Easy Homemade Mustard

Having searched the Internet and tried some recipes that gave me bitter mustard--ick--I embarked upon a mustardy quest.  By wading through countless forum posts, I figured out the probable cause of mustard bitterness, and that's water.  It's the water in the recipes that reacts with the mustard and creates the problem.

After much experimentation, here's my go-to, gold-standard recipe, which I make pretty much once a week.  We'll never go back to store-bought at my house.  We are now mustard-addicts.

UPDATES: See notes below.

EASY HOMEMADE MUSTARD

makes about 1/2 cup

1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds (do not rinse)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp blackstrap molasses*
     *maple syrup or raw sugar are fine, also

Combine ingredients in a 1/2-pint jar.

Cover and let sit at room temperature for a day or two.

Process in a food grinder, chopper, or processor until grainy and most of the seeds have been ground.

Keep in refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Notes: 

• Do not rinse seeds or add water.  Even the jar should be perfectly dry. Water causes bitterness.  If you have bitter mustard, you can let it sit for a few weeks or months, and it will settle down.
  
  
• Depending upon your chopper or processor, it might take a long time to get the mustard ground well enough.  My horrible little Black & Decker chopper takes about 5 minutes.  I hope you have a better machine!
  
  
• UPDATE 1: I now grind the seeds before mixing with the vinegar, etc.  8 pulses in an electric coffee grinder gives a nice texture with some seeds intact.  In this case, start with 1/3 cup seeds.
  
  
• UPDATE 2: Frontier brand organic yellow mustard seeds give this recipe a wonderful taste.  I tried a new brand, sourced also from Canada, and it tastes awful.  Fermenting for a couple of weeks improves the flavor, but not enough to taste actually good.
  

Microwave Oatmeal

This is an easy way to get your whole grains every day, without a bunch of gluten, white flour, or refined sugar.  Add some frozen blueberries, and you've got your antioxidants, too.

SINGLE-SERVE MICROWAVE OATMEAL 

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup water

toppings such as honey, maple syrup, butter, raisins, frozen blueberries, cinnamon, etc.

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Put oats and water in a microwave-safe bowl--the one you will eat from.

In a 1000-watt microwave, heat on High for 1 minute.  Remove and stir in the toppings of your choice.

Let sit for about 5 minutes.

For thicker oatmeal, use less water.  For thinner, use more water.

Makes 1 serving.

Positively Polenta!

We love having polenta as an alternative to rice or potatoes.  It's easy to make, if you know the secrets.  You can serve it with veggies stir-fried in olive oil, or just sliced as a side dish.

POLENTA

1-1/2 cups water

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup corn grits

1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil

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In a deep saucepan bring water and salt to a boil, covered.  For safety, remove from heat, turn heat down to low, sprinkle corn grits into water, and stir until the lumps are gone.  Return pan to the burner on low heat, uncovered.  If it starts to splatter, remove from heat so the burner can cool down further.  Then try again.

Cook on low, stirring often, until very thick--about 20 minutes.  It will be sticky and gloppy.  Give it the full 20 minutes on low so it will set properly when it cools.

Remove from heat, stir in butter or olive oil, and turn the polenta into a buttered or oiled deep bowl.  Let stand for at least 10 minutes to set.

When ready to serve, run the tip of a knife around the edge of the polenta and turn the bowl upside down to release it onto a plate.  Cut into 4 thick slices.

Serves 4.

Secret #1:  It’s easy to burn yourself with polenta splatters if you use a saucepan that’s not deep, or put it on a too-hot burner.  Follow the instructions in the first paragraph, and you’ll be fine.

Secret #2:  Leave a long-handled wooden spoon in the polenta while it’s cooking, for neat and frequent stirring.  The low heat will prevent burning, but you can get a buildup in the pan if you don’t stir enough.  Just keep stirring and scraping the bottom, and it will work itself out.

Secret #3:  Don’t expect the polenta to bubble while it’s cooking.  On low heat it will settle down quickly, and it thickens by giving off steam.

Secret #4:  Plan plenty of time for the polenta to set up after cooking.  If you try to take it out of the bowl too soon, it will be gooshy and not much fun to eat.  Give it 10 minutes at the very least, and 15-20 minutes in hot weather.

Serve sliced, as a side dish or topped with vegetables sauteed in olive oil.

Poppyseed Waldorf Salad

This is a great main-dish salad, especially when it's served over lettuce.  The recipe below makes 4 side servings, or 2 main servings.  And it's pretty easy if you already have some Golden Poppyseed Dressing made up.  We keep a bottle of it on hand, and another one of vinaigrette.

POPPYSEED WALDORF SALAD (vegetarian)

1 pinch ground allspice

1/4 cup poppyseed dressing*

1 med. to lg. apple, cut up

1 lg. celery stalk, cut up

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup walnuts, broken in pieces

2 oz. cheddar cheese, cubed

lettuce leaves

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In a large bowl, stir together allspice and dressing.  Add remaining ingredients and toss until coated.  Can be served on a bed of lettuce.

Serves 4 

*Poppyseed Dressing:

1 Tbsp. honey

1 pinch onion powder

1/8 tsp. ground mustard seed

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. poppyseeds

1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Combine ingredients in a jar.  Put the lid on and shake well before using.

Pea Salad

This is another one of our dense veggie salads.  I like the flavor of cheddar cheese in this salad, but last night we were out of cheddar, so you're seeing jack cheese cubes, instead.

PEA SALAD (vegetarian)

1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen green peas, cooked & cooled

2 stalks celery, 1/4” sliced

1/3 cup sweet pickles, chopped

8 oz. cheddar or jack cheese, cubed

2 Tbsp. honey

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground allspice

2 Tbsp. cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. olive oil

lettuce leaves

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Place peas, celery, pickles, and cheese in a large bowl.

In a small jar, combine honey, salt, allspice, vinegar, and olive oil.  Cover and shake well.  Pour over pea mixture and gently stir to combine and coat the vegetables.

  

Can be served on a bed of lettuce.

Serves 4-6.

Got Salad?

This is the stuff of life.  Every day we have at least one meal with a big salad as the main dish.  Thanks to Joel Fuhrman (Eat to Live), our diet has taken a quantum leap in the right direction.  Probably the most important part of it is to eat salad, and LOTS of it.  The key is to eat as much leafy-green and fresh-veggie food as you can.  Every day.

BASIC SALAD PLAN

serves 1

Romaine lettuce

fresh veggie pieces

cottage cheese or avocado

vinaigrette dressing

seeds

Fill a 1 to 2 qt. bowl about halfway up with bite-sized pieces of Romaine lettuce.  Top with halved cherry tomatoes, or whatever you like.  Add a dollop of cottage cheese or a cut-up avocado half, drizzle about 1 Tbsp. of balsamic vinaigrette on top.  Add 1 Tbsp. of pumpkin, sunflower, or freshly ground flax seeds.

Fruit Variation:

Spinach leaves

Orange segments cut in bite-sized pieces

Jack cheese cubes

Pecan or walnut halves

Marinated Variation:

Romaine lettuce

Carrot pieces marinated in vinaigrette

Sweet pickles, cut into 1/2" pieces

Gouda or cheddar cheese cubes

Pine nuts

If you have some whole-grain crackers, they're nice with this type of salad, but don't fill up on them.  We like to add a little fruit dessert to this meal, like warmed peaches or berries from the freezer, topped with a touch of cinnamon, brown sugar, or even sour cream.  In the summer, we make "ice cream" made with fruit, rice milk, and honey.

Use your imagination, but don't go crazy with the fats.  We eat this kind of salad pretty much every other day.  On the in-between days, we have denser salads like pea salad, corn salad, avocado salad--all on a bed of lettuce.

Thanksgiving Dinner, 2012

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving or harvest celebration.  The table cloth in the picture came from my grandmother, who embroidered it and crocheted around the edges.  She used it every year during the holiday season, and so do I.  Here's this year's menu for three--vegetarian, as always.

Pumpkin Soup

Holiday Nut Loaf

Maple-Pecan Fried Slaw

Whole Cranberry Sauce

Jellied Cranberry Sauce (for Michael)

Sparkling Apple Juice
Sage Gravy
Cream Cheese-Maple Pumpkin Pie

Coffee

Vegetarian Mince Pie

There's no mincemeat in this pie! It's basically a highly spiced pear and raisin pie, which tastes great with whipped cream or ice cream.

Here's what a friend of mine has to say about mincemeat pie:

"We always had mincemeat pie at Christmas, but my father sort of spoiled it by telling me that mince were fuzzy little critters that lived in burrows along streams. Although Mother indignantly denied that, I was a little less fond of the pie for awhile."

MINCE PIE

1-1/2 lb. ripe pears (about 3 med.) peeled, cored, & diced
6 oz. raisins
2 oz. sweetened dried cranberries (or golden raisins, etc.)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1-3/4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. flour (as a thickener)
3 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. gr. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. gr. allspice
3/4 tsp. gr. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. gr. cloves

2 unbaked pie crusts, 10” circles
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In a large pot, bring all filling ingredients to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 25 - 30 minutes, or until pears have released their juice and the liquid has cooked down a bit and thickened, continuing to stir frequently throughout. Remove from heat and cool while preparing the crusts.

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

Place one pie crust in the bottom of a deep dish pie pan. Do not trim edges. Use a cookie cutter to make a decorative pattern in the central 6” of the top pie crust dough.

Pour the filling into the lower crust in the pie pan. Carefully place the top crust over the filling and fold edges under. Pinch the upper and lower crusts together around the edge of the pan, and fold inward if needed.

Bake until crust is golden, about 40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Makes 1 pie

* Note: you can use underripe pears, and they will taste fine. But the filling must be cooked longer to release the fruit’s juice, and then cooked down. If you don’t do this in the cooking pot, it will happen in the oven, and the pie will be runny.

Adapted from a recipe in Southern Living, Nov. 1998.

Click here for an alternate top crust design.

Thanksgiving for Two

For the first time ever, my son helped cook Thanksgiving dinner. Here's this year's vegetarian menu:

Pumpkin Soup
Holiday Nut Loaf (do not serve from the pan like I did this year)
Maple-Pecan Fried Slaw
Croissants (store-bought)
Jellied Cranberry Sauce (for Michael)
Sparkling Apple Juice
Sage Gravy
Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie (a disastrous experiment)

Barely Borscht

This recipe happened accidentally one day when I was concocting a soup made with vegetables I had just bought at the Farmers' Market. Having already put the veggies in, I wondered what kind of seasoning would work, and I looked up soups with beets... bringing me to borscht, of course! All I had to add was cabbage and a bit of vinegar, followed by a slab of cream cheese in the bowl, and I got a nice borscht, made mellow by the squash. Mmmm.

BARELY BORSCHT

1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 med. beet, peeled and chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 med. onion, chopped
1/4 med. head cabbage, chopped
2 yellow squashes, cubed (or substitute 2 cups peeled winter squash)
5 cups vegetable stock
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cider vinegar
cream cheese

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In a soup pot, melt the butter with black pepper added. Sauté the beet, celery, and onion until softened. Add the cabbage and sauté briefly.

Add the stock, squash, salt, and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer until squash and beets are tender.

When serving, add 1 Tbsp. cream cheese to each bowl. You can substitute sour cream or yogurt, if you prefer.

Serves 6


For more of my favorite cabbage recipes, see
How to Cook Non-Yucky Cabbage
Cabbage Soup
Colcannon
Maple-Pecan Fried Slaw
Onion Pie

This recipe appears on

Onion Pie!

The main dish for our Yule dinner is always onion pie. It's a warm, yummy vegetarian comfort food--perfect for the Winter Solstice. The picture here was made the day after, with leftovers. When chilled, it slices into wedges very well, but when it comes out of the oven, the only way to serve it is with a spoon, like a cobbler. This recipe serves about 12 people, and I make it in a huge, round terra cotta casserole dish. You can halve this recipe and bake it in a 9" deep-dish pie pan.

ONION PIE

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2 med. onions, sliced into half-rings
1 sm. cabbage, chopped in 1” pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. dried thyme (or 1/2 tsp. ground)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1-1/2 tsp. salt
5 med. tomatoes, cut into 1/4” slices,
          or 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained and diced
1/2 lb. mild white cheese, such as Monterrey Jack, cubed (1/2”)
2 pie crusts, uncooked

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Preheat oven to 375 deg. F.

In a very large pan, melt butter. Cook onion, cabbage, and garlic on medium heat until softened. Stir in thyme, pepper, and salt.

Spread the onion mixture in the bottom of a large casserole dish or two 9”deep-dish pie pans. Add the cheese, distributing evenly. Lay the tomato slices on top.

Place the pie crust(s) over the tomatoes, arranging to completely cover the pan--overlapping crust is fine. Any pie crust that extends beyond the edge of the pan should be folded inward, to lie loosely on top. Cut slits in the crust to vent.

Bake for 45 minutes (20-30 for half recipe) or until crust is browned. Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes. Serve with a spoon, like cobbler.

Note: this pie refrigerates well, and can be cut into wedges when cold. Heat slices individually in microwave or conventional oven.

Serves 10-12.


For more of my favorite cabbage recipes, see
How to Cook Non-Yucky Cabbage
Barely Borscht
Cabbage Soup
Colcannon
Maple-Pecan Fried Slaw

Pumpkin Soup

This is a greatly simplified, vegetarian version of a recipe I found in Martha Stewart's Living Magazine: can't find it online today. It's a super starter for the Thanksgiving meal.

PUMPKIN SOUP

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, white part only, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 lg. parsnip, peeled and chopped
4 cups pumpkin purée, fresh-cooked or canned
4 cups vegetable stock
2-3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

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In a large soup pot, melt butter with black pepper. Add onion, leek, carrots, and parsnip, and sauté until onion is soft. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer until vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for a few minutes.

Using a food processor or blender, purée the soup in small batches. Add more vegetable stock or water if needed.

Serves 6 - 8

adapted from a recipe in Martha Stewart’s Living Magazine

Pumpkin Pie

Finally, I have got a recipe for soy-free, dairy-free, eggless pumpkin pie! This year's experiment was a success. It's an adaptation of Bryanna Grogan's Vegan Pumpkin Pie, and my own tofu pumpkin pie recipe.

VEGAN PUMPKIN PIE - SOY FREE

1 unbaked pie crust
4 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 cups steamed and puréed pumpkin (or canned)*
1 Tbsp. molasses (not blackstrap)
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. salt

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Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Place rolled-out pie crust dough in 9” deep-dish pie pan. Trim edges and prick bottom and sides with a fork. Reserve extra dough, if desired, and make a garnish (see below). Bake the pie crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool while making the filling.

In a large bowl, stir cornstarch and a small amount of pumpkin together until smooth.

Add the rest of the pumpkin and remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Pour into pie crust and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool for several hours, to get a good “set.”

Garnish: roll out remaining pie crust dough and make leaf shapes with cookie cutters, and little acorns as 1/2” balls. Bake on a cookie sheet at 375 deg. F until golden brown. Arrange on top of pie just before serving.

* Note: I cook my own pumpkin for the purée. It's easy to use a steamer to cook cut-up pumpkin chunks (about 1"), slice the skin and strings off after cooking, and purée in a food processor or blender. This produces a light, wonderful texture for the pie. If you use canned pumpkin, you might want to mix a little rice milk or water in, to get a consistency of stirred yogurt.

adapted from Bryanna Grogan’s Vegan Pumpkin Pie, http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/1435893.htm

Sage Gravy

Great vegetarian gravy! I found a recipe in Whole Foods' newsletter many, many years ago, and as usual, I adapted it. Here is my version.

SAGE GRAVY

2 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. unbleached flour
1 tsp. onion powder (or 1/2 onion, chopped and cooked in butter)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (or 2 cloves, minced and cooked in butter)
1 Tbsp. celery flakes (or 1 celery stalk, chopped and cooked in butter;
            or a pinch of celery seed, ground in mortar and pestle)
2 cups vegetable stock
1-1/2 tsp. rubbed sage (or 3/4 tsp. powdered sage)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soy sauce

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Melt butter over medium-low heat in a large skillet. If using powdered onion and garlic, mix into flour before adding. Gradually stir flour mixture into melted butter, smoothing out the lumps with a spatula. Cook, stirring constantly for a few minutes until browned (not too dark).

Gradually stir in vegetable broth, smoothing out lumps, if any. Add celery flakes and remaining seasonings. Simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened. This gravy will get thicker as it cools.

Note; You can use fresh celery, onion, and garlic for a chunky gravy—it’s very hearty. If you prefer smooth gravy, use powdered seasonings. Fresh sage leaves give a much sharper flavor, and most folks prefer the rubbed sage taste.

Serves 4.

adapted from Whole Foods Market’s recipe: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=1279

Thanksgiving for Three

Just finished feasting... this meal was for only 3 of us, but it was great. I managed to snap this picture before we sat down and dug in. Here's this year's vegetarian Thanksgiving menu:

Pumpkin Soup
Cashew Loaf
Homemade Bread
Jellied Cranberry Sauce (for Michael)
Sparkling Apple-Grape Juice
Spiced Tea
Whole Cranberry Sauce (mostly out of picture)
Sage Gravy (not in picture)
Stir-Fried Spinach (ran out of time--didn't get made)
Pumpkin Pie (not in picture)
Espresso

Some of the recipes can be found in the following posts:
Pumpkin Soup
Cranberry Sauce
Holiday Nut Loaf
Sage Gravy
Pumpkin Pie

Cabbage Soup

Really... this is good... really... I promise. It's the rosemary that makes this so good.

CABBAGE SOUP

1 sm. head cabbage, cored and chopped in about 1” pieces
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups rice milk or regular milk
6 cups vegetable stock
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

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In the bottom of a soup pot, sauté celery, onions, and pepper in butter until softened. Add cabbage and stir fry for a few minutes. Add milk and bring to a boil--just up to a simmer if using regular milk. Turn heat down and add vegetable stock and salt. Simmer.

Grind the rosemary with a mortar and pestle or finely chop in a food processor. Add to soup.

Continue simmering until cabbage is crisp-tender, or 10-15 minutes. Serve with croutons.

Serves 8

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see: crouton recipe


For more of my favorite cabbage recipes, see
How to Cook Non-Yucky Cabbage
Barely Borscht
Colcannon
Onion Pie
Maple-Pecan Fried Slaw

This recipe appears on

Summertime Gumbo

There's something about gumbo that tastes like comfort food... maybe the allspice. My mother used to make okra gumbo when I was growing up. Fresh tomatoes, fresh okra, fresh onion... this recipe makes the hot summer's abundant okra totally yummy and not slimey. Less cooking than regular gumbo, too.

SUMMERTIME GUMBO (Vegan)

3-4 cups cooked brown rice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/8 tsp. allspice
1 cup sliced fresh okra, 1/4" thick (use only the skinny ones)
1 med. onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced (about 2 Tbsp.)
2 med. tomatoes, diced or 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
6 shakes Tabasco sauce, or to taste
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
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Sauté the okra, onion, garlic, chili powder, and allspice in olive oil. When the onions are softened, turn off the heat and stir in tomatoes, Tabasco, thyme, and salt. Cover to heat up the tomatoes a bit without actually cooking them, until ready to serve over rice. Serves 4.

You can find more info on cooking okra here:
Okra: The Misunderstood Vegetable

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Tonight's ice cream flavor: cantaloupe... best when soft and ripe and juicy and with a tiny bit of honey.

Mmmm... Yogi Tea

Been making yogi tea for our a cappella group rehearsals, and we love it! This is a spice tea made with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, tea, honey, and rice milk (or regular milk if you want). The recipe is from a yoga school in Austin, Texas:

http://www.yogayoga.com/about-us/yogi-tea