Saturday, December 24, 2011

Finnish Mustard

Finnish Mustard 3 

Of necessity, this post is going to be brief.  Firstly, it's Christmas Eve, and right now I feel more inclined towards settling down with a nice glass of wine than I do towards writing a lengthy blog post.  Secondly, at the risk of repeating myself, it's Christmas Eve, and I'm fairly sure that right now you too feel more disposed to relaxing over a festive tipple than you do towards reading a lengthy post from me.  So brief it shall be.

I am sharing this post at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we continue to cook with the delightful Tessa Kiros, our theme for this week being Holiday Goodies.  Great theme, since I still had a few little treats that I wanted to make to give to friends, but I wanted to come up with something other than all the tooth-aching sweetness that abounds on the net right now.  Don't know about you, but even though I've been managing to avoid the consumption of cookies, cakes, fudge and bucket loads of chocolate, just the sight of so much of it everywhere I look has started to give me that "over-indulged" feeling.  I was looking for something more savory, and when I stumbled upon Tessa's recipe for Finnish Mustard in her wonderful book, Falling Cloudberries, I knew I'd found just the thing.  This would be the perfect gift for friends who almost certainly have enough chocolate already, as well as a great item to keep in my fridge for slathering on those endless summer sandwiches.

This was a breeze to make, has a generous amount of heat, softened with a nice bit of sweetness, and would make a nice accompaniment to all manner of cold meats.  I can imagine it also going well in dressings, or slathered on some nice ciabatta bread with some char-grilled vegetables.

I did make a couple of minor changes to the recipe.  The first change was intentional - I used rice wine vinegar, because I wanted to make it gluten-free, but use any vinegar that you like.  The other change was really accidental - the original recipe called for the inclusion of a tablespoon of olive oil, but I forgot it.    Now, I don't know what difference the olive oil would have made - it seems perfectly fine without it, and in fact I didn't even realise I'd omitted it until I started to prepare this post.  But if you feel so inclined, go right ahead and put it back in.

Hope you'll give this a try.  As a gift I think it makes a nice change from all the sweet stuff going around, which seems guaranteed to make your gift all the more memorable.

Finnish Mustard 2

Finnish Mustard Recipe
Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from
Vegetarian, Gluten Free
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1/3 cup mustard powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon olive oil 
(I omitted this, but feel free to include it)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
(or vinegar of your choice)
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Put the mustard powder, sugar and salt into a small saucepan, and mash with a wooden spoon to get rid of all the lumps.  Now add the cream, oil (if using), vinegar and lemon juice, and set the pan over low heat.  Stir continuously until it comes to a boil.  Then cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until it has darkened and thickened - it will look like caramel.

Remove from heat, and give it a stir from time to time as it cools down.  Pour into glass jars.  Will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Finnish Mustard 1

And my tip for getting that last little bit of mustard out of the jar ... when you get down to those last traces of mustard sticking around the corners and sides of the jar, add 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, generous pinch salt, and 1 teaspoon maple syrup to the jar, shake vigorously, and hey presto - vinaigrette and no wasted mustard.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

IHCC Tessa Kiros Button

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

Lastly, in case you're wondering, Cookbook Sundays will be up and running this week as usual, but will just be a day late.

22 comments:

  1. Cream in mustard -- it's a mustard sauce already mixed!
    I once made a grainy, Guinness-flavored mustard. Twas quite good, except that I don't really like the flavor of Guinness. One of these days I'll look for other recipes, or play with that one.

    I have *no* Tessa Kiros cookbooks, but I suppose I need to remedy that. Do you have a favorite?

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  2. Merry christmas chica!

    I'm generally not a big mustard fan, but this definitely sounds intriguing!

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  3. I love mustard - this looks wonderful!
    Other vinegars have gluten? My daughter is doing a gluten elimination diet to try to curb her sensitivities - I had no idea how pervasive it was.

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  4. I love the sound...and the look...of this, Sue. The color is beautiful and I'm a big mustard fan. Actually, I wish the sweets were just done with (I'm totally sweeted) out and I had a jar of this with some pretzels. Heaven! Happy Holidays :D

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  5. I dig mustard, so this looks great to me. You have lucky friends! The way you packaged the mustard is really pretty. Nice color scheme. I also like your tip for not wasting it--frugal and clever. Thanks for the note about Cookbook Sundays.

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  6. What great gift to give and you made it look so festive in the jars. I love the idea of using the last bits in a dressing too--very clever!
    Happy Holidays Sue! ;-)

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  7. I'm so happy that you made the Finnish Mustard! It looks gorgeous. I can't wait to give it a go tomorrow and enjoy it with some Christmas ham. I hope you have a wonderful holiday, Sue. Your pictures are gorgeous and I love the tip about making a dressing with the leftover bits of mustard.

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  8. Hi Sue, that looks great. After about a half a box of Quality Street chocolates and half of an intense pavlova I'm just about sweetened out too. Never thought I'd see the day!
    Merry Christmas.

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  9. @Kaye Ooooh, Guiness-flavoured grainy mustard sounds great - I'd love to try that.

    Hope you get yourself a Tessa Kiros book. At the moment Falling Cloudberries is the only one I have, so can't comment on others, but I have just ordered Food From Many Greek Kitchens, so looking forward to receiving that xo

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  10. @Joanne Thanks so much, Joanne - happy Christmas to you to xo

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  11. @Heather @ girlichef.com Thanks, Heather. Love the idea of some pretzels to go with this mustard - must see if I can find a pretzel recipe. Happy Xmas to you too xo

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  12. @MM Thanks Michelle - I have to admit that I wasn't the first to come up with the idea of making vinaigrette in the mustard jar - ready it on some other savvy person's blog (can't remember who) a couple of years ago,and I've been doing it every since xo

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  13. @Natashya KitchenPuppies Thanks, Natasya. I love mustard too - I want to try my hand at a grainy mustard next.

    Vinegars & gluten - as I understand it. Malt vinegar contains gluten, because it is made from barley malt (barley being a gluten grain), and it is not distilled. White vinegar, although made from a gluten grain, is distilled and the gluten is removed in the distillation process. Other vinegars such as apple cider, rice wine, balsamic, red wine are gluten free.

    I hope your daughter does well with her gluten-free diet. It's amazing what you find it in once you start looking. Certainly making your own mustard is a good option for someone on a gluten-free diet, because when you start to look at the labelling you find that many commercially produced mustards use malt vinegar.

    Have a wonderful Christmas xo

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  14. @Deb in Hawaii Thanks, Deb - something in a jar is always a welcome gift. Happy Christmas xo

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  15. @Kim Thanks, Kim - hope you're enjoying your mustard and Christmas ham today. Have a wonderful day xo

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  16. @Clare We never think that we could eat too much chocolate, but this time of year we certainly do. Happy Christmas xo

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  17. What a great gift idea Sue. Hope you've had a great christmas!

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  18. Hope you had a lovely Christmas, Sue! This looks like a great gift and I love your idea for making vinaigrette with what's left in the jar. (Hope your recipients take note!)

    Hope you have a happy new year! x

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  19. @Yvette MWCAdventure Thanks, Yvette, and thank you so much for stopping by :-)

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  20. @milliemirepoix Thanks, Mika - the vinaigrette in the jar is a great tip, isn't it? Happy new year to you too xo

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  21. Oh love the sound of this, I am with you leaning towards savoury. Love a little sweet but savoury is what I really crave.

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