For anyone who thinks Twitter is for the birds, I suggest that the ability to tap into a collective consciousness of creativity on such a site is invaluable. Without Twitter, my homemade mustard would be called just that. With Twitter, and most specifically the assistance of one @DecantChicago, my homemade mustard gets an appellation worthy of an appellation designation: Moutarde d’Albany.
Named for my neighborhood, Albany Park, Moutarde d’Albany is a Dijon-style sharp creamy mustard aged 75 days.
The basic recipe, which seems to be the same on all over the internet is as follows:
- 2 cups dry white wine
- 1 cup minced onion
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tbsp honey
- 4 oz dry yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp hot sauce
In a small saucepan, heat garlic, wine and onion, bringing to a boil. Then simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Set aside in a bowl for 10 minutes. Add the dry mustard into saucepan and slowly strain the heated wine mixture over top to remove the solids. Whisk until smooth, ensuring to remove any lumps. Add honey, salt and hot sauce. Place over medium low heat and stir until the mixture thickens. It will set up more as it cools. Remove from heat, cool, then store in a (previously boiled) glass jar. Refrigerate.
But there’s certainly a lot more mustard fun to be had. First off, why use ground mustard when you can start from scratch! Also, why just add spices when you can add herbs!
So, I went with this:
In two cups of apple cider vinegar, soak 1/2 cup brown mustard seed, 3 crushed cloves, a small bunch of cracked peppercorns, a teaspoon each ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, a few sprigs of chervil, the leaves of some thyme sprigs and a healthy portion of tarragon. Also, minced garlic and some bay leaves and salt. Actually, I am not sure if I was hallucinating when I wrote all that. If you want to know how to make mustard, go check out the actual recipe page.
Leave that to sit for a few days.
Then, blend it until smooth in a Vitamix. If you don’t have a Vitamix, you’ll likely have to strain it. Pour it into a glass jar and let sit for 75 days.
