Russian Stout Mustard

This is very similar to my Bourbon Barrel Stout Mustard.  After drinking this beer I knew I had to make mustard from this Russian Stout. Heck I am mostly Russian by blood so why not a mustard by yours truly.

Like many of my other mustard recipes SEE HERE everything starts out with seeds and a liquid. I won't go into a lot of details here because this is so similar to my Gingerbread Stout Mustard.  

Place beer and seeds in a bowl, give it a stir and place in refrigerator for 3 days. After three days place all ingredients in a food processor or in my case a vitamix. Add just enough water to help the blades process the seeds and and give it the texture you want. This is different for everyone. 

Note: there is no measurement for water. Depending on how much liquid the seeds absorbed the water content changes.

All done...

Note: In the Bourbon Barrel Beer Mustard I had use only 60 grams of Apple Cider Vinegar which created a Ph of 4.3 which was perfect for hot water bath canning. With the Russian Stout Mustard the Ph was averaging 4.68-4.72 so in order to CANN properly I added another 30 grams of Vinegar (Total of 90 grams) to bring it down to acceptable levels. For more details on how to can CLICK HERE.

Moroccan Mustard

I love Moroccan Food! So I decided to make a mustard using the traditional spices that are used to create this incredible cuisine. I own three Tajines which should tell you how much I love this food. 


Before I dive into the recipe and only if your interested take a look at some of my previous posts to understand more about mustard.

Combine and stir the mustard seeds with the Vinegar and the first Water listed in the recipe which would be 600 g. Cover and let sit for about 36-48 hours in the refrigerator. Note: Adding vinegar in the beginning will produce a less pungent mustard. If you want a pungent mustard add the Vinegar at the end with the rest of the ingredients. 

Let's talk about the other ingredients. When possible I like use whole spices but you don't have too. If you bought them whole make sure to grind them in a spice mill. Anyhow combine all the spices in a bowl and set aside. Measure out the sugar and honey in separate bowls. Note: I soak the bottle holding the Honey in hot water so it will pour easily and will combine with the rest of the ingredients with ease. Grab yourself a big ass blender and blend the seeds to your desired viscosity. Start adding the Spices, Sugar and Honey and water which is listed at the end of the recipe. Start adding the additional water listed at the end of the recipe to get the desired thickness. You may end up adding less or more depending on what you want. Let the mustard sit for a day or two in a bowl refrigerated and then test. How does it taste? Adjust from here. More Sugar, Honey Salt or whatever.  

Now on to the bottling or jarring of the mustard. I heated the mustard using a double boiler to 165 F degrees. After the mustard was heated through it was scooped into 6 oz jars and capped off. This is called hot packing. Note: the caveat to Water Bath Canning is the Ph has to be below 4.6.  After they were capped off the mustard was submerged into boiling water for about 15 minutes. Most recipes call for 10 minutes but I added five more minutes because during the hot packing I did not bring to a boil. Note: Heating the mustard will continue to mellow the mustard. I wanted the Moroccan flavors to come through. Note: you do not need to heat or hot pack or for that matter can. Just scoop the mustard into the jars and place in refrigerator. Again heating the mustard will create a less punject more mellow tasting condiment. 

Review- Simply delicious. Adding the vinegar in beginning really paid off. Of course heating the mustard also helped mellow the flavors. All the Moroccan flavors came through. This mustard could be used in many many applications. First thing I thought of was lamb. 

Wolfgang's Bourbon Barrel Beer Mustard

Drinking my buddies Bourbon Barrel Beer was nothing more than a full on pleasurable attack on my taste buds. Not a surprise that my palate was coerced into making Mustard. I mean after tasting this remarkably well crafted beer one would be derelict (or a Shmendrik) and a gastronomic buffoon (Schmuck) not to make something from this beer. Don't get me wrong drinking it was mighty satisfying but since I just love food and all things creative I knew I had to do something special.

Like many of my other mustard recipes SEE HERE everything starts out with seeds and a liquid. I won't go into a lot of details here because this is so similar to my Gingerbread Stout Mustard.  

Place beer and seeds in a bowl, give it a stir and place in refrigerator for 3 days. After three days place all ingredients in a food processor or in my case a vitamix. Add just enough water to help the blades process the seeds and and give it the texture you want. This is different for everyone. 

Note: there is no measurement for water. Depending on how much liquid the seeds absorbed the water content changes.

This is what they look like after three days. 

Everything mixed together.

Put in refrigerator for several days for so everything can come together. 

All done. I added about 125 grams of water to complete the mustard and gave it a whip with a whisk.

Review- It came out great. It will need several weeks in the refrigerator until it achieves the flavors I want. But that being said it damn good right now. 

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.