I’m still playing with my new spices!
My friend Amanda from Lamb’s Ears and Honey forwarded a link to this Saveur post on making condiments at home. I made their simple but very delicious Spicy Guinness Mustard. Here’s the recipe with metric measures included (and it makes enough to fill three 300ml jars)…
- 350ml (12 oz) Guinness beer
- 285g (1½ cups) brown mustard seed
- 250ml (1 cup) red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Malden salt flakes (or kosher salt)
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice (pimento)
Mix all the ingredients together in a large pyrex bowl and stir to combine. Cover the bowl with clingfilm or a shower cap and allow it to mature for 24 hours at room temperature (original recipe says 1 – 2 days) .
The following day, blitz the mixture for about 3 minutes, either in a food processor, or using a stick blender in the bowl (which is what I did). The mustard will thicken in texture and lighten in colour as the seeds are ground up.
If you taste it at this point, don’t be put off – it was initially quite bitter and inedible, but after a couple of days in the fridge, it mellowed to a hot and delicious grain mustard.
I’m adding this to my list of things to make for Christmas…
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Also, using a tip I picked up from Tony at La Casa, I half filled a clean jar with chilli flakes and topped it up with grapeseed oil. The oil has taken on a rich red hue and a spicy chilli flavour. I regularly scoop out a spoonful of the macerated flakes and stir them into a soup or pasta. So simple and so tasty!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 