Susanne's Crafty Corner: Cooking

Do you like mustard? If so you will probably love home made mustard. What can I say? Everything that is home made by yourself just seems to taste much better then anything store bought. Before I give you a basic recipe for very nice mustard, lets talk about how you can influence the taste of it. More specifically, how you can make mellow mustard and how very hot mustard.

There are several factors that influence this. First, the kind of mustard seed used makes a big difference. There is yellow and black mustard seed, but only the black will give a nice mustard in my experience. You can mix with the yellow kind for a more mellow mustard, but don't use more then half of the total amount of mustard seed. The taste will be insipid when using more.

The type of fluid used also influences the result. When using vinegar, the mustard will be more mellow then when made with water. It is also the case that the mustard will be more mellow when kept out of the fridge. The mustard should "ripe" for about two weeks before use and the longer the mustard is kept at room temperature, the more mellow it will become. Adding extra stuff like honey, herbs and (dried) fruit can also make a very special mustard. Well, time for the recipe:

Basic mustard recipe

• 85 g black mustard seed
• 4 tablesp sugar (or honey)
• 1 teasp salt
• 1 teasp pepper (unground)
• 14 tablespl (herb/cider etc) vinegar, wine or water

You will als need a morter & pestle and a  jar. Before you start, boil the jar out and let it dry with the opening down on a clean rubbing cloth.

Take small amounts of mustard seed and grind it finely with your morter & pestle. Also grind the salt, pepper, any herbs you're using and the sugar. If you use honey instead of sugar, mix this with the liquid of your choice. Mix everything together and put it in the jar, let it rest overnight. The mustard will soak up a lot of the liquid so you'll have to add more the day after to get the desired consistency.

For variations you could try these:

- Add 1 teasp of minced garlic
- Add 2 tablesp of provencal herbs
- For a very hot mustard add 1 dried chili pepper and some garlic.
- Use 2 tablsp of truffle oil and water for truffle mustard etc etc.