again, I need to do a side by side comparison. 

The Pungency of Mustard is always reduced by heating.

Gingerbread Stout Mustard

It was a serendipitous moment while shopping at Costco. I was scoping out availability of fresh Turkeys because the day is soon upon us and I was looking for a Stout Beer to make mustard. Talk about a kizmit and perfect pairing. Thanksgiving and Gingerbread Stout Mustard.....Oy. 

Assemble your ingredients. Everyone has a different take on the best way to make mustard and they're all good. This is my method. I will talk about some other ones below. In fact I need to do a side by side comparison using different approaches to capture the nuances of each technique. 

Mustard seeds measure out. If you notice in all my posts I use weight instead of volume. I find using weight is far more precise than volume and it make it easier to replicate a recipe. To the mustard seeds add the 250 grams of Stout and mix and cover. Refrigerate until seeds can be broken between your fingers. Some people only wait a day. I like waiting three days. I have tried 24 and I find the seeds aren't soft enough for my liking. 

Three days have passed. Toss mustard mixture and remaining ingredients in blender and process to desired consistency.

This is what it looked like after a spin in the vitamix.

All done!!! Taste it I dare you. It doesn't taste all that great. After four days it will be great. Just be patient. 

How to process? I personally put the mustard in clean sterilized jars and refrigerate. Some people will hot pack. They heat the mustard up to about 180˚ƒ and place in hot sterilized jars and invert creating a vacuum and place in refrigerator or on shelf. My PH meter reader broke so I don't know the PH of the mustard (needs to below 4.6). The absolute proven processing technique is to hot pack and process on stove using the Hot Water bath Method. 

Note: Some people like adding the vinegar and other liquids right up front. I like to add the vinegar at the end. When you add the the vinegar in the beginning it will make a milder mustard. The temp plays a role too. Everything is a chemical reaction. Again, I need to do a side by side comparison. 

The Pungency of Mustard is always reduced by heating.

Spiced Rum Mustard

This is my first mustard experiment. After reading just about everything I could on the subject I decided to take the plunge and make my own. It's very simple to make and the sky's the limit. Mustard recipes and varieties are only limited to imagination and technique. You can have two recipes that use almost identical ingredients but if your techniques differ you will have two different mustard's. 

Based on my research there are some basic steps to making mustard. You need mustard seeds or powder, a liquid and some salt. The rest is opinion and style. What do you want your mustard to taste like? How you go about making the mustard will be directly related to how you want it to taste. As I become more and more experienced I will give you some of my insights. 

Before I continue I wanna give credit where credit is due. I have been thinking about doing this for years but it wasn't until I saw a Chef Garrett Pittler on Talk of the Town make it that I decided to take the plunge and start making my own. 

As you can tell I assembled a slew of ingredients. This is not even half of them. I have lots more. 

I decided to do with Spiced Rum because it's so damn good. I plan on using a lot of different alcohols in my mustard's.  


So very simple to do. I took the first 5 ingredients and mixed them together. I should have added a little bit more  rum or water to the bowl but I could not predict how much the seeds were going to absorb. Not a big deal at all. Now you need to wait 24 hours or more for the mustard seeds to absorb the liquid. You wanna be able to break a seed between your fingers which will tell tell you when it's ready for the next step. I waited three days because of my funky schedule. 

After three days this is what it looked like.

Note: Some people don't use whole seeds. Some people will give them a slight toss in a spice mill to break them down a bit before adding liquid. Of course breaking down the seeds will will accelerate the absorption of the liquid. 

Now the easy part. I tossed everything into my vitamix and zipped it up. I had to add about 50 g more of water to get it to the right consistency. 

Mustard complete. You want to give the mustard a rest in the refrigerator before tasting. Go ahead and taste if you need to but it will be bitter. Two-three days later the mustard has had a chance to mellow and become a great mustard. After three days give it a taste and adjust if you have too. Fortunately for me I hit a home run and no adjustments were necessary. 

Bottled up for gifts. Not shelf stable and it will last longer of course; in the refrigerator. Considering it's ingredients it's hard to believe that anything can live in this concoction so it may be shelf stable but it will last longer in the refrigerator. You could probably set it out at room temp but the flavors will mellow sooner than later. 

I personally put the mustard in clean sterilized jars and refrigerate. Some people will hot pack. They heat the mustard up to about 180˚ƒ and place in hot sterilized jars and invert creating a vacuum and place in refrigerator or on shelf. My PH meter reader broke so I don't know the PH of the mustard (needs to below 4.6). The absolute proven processing technique is to hot pack and process on stove using the Hot Water bath Method. 

Note: Some people like adding the vinegar and other liquids right up front. I like to add the vinegar at the end. When you add the the vinegar in the beginning it will make a milder mustard. The temp plays a role too. Everything is a chemical reaction. Again, I need to do a side by side comparison. 

The Pungency of Mustard is always reduced by heating.

Things I have learned along the way: How hot is hot? Well it's all related to the mustard seed. Yellow is mild , Brown and Black seeds are pungent and hot. Let's talk liquid used to moisten seeds. The sky's the limit. Just use your imagination and choose something you like. 

There are some things to consider though when choosing your liquid. Adding cold water will give you the hottest mustard whereas vinegar will give you the least amount of heat and punch. Ahhh... adding warm water , well let's just say it won't be as hot or pungent as if using cold water. Ok what does this mean. If you add cold water only you get hot stuff but it's short lived. What does vinegar do? Vinegar gives mustard longevity and stability. If you add cold water and vinegar you get a mustard that will be a little less hot but is stable and will have sustained heat and punch. Using vinegar will stabilize your mustard and it will keep pungent flavor longer. Using just water will give you a maximum heat but it's short lived.  In this recipe I used the vinegar last to give it stability. 

So adding vinegar sets the mustard but made with water only will give you a mustard that short lived. You need balance. Oh and if you heat your mustard on the stove top keep it short because the mustard can become very mellow but if that's your thing disregard. 

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