Mustard and How to Make Homemade Hot Mustard

Since Troy and Tracey started carrying whole spices and herbs in the store, I thought I'd share this great post on how to make homemade organic sugar free mustard from scratch. It's really easy to do and so amazing! 

First, let's talk about the medicinal benefits of this common culinary spice. Remember a spice is a seed or bark of an edible plant.  Not only does it make your hot dog taste good, but mustard has been revered for many thousands of years as a healer and purifier in natural medicine. I remember my grandmother talking about mustard poultices they would use to put on the chest of a very congested and sick person, only to see the sickness soon leave. Mustard has been used for years as a dietary aid to ease digestion and metabolize fat. Yeah...I should eat a lot more mustard dude. Give it to me straight. Do you think if I poultice it on my thighs it will help? Maybe? I imagine it will just make them look more bumpy.

 I  read here that  the Greek physician, Dioscorides, used Mustard as an emetic, and Pliny the Elder (23-79) noted in his Historia Naturalis that Mustard grew everywhere in Italy and was not only a great boon to cuisine, but he also listed forty medical remedies with Mustard as the chief ingredient.  At one time in  history mustard seed was believed to have strong aphrodisiac powers. 

I don't know about that...but  my husband Ace nearly fell over dead with amorous when he found out I knew how to make homemade mustard. 

Chef Tess Homemade Mustard

1/4 cup brown mustard seed

1/2 cup dry mustard power (1/4 cup if you don't want your mustard as hot)

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 clove pressed garlic

1/2 tsp crushed dill seed (optional)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup Braggs Organic Apple cider Vinegar

4 droppers of liquid Stevia (or 10 packets of Splenda brand sweetener)

2T UltraGel  modified food starch (optional)

1T fresh minced tarragon (optional)

1/2 tsp dry tarragon (optional)

Place mustard seeds (and dill seed if you use it) in a spice mill or coffee grinder and mill until a fine powder.

We have this cool organic yellow mustard seed powder for 8$ a pound! That's a smokin' deal eh? It so happens that a pound of mustard powder is 4 cups.

It fit perfectly into a quart size mason jar. Sealed with an oxygen pack it will last 2-3 years in your food storage.

You need to combine the dry ingredients. So...ya know. I don't want to get to tech-no-rocket-chef here, but the two mustards, the salt, the turmeric, the paprika and Ultra gel....

In a separate container combine the vinegar, water, stevia and minced garlic.

I used a fancy jar. 

Whisk the dry ingredients together and then add the wet ingredients and mix well.  

Add herbs if desired or enjoy plain. Keep in a glass jar or non-metal container in the fridge up to one month.

Do you prefer whole grain mustard?

Here's my recipe for that too.

Chef Tess' Homemade Whole Grain Mustard

1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds

2 Tablespoons brown mustard seeds

1/3 cup grape juice (or wine if you use wine in your cooking)

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar or high grade balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 tsp dill seed

Directions

In a non-reactive bowl, combine all ingredients and refrigerate overnight, covered.

Transfer the mustard mixture to a food food processor and process until mustard has obtained the desired texture and thickness. Store in an airtight, non-reactive container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

I first read about homemade mustard with Alton Brown and severely adapted it for sugar free organic uses--obviously if you use Splenda it would not be organic. However, if you don't need all that...Get Alton Brown's Recipe from Food Network's blog and the printable pdf  here.

There you go!

Highlights from the Spice Class

 I have to say, it was such a sweet highlight of my week to have the spice class at Preparing Wisely tonight! So many dear friends came to learn and share. Joy of joys to have my kindred-spirited sisters whom I've loved for so long join me once again! It made me smile. Well...smile more than usual. If that is possible.  There were also new faces. I'm so thankful for each one! Thank you all for being there.

So I thought I'd cover a little 101 for those who didn't make it or who are out of town. The first thing is...What is the difference between a spice and an herb?

 Herbs are the aromatic leaves, flowers and stems of plants. Fresh or dry work. Make sure you smell the jar. If it smells like the herb then the stuff inside is still full of flavor. If they smell like dust...then you are just going to be adding dust to your food. Eeewwww.  My darling friend Tina brought her spice rack and had quite a few jars that were very old and full of dust. So...we had an intervention party. I guess you had to be there, but the whole group was laughing at each new jar of dust as we cheered to see it emptied of the pointless "pretties" (like getting rid of a lame boyfriend who's good for nothing...) It was awesome! Very liberating and freeing.

Spices are seeds and bark. They will need to be ground. If you don't have a spice mill (not many do...then just buy the pre-ground and be sure it's fresh). For long term food storage, I purchase whole seeds and store them in non porous containers stored in colder temperatures (70 degrees or less) and preferably in the dark. 

We covered some of the basic homeopathic uses for culinary herbs. For the most part they ease digestion but there are quite a few very beneficial uses that are amazing!  That will have to be an entirely different post. There's a ton of information. 

The other thing we covered was basic herb combining and which flavors work together best for "ethnic" flavors. We made three identical pasta salads from the basic pasta salad recipe. Then we made three different salad dressings and had totally different and amazing salads! One Greek, one Mexican, and one Asian. This is where we didn't use a recipe. You read that right. No recipe. We're going to shut down our number crunching mind and start to trust our artistic ability. We're going to smell the jars! We're going to start to really get a feel for what's in the kitchen. It starts today. Mind you, I will give you some guidelines of herbs and spices that work together well...so you don't feel all together clueless.

Since we were in the store, we used all our freeze dried products instead of the fresh vegetables. You can't even tell the difference in a pasta salad.  We used Orzo pasta (it looks a lot like rice when cooked) but you can use cooked quinoa, barley, wheat or rice as the base instead. 

Basic Pasta Salad

1 lb pasta of your choice, cooked al dente and seasoned well with salt and pepper. (Lower carb? use of thin sliced cabbage will really improve that carb count.)

1 cup chopped bell pepper (1/2 cup dehyrated THRIVE mixed bell pepper hydrated with warm water 10 minutes)

1 cup carrots, shredded or chopped (1/2 cup freeze dried carrots, hydrated with 1/2 cup water)

1 stalk celery, sliced thin (1/2 cup freeze dried celery, hydrated with 1/2 cup water)

1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin or chopped fine (1/2 cup freeze dried onion, hydrated with 1/2 cup water)

Basic Vinaigrette (for pennies a jar...) (FAT free coming up in a few lines)

3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil Organic 

1/4 cup red wine vinegar or cider vinegar

1 tsp fresh pressed garlic

Herbs and spices

salt

pepper

Want fat free salad dressing? Did you know it's almost free to make if you have cornstarch and juice already in your cupboard? Use 3/4 cup vegetable broth or juice and 1/4 cup vinegar. In a cold sauce pan combine the vegetable broth with 1 T cornstarch. Add the liquid slowly and then when combined, cook on medium heat, boiling until thick, about 5-7 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and then add the vinegar and remaining herbs and spices. Use immediately. Keep refrigerated. If dressing gets thick simply add a little more vegetable broth to thin.

Flavors That Work Together Well

(Not a complete list of spices...just a guide) 

Italian:

Herbs: Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, flat leaf parsley, marjoram,

Spices: Fennel, caraway, crushed red pepper, celery seed.

Flavor Agents: hard cheeses like Parmesan, asiago. Olives, roasted peppers, citrus zest, capers.

Greek:

Herbs: Dill, Oregano, Rosemary, Mint, parsley,

Spices: Fennel, anise, black pepper, dill seed

Flavor agents: Feta cheese, olives, pickled peppers.

Asian:

Herbs: cilantro, mint, lemon grass, sesame oil (use 2 tsp in place of some of the oil)

Spices: Cumin, Chile paste, curry paste, fennel, ginger,

Flavor agents: lime zest, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, citrus zest, peanuts or cashews

Mexican:

Herbs: Cilantro, Oregano, thyme

spice: Cumin, coriander, Chile pods, black pepper, allspice

Flavor agents: lime zest, Roasted corn, green onions, radish, black olives.

Toss the herbs and spices in the dressing. The flavor agents can be added directly to the

basic pasta salad recipe. Mix and match fresh veggies as they are in season. Add fruit if

you like. For hearty dinners, add some roasted chicken or beef. Marinate meat in the

vinaigrette and save a lot of money on those fancy bottles of pre-made stuff. You can

do it. Start to feel yourself free up in the kitchen. It is very liberating. Enjoy.

Now for you folks who just want a grab and go dressing fix, you can just use the pre-made spice blends. You

know...fajita seasoning, Italian seasoning, Greek Seasoning... Don't hurt yourself if you don't feel able to do the artsy stuff yet. I'm patient... and it's a process. Feel the Love babe.  

Upcoming this next week will be herb and spice week! I will have highlights on specific herbs and spices, their homeopathic uses and what to do with them in your foodie food! It will be so fun! Plus...Troy has ordered into the store a lot of bulk organic spices at very very reasonable prices! So you can add these to your food storage without killing your budget. Come back again this upcoming week. It will be full of surprises!