Colonel Mustard

I know, I am on such a condiment kick lately. Is it getting too obnoxious? Sorry about that...but I have discovered that eating out of your backyard means, a lot of meals have the potential to be a bit same-y. And we can't have that. Variety is the spice of life, don't you know. Which means, having an arsenal of condiments to pull out of the cupboard or the fridge at a moment's whim is rather essential to not being bored to death with your otherwise-much-desired-dinners.

I highly advocate making your own mustard. Really. It is sooooo simple, and smells amazing. Well, if you consider to be "amazing" to include the potential to vaporize your sinuses, it qualifies for that adjective. (I've been having a wee bit of a sinus issue lately, so sniffing mustard...ooooh, now THAT is breathing clearly!)

I totally hijacked this recipe from this wonderful little blog I found via Facebook, called What Julia Ate. Man, that is one girl who eats well. It is, again, incredibly easy to make your own mustard. The hardest part is waiting for it to soak overnight before you spread it on your sandwich or dip a pretzel in it. Mine is a teensy bit modified from hers, mostly because I couldn't find brown mustard seed at the bulk food shop yesterday. As always, remember: When cooking with alcohol, pick what you would drink, not the crap you'd go and boil a bratwurst in.

Beer Horseradish Mustard
You will need: Six (6) Tablespoons mustard seed (I used all yellow seed); 1/3 cup cider vinegar; 1/3 cup good beer (I used New Glarus Fat Squirrel Brown Ale--oooh, nummy); 1 giant, heaping Tablespoon prepared Horseradish (grated or cream style, you pick. I used cream style because it's what was in the fridge); 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or whatever salt you've got).
Combine all ingredients in a pint sized jar, preferrably with a wide lid opening. Pop on a cover, and shake to mix well. Place in the fridge and soak overnight. Next morning, take the lid off and stick your immersion blender into the jar. If you don't have one of these, use your blender, Bullet blender, or food processor. Whirl until it is pureed a bit. You will still have whole seeds, but some will become paste-like and thicken up your lovely mustard. You can eat some now, or allow it to sit and mellow out for a couple more days before giving it a try. I will warn you, using beer when making mustard makes one heck of a hot mustard, so this is quite spicy. If you are a fan of spicy, rough looking mustards with lots of whole seeds, you will love this one. And the kick of horseradish ain't bad, either. Cover with a tight fitting lid, and it will keep in your fridge for months. I doubt it will last that long before being consumed in all sorts of ways, but like all mustards, the rule of thumb is to toss it and make new in about three months or so. With all the mustard oils, vinegar and potent horseradish, you are very unlikely to get any nasty growth of bacteria, but dipping a spoon or knife into the mix does add a bit of risk. So, follow the three month rule, people.

I can't wait to try this on some nice roasted ham for dinner this evening!