Mustard-makers may guard their recipes jealously… but it really isn’t all that hard to make your own mustard.
Ancient Romans made a quick and easy precursor to today’s mustard by pounding mustard seeds into powder, then mixing them with wine. This recipe is a little more involved than that!
What you need:
- 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 2/3 cup of apple cider
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1 tablespoon roasted red peppers, chopped
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds (the kind used to make common yellow mustard, plus English and German style mustard)
- 1/4 cup brown mustard seeds (the kind used to make fancy French mustard)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Boil the vinegar, cider, honey, peppers, salt, and turmeric together. While the mixture is still hot, add brown and yellow mustard seeds, then grind in a blender. Once the mixture is smooth, add the olive oil and mix again.
For a milder mustard, use more of the yellow mustard seeds and less of the brown mustard seeds. Brown mustard seeds tend to hold their heat and flavor longer than yellow or white mustard seeds do.
This recipe gives you about one and a quarter cups of a nice, grainy mustard — plenty of spice for your next cookout! If you want your mustard to be smoother, you can use a grain or coffee mill (grinder) to chop your mustard seeds to a smoother consistency.
There is a lot of room for experimenting with this recipe, too. Try using different liquids — like white wine, fruit juice, and even leftover pickle juice (if it’s very salty, reduce the salt you add). If your mustard turns out too hot, try adding more liquid or a bit of cornstarch to spread the mustard out. If you want a sweeter mustard, add more honey and/or a flavorful fruit juice. There is a third type of mustard seed available, too: black mustard. These seeds are popular in Indian cooking, but you can try them in your condiments, too!
If you come up with a delicious variation, please share the recipe! I’m a fan of mustard on more than hot dogs — I like to dip pretzels and top turkey burgers with the yellow stuff.
Aimee can be usually be found reporting on her adventures from the front lines of cat care in the Pets Blog and trying all sorts of health and beauty care on herself in the Health Blog.