Versatile Mustards

[rlibkind]

Even cheap yellow mustard has its place in my cooking world. For example, I add it in equal parts to currant jelly as a sauce for cocktail franks. It stinks when it first starts cooking but it winds up to be a wonderfully mellow sauce. I slather decent brown mustard on bread when making carbonnade flammande, and use a mustard-guava jelly combination to enliven plain old chicken cutlets.

How do you use mustard in cooking?

Edited September 13, 2005 by rlibkind (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

The short answer is that I generally enjoy cooking with a Dijon mustard more frequently than the yellow mustards... I make a dijon vinaigrette which is popular, and use dijon on fish and various meats before cooking.

[rlibkind]

The short answer is that I generally enjoy cooking with a Dijon mustard more frequently than the yellow mustards...  I make a dijon vinaigrette which is popular, and use dijon on fish and various meats before cooking.

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Opps. It's dijon I use in the carbonnade, not brown. Ditto the guava chicken. Another Belgian recipe I picked up was to use dijon over roast chicken, with olive oil drizzled on to help keep it from charring since it roasts at a reasonably high temperature.

[Megan Blocker]

Dijon is great to add to a stew, as well...

[gourmande]

slather boneless, skinless chicken breasts with a mixture of Dijon and yoghurt, roll in fresh bread crumbs (seasoned with fresh thyme, salt and pepper) bake 30 minutes...

[BarbaraY]

Many dishes served with mustard in this house. Vinaigrette with mustard is great on romaine salads. Pork chops in dijon cream is a favorite. A couple of days ago I charbroiled chicken with a Dijon, honey and ginger glaze. I make a topping for broiled cod with mayo, Dijon mustard and horseradish.

Only some things get cheap yellow mustard, hot dogs (Nathan's of course) and hamburgers.

Creole mustard in Shrimp Remoulade is a family favorite.

[Shirley U. Jest]

I'm a collector of mustards. I use mustard in nearly everything.

Even tuna melts!

There is nothing so fantastic to taste a little zip in a sauce, in mayo, in a salad dressing, on a hot dog.... such a wonderful condiment.

[lperry]

You can make a great savory tart with fresh tomatoes and caramelized onions. Spread mustard over the crust, layer in some gruyere, the onions, and the tomatoes (overlapped - they'll shrink), then bake. A puff pastry or a regular butter piecrust will work. Dijon I think is classic here, but Creole is awfully good. Mmmmmmm. Mustard.

-Linda

[SuzySushi]

Dijon mustard & variants (I'm partial to tarragon mustard) on steaks and lamb steaks before grilling; on chicken cutlets before breading with panko & sauteeing; in vinaigrette dressing; in the bechamel for cauliflower au gratin (delicious!); in deviled eggs; on the side with grilled bratwurst; and slathered liberally over the rabbit on the occasions I cook lapin a la moutarde.

[Carrot Top]

Interesting question. I hadn't thought about mustard "grouped" things.

There are several things I make with an intense mustard component (besides a vinaigrette, of course).

They all seem to be rather earthy dishes.

Rack of lamb coated with mustard then parsley buttered crumbs is so simple, of course.

Codfish cakes with mustard sauce. . .use baccala, soak, mix with mashed potatoes, butter, eggs, ginger, pepper. Brown and serve topped with crisp bacon and a sauce made from mayo, lemon juice, mustard, and whipped cream.

Lamb, pasta, and green bean salad. . .slivered cooked rare lamb tossed with crisp julienne green beans, red onion, red peppers, parsley and cooked orzo. . .in a strong mustard-y dressing with olive oil, mustard, lemon juice, a bit of heavy cream. Serve cold.

And a recipe for calves liver which makes even liver-haters happy which involves a deglazed pan sauce made of white wine, brown stock, shallot, tomato, heavy cream and mustard. Luscious.

Mustard is a very autumnal flavor, I think.

[rooftop1000]

Roasted salmon fillet ...melt apricot jam and mix with dijon slather a good layer on the salmon hit it with salt and cayenne and roast to medium....had this at a wedding at Abigail Kirsch....it was right next to the virginia ham and mango chutney on buttered biscut halves MMMmm to both of them

t

[curlywurlyfi]

You can make a great savory tart with fresh tomatoes and caramelized onions.  Spread mustard over the crust, layer in some gruyere, the onions, and the tomatoes (overlapped - they'll shrink), then bake.  A puff pastry or a regular butter piecrust will work. 

oh yes, this is good. I do a variation on this with parmesan in the pastry, and then drizzle with garlic/basil/olive oil. Haven't made it in ages + might have to shortly!

Matthew Fort (in The Guardian last year) had a really fantastic recipe for chard gratin (blanch Swiss chard, mix with fried bacon + grated cheese, put in shallow dish, Parmesan + olive oil, bake). Actual recipe here. Chardgirl somewhere else on eG suggested Dijon mustard was good with chard, so I added in a couple of spoonfuls. This turned out so delicious I could, and do, eat it every week Swiss chard is in season.

[DTBarton]

I use dijon mustard in all manner of salad dressings. I use dijon and brown mustards in all manner of marinades and barbecue sauces.

One fave:

Marinate chicken pieces in a mixture of chopped garlic, olive oil, dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Add lemon and oregano for a Greek feel if you like. Grill and enjoy.

[Verjuice]

I probably eat mustard in some form every day. I'm partial to Colman's English mustard. Indispensable. Occasionally, I like to strip the carcass of a cold roast chicken and slather shreds of meat with the hot mustard. I like the way it burns my nostrils. Like wasabi with more backbone. Puts hair on your chest, then singes it off.

Dijon on sandwiches. Essential. Also in salad dressings.

No flavored mustards, thanks. If I want flavor, I'll add it myself. That said, I will occasionally indulge in Ken's Steakhouse honey mustard dressing, which is the only worthwhile salad dressing I've ever eaten and alarmingly impossible to approximate in a home kitchen. It's outrageously creamy, mayonnaise-based I think, and absurdly sweet and tangy. Probably full of stabilizers and terrible things, but the most wonderful flavor on earth.

ETA: Oops. In cooking. I don't really use it in cooking... . I've tried it in salmon marinades, but I prefer variations that don't include mustard.

Edited September 14, 2005 by Verjuice (log)

[Milagai]

does it have to be ground mustard from a bottle?

i use black mustard seeds nearly every day in

the south indian home cooking i do....

and sometimes grind some in a small food processor

for specific dishes...

the bottle stuff i use mostly for sandwiches...

milagai

[Katie Nell]

My life long dream, well almost, is to visit the Mustard Museum!!! http://www.mustardmuseum.com/

Unfortunately, live-in boyfriend HATES mustard, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him! I use it in salad dressings, marinades, and I love it with a pot roast of some sort!

[rlibkind]

My life long dream, well almost, is to visit the Mustard Museum!!! http://www.mustardmuseum.com/

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Been there, and Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, is worth a detour to see the mustard museum, home of Poupon U. When you visit, bring pretzels.

[judiu]

Honey mustard on a baloney sandwich along with the mayo. Dijon mixed with low sugar apricot jam as a glaze for pork or chicken (particularly good with country ribs baked in the oven). Coleman's is a MUST in my mac & cheese (no pun intended) and deviled eggs. Actually any cheese sauce will benefit from a dab of mustard, makes it all that much "cheesier".

[k43]

Here are the winners in the 2005 Napa Valley Mustard Festival:

Results

My favorite honey mustard -- IMHO, in a diferent league from the rest -- is Sable & Rosenfeld Russian Style.

[baophac]

I had left over Dijon mustard one day and having eaten too many pork chops the previous week I decided to improvise. The ingredients on special at the store were Chinese cabbage and spinach.

I started by toasting whole cloves of garlic in my non-stick wok pan and started to throw in the chopped cabbage and mustard. After the cabbage have been well coated, I add the spinach and continue cooking at high heat for 5 more minutes.

It was really by accident that I found the combination of slightly burned dijon mustard + toasted garlic made the whole dish somewhat sweet. The sugar in the mustard preparatin and the caramelization of the garlic contributed to this new recipe!

[mizducky]

I have never met a mustard I didn't like. For me, it shares a quality with melted cheese in that you slather it on just about anything (within reason) and I will devour it.

Having said that, I do have a preference for the more pungent prepared mustards, like a good Dijon, or one with some horseradish in the mix. I totally the Plochman's Stoneground--all those rustic little seeds.

I think I mentioned over in the Reimagining Thanksgiving thread that one of my T-day (or any day) discoveries was a recipe for brussels sprouts in a maple-mustard vinaigrette. The recipe's dirt-simple--mix up a typical vinaigrette, going heavy on the mustard, and add just enough maple syrup (preferably Grade B/dark) so you can taste it, but not enough to make the vinaigrette excessively sweet. Trim and halve your sprouts, steam them until just barely tender, pour on the vinaigrette while sprouts are still hot, let marinate for a goodly while. Serve chilled or at room temp. Yum. The mustard plays really well with the cabbage-y sprout flavor, I think.

[Pumpkin Lover]

I love mustard on my grilled cheese sandwiches! Sometimes I just skip the butter and slather mustard on both slices of bread. Mmmmmmm.

[MichaelZ]

I recently received a gift of a set of small jars of various flavored mustards - all interesting and unusual flavors, eg riesling, olive, peppercorn. Since the jars are small, several times I've mixed them 50/50 with plain yogurt and used the mixture as a marinade for meat and fish. It works well.