Mustard-Making

After some success in making homemade, low-sodium versions of ketchup and relish, I had expected mustard-making to be a breeze. No so, by a long shot. I had been hoping to develop a low-sodium, whole grain mustard. After an expensive trip to Whole Foods for brown and yellow organic no-salt mustard seeds and champagne vinegar, I thought I was good to go.

My first effort flopped when I was unable to successfully process the mustard seeds in my antique food processor. I was left with a watery mess! Armed with a fresh supply of seeds, this time managing not to spill them all over the kitchen floor, I tried again.

This time, I turned to the March issue of Sunset, which includes a feature on homemade mustards. Soon I had a mustard mixture, including cognac, soaking on the kitchen counter for three days. Sounded promising but turned out to be yet another murky failure.

Third time being the charm, here is my low-sodium version of Sunset’s “Ballpark Beer Mustard”. I decreased the dry mustard, skipped the salt and switched to brown sugar, also increasing the amount. TIP: you will need to let part of the mixture sit overnight. The original instructions read “10 minutes” for prep.

It turned out to have too much kick for my husband, though. He also reminded me that he never uses mustard on anything…I think this is a work in progress.

Yields 1 generous cup

• scant 1/4 cup Colman’s dry mustard
• 1/2 cup beer (I used Sierra Nevada pale ale)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teasppon Meyer lemon juice or any organic lemon
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1. Using a metal bowl, whisk together dry mustard, beer, 2 tablespoons water and turmeric until smooth. Chill, covered, overnight in fridge.

2. Using a medium-sized saucepan filled with an inch or two of water, bring to a simmer.

3. To the mustard mixture, add the egg, cornstarch, lemon juice and sugar. Whisk to blend.

4. Set bowl over simmering pan of water and cook, stirring, until mixture thickens, about five minutes.

5. Store, covered and chilled, up to two weeks.