While growing up I would often come home from a long day of skateboarding or mountain biking and open my parent refrigerator looking for a quick bite to eat. I would often be encountered by bottles upon bottles of condiments ranging from a new spicy ketchup, a flavored mustard, an array of barbecue sauces, and everything in between. We often joked that the refrigerator was just for condiments. There were just that many, and I am not kidding around.
To this day, I open my refrigerator and think to myself ‘what have they done?’. Shuffling around condiments trying to fit in something I am trying to marinate. I have an Asian section, an American section, and sections of bbq sauce, mustards, and well, everything in between. But if there is one condiment I lean towards on a regular basis, it is mustard.
I was never a ketchup guy, and to this day rarely dabble in it. I’m that guy who when a burger and fries is served it the burger as I ordered it, typically with no condiments, and I squirt a generous amount of whatever mustard they have near my fries. I am a mustard and hot dog guy, no ketchup. And if there is one thing that is dear to me, it is a soft pretzel with mustard. To be that is one of my favorite snacks. It was growing up, and it is to this day.
So recently I have been diving into the world of making different types of mustard. Mustard after all can take on so many different flavors, colors, and textures, and to me that is always appealing when it comes to creating something, and furthermore, experimenting with flavors. So with my soft pretzel in mind, I decided to whip up a beer mustard, using Guiness as the star beer, and let me just say now, wow. Start making mustard.
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
- 3 tbsp brown mustard seeds
- 1/3 cup of champagne vinegar
- 1/3 cup of Guiness Extra Stout beer
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp tumeric powder, for color
Begin by lightly toasting the mustard seeds over medium heat. You only want to toast the seeds for a few minutes, shaking the pan every minute or so to move them around. During this time combine the other ingredients into some small tupperware. Remove the seeds and add them into the mixture. Give a good shake, let the mixture come to room temperature, then cover, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
The following day, add the mixture to a food processor or blender. Process until you have your desired texture. My mustard shown here was pulsed down in a mini food processor for about three minutes. I wanted it to be course so that you knew you were eating a mustard. Soft in texture, and huge in flavor.
This guiness mustard was so good. You got hints of the beer, and texture was just spot on. Simple ingredients, once again yielding huge flavors. I’m sure my roasted garlic mustard, horseradish mustard, and serrano chili mustard are going to be just as good. I just need to find room in the refrigerator for them. Enjoy.