During Oktoberfest we’ve been making our own sausages, which are very good. To be frank, a commercially produced sausage does not even come close to our house-made one. Believe you me I have eaten just about any sausage out there.
(house-made mustards)
The control of each step in the sausage making and the balanced list of fresh ingredients -- starting with excellent small farm raised meats, fresh herbs, fresh garlic and instantaneous spice grinding makes all the difference. We have the sausage-making down by now.
Condiments
I love condiments. Commercially there are plenty available such as Dijon mustard, ketchup, A1 sauce … just to name a few. Different sausages need various flavored mustards which we have been crafting from scratch -- it’s a piece of work but well worth in my opinion.
Beyond “French’s”
There are actually 3 kinds of mustard seeds - white, brown and black. Black mustard is hard in texture and the most pungent in flavor. White mustard seeds are much larger compared to the other varieties and much less pungent. Brown mustard seeds are somewhere between in flavor, and are often used in combination with the other mustard seeds to get the desired flavor blend. It reminds me a lot of the blending of grapes in the wine making process to achieve the desired balance of flavor profile. Brown mustard is your everyday Joe and is used in your usual ballpark mustard and in pickling.
(Oktoberfest wiener sausage with red wine mustard)
Making basic mustard
There are really no boundaries in flavoring your mustard. Following are steps for making your own basic mustard, using 2 cups of brown mustard seeds.
- Cover mustard seeds with water then place in the refrigerated and store in the refrigerator.
- Pour mustard seeds in a strainer then rinse (this will clean away the slimy residue – which is normal)
- In a pot cook mustard seeds on low heat setting (1 to 1½ hours or until mustard seeds are soft). Stir bottom of pot every once in a while with a pastry spatula to prevent scorching
- Pour cooked mustard seeds into a strainer then rinse with cold water
- Blend mustard seeds in a kitchen processor until a smooth texture is achieved (5-8 minutes) and add 2 cups of rice vinegar, Kosher-style salt and cayenne
Here are some mustard ideas for spicing things up (not to be used all together!)
- Cook 1 cup of red wine until reduced to 1 tablespoon then add to basic mustard
- Cook 1 cup of blueberries in a pot covered with a tight fitting lid on low heat setting for 10-15 minutes and add to mustard
- Add 1 tablespoon of Sriracha or 1 tablespoon of Tabasco for mustard with a kick
- In a pot on low heat setting cook 6 cloves of peeled garlic in ½ cup vegetable oil until soft then add to basic mustard
(house-made curry and tomato mustard)
Mustard Competition
There is plenty of space for creativity to create your own favorite mustard. Drop me a note with your mustard flavor idea (don’t worry about the recipe –we’ll create it). If we choose it to serve in the restaurant you’ll win dinner for two in our new restaurant Brats – Dogs & Wieners!
(mustards every where...get your creative juices flowing)
