Mustard

This weekend I am out of town in Haines for the 20th Annual Great Alaska Craft Beer and Home Brewer Festiva! But am hoping to toss a brisket into a brine for a corned beef when I return. Seems only natural to have a hot mustard to go with it.

"A good mustard should have heat.
It should quickly rise up through the nose,
bring a tear to the eye and then as rapidly, dissipate,
opening all the senses to the full flavours on the plate."

-- Mephasnifanis

I like this quote wanted and to make a mustard that would do it justice; pack some punch and cut through the richness of the meat, but without overtaking or confusing the flavours. For me, this means chili powders.

My favorite chili trio for the moment is smoked paprika, and chipotle and ancho chili powders however I am also going to incorporate a new favorite: Chimayo chili powder.

I'm following a recipe for spicy beer mustard I found on seriouseats (my favorite food blog at the moment). - with a few tweaks.

Here is what I used:


1 cup yellow mustard seeds
1 cup gluten free beer, divided, and a few others for the cook.
1 oz of bourbon, also for the cook.
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons dark molases
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/3 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/3 teaspoon ancho chili powder
1/3 teaspoon Chimayo chili powder


Here in the Yukon I am at the mercy of our grocery stores, and long truck hauling distances. As a result I often come up short on ingredients - this time I unfortunately came up short on an important one: brown mustard seeds.

Step 1: combine mustard seeds, vinegar and half a cup of beer in a container. Immediately drink rest of beer. If the mustard seeds are still too dry, quickly drink another beer. Then get into the bourbon. Store container in fridge over night. 

Step 2: In a sauce pan, mix together a half cup of beer and the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Set aside and allow to cool.

Step 3: In a blender, combined mustard seeds (in their soaking liquid) with the cooled mixture. Let it rest in the fridge over night and its good to go.

I've been wanting to take a crack at making my own mustard since I started running short of some of Anton Kozlik's dijon and hot russian that I took home from the St. Lawrence Market a month back. 

I spread a bit on some toasted pumpernickel and topped it off with some spicy eggplants in oil.

I think Mister Kozlik still deserves the honor of using the Kernal Mustard playing piece in the game of clue (should he ever chalenge me to a match), but I'm pretty happy how this turned out, and am excited to try new flavour combinations now that the cat is out of the bag.