How I made homemade mustard

I mentioned yesterday, when I posted a recipe for homemade soft pretzels [3], that I was in quite the I-could-make-that-food mood Saturday.

One thing I tried: homemade mustard.

I used this recipe from honest-food.net [4]. [5] It's good, but whoa mama, it is hot. Hot like wasabi, if you'll forgive the '90s band reference.

It's tasty, but you just can't eat very much of it. The flavor is supposed to mellow in the fridge over the next couple of weeks, and I hope that happens. The author of the recipe I used said you can make a milder mustard by using warm, rather than cold, water when you mix it up.

Because I couldn't wait to eat some, I made a pretzel dip with two teaspoons mustard, four teaspoons mayonnaise and one teaspoon honey for a delicious - but still hot - dip for pretzels. Just the tiniest little bit almost explodes with flavor.

Here's the recipe.

Homemade mustard
6 tablespoons mustard seeds
1/2 cup mustard powder
3 tablespoons vinegar (cider, white wine or sherry)
1/2 cup white wine or water
2 teaspoons salt

Grind the whole mustard seeds for a few seconds in a spice or coffee grinder, or by hand with a mortar and pestle. You'l want them to stay mostly whole.
Pour them into a bowl and add the salt and mustard powder. Pour in the vinegar and wine or water, then stir well. Pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge. Wait at least 12 hours before using.