Making Homemade Mustard Update 1

This is an update on the Making Homemade Mustard post I did last week. After one week, two of the four mustards are ready. The beautiful Coarse Ground Mustard w/ red wine and the coarse ground Yellow Mustard.

The Coarse Ground Mustard w/ red wine is absolutely wonderful tasting a very pretty too! It's a milder mustard with a hint of wine. The mustard was still too thin, so I added mustard powder to it to thicken it up. After adding the powder, the mustard flavor increased a bit. I think that the next time I make it, I will add less liquid in the beginning and cook it a little longer. Then I shouldn't have to add much mustard powder if any.

Double batch yield was 1 quart.

The coarse ground Yellow Mustard is "The Italian's" favorite of these two. This mustard is also a milder tasting mustard. It's a very good yellow mustard, for those who like a basic yellow mustard. The consistency was a little too thick....so, I added a little water to it. I guess I didn't need to add as much mustard powder to it in the beginning.

Double batch yield was 1 quart.

When the mustard is ready, place in sterile jars, cap and refrigerate.

The last two mustards are still too strong. Although, they are incredibly tasty!! I will give them another week in the dark cool basement before I taste them again. I have to say, that I am extremely pleased with the flavor of all of the mustards...............you definitely can't buy this flavor in the store!!

Growing in a Cold Frame ....my little experiment

Due to the fact that I was unable to get most of the fall and winter crops in the ground at the correct time, I decided to try a little experiment in cold frame growing that I thought might work. Some people may think that this is a bit crazy. But, what gardener wants to go months without growing or eating some fresh veggies from the garden?

First, I started some seeds in the basement on the new germinating table in the beginning of November. By some I mean; carrots, lettuce, radish, spinach, chard & pak choi to name a few. I thought that these veggies had a chance to get going and maybe make it through the cold winter here in the Northeast.

Next, I put rope lights that "The Italian" had on the ground in the cold frame to add a little extra heat & light. The cold frames are an unusual site at night glowing in the dark! After monitoring the temperatures for a while, I observed that the air temperature inside the cold frame was about 10- 20 degrees warmer then the outside air at the coldest time of the morning. The soil temperature was running about 10 degrees warmer in the cold frames.

Our glowing cold frames

At that point, a couple of the veggies had grown big enough to start hardening off in the cold frame. (Note: As the seedlings grew and developed their true leaves, I moved them to a cooler area on the germinating table to acclimate them to cooler temperatures) The night time temperatures have been fluctuating quite a bit here. Some nights it goes down in to the low 20's and other nights it stays in the 40's. I put the seedlings out in the cold frame when the weather is predicted to stay warmer for a few days. After a couple of days and nights in the cold frame, I plant them in the ground.

It was very cold, windy and snowing a bit, making it very difficult to get a good picture.

Yesterday soil temperature inside the cold frame was about 46 degrees and the soil temperature outside the frame was about 31.

So far, everything that I have planted has survived and seems to be growing! Time will tell how well they do and if we will be able to eat any of the veggies during the cold winter months. If not, we will have some early spring veggies next year!!

Brown Bag Apple Pie

This has got to be the BEST Apple Pie I have ever eaten! I know, everyone says that they have a recipe for "The Best Apple Pie". About 25 years ago, my ex-sister in-law baked this pie for Thanksgiving. I never really liked apple pie until I tasted this one.

It's not only great tasting...it is easy to make with a no-roll crust!

Crust

• 1 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 2 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Milk
• Mix well with fork and just pat into the pie pan

Filling

• 6-8 Large Apples or 8-10 Small Apples (Granny Smith or another tart apple)
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 3 Tbsp Flour
• Cinnamon to taste (about 1 tsp)
• Mix well and place in crust

Topping

• 1/2 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• Mix together until crumbly using a fork or pastry cutter
• Place on top of pie

Place pie in large brown paper grocery bag. Fold down the end. (I fold it under and staple it).

Don't allow bag to touch heating elements! Bag will not burn.

Bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees F.

There it is...."The BEST Apple Pie"

Making Sauerkraut - finally finished

One would think that I would be done canning for the season. No, I think that I have been canning all week! I worked on the mustards, then realized that I needed to make some Dutch Apple Pie Jam. When that was finished, "The Italian" informed me that we were out of Strawberry Jam. He has been on a PB&J kick lately. You would think that 12 other varieites of jam & jellies around here would be enough! Pretty soon I will have to grow peanuts to make peanut butter. Hey....that sounds like a good idea :) I just may do that if we get a plot or two at the community gardens. Anyway...so, I went down in to the basement to get jars to make the jam. While I was down there, I thought I better check the sauerkraut. It's been down there for almost 6 weeks now. Wouldn't you know it....it was ready to be processed!!

Well, I didn't have to process it that day. I was all out of wide mouth lids!! Yesterday, I went out and bought some lids in order to put up the sauerkraut.

That's one big pot of sauerkraut!!

When making sauerkraut, I use the method in the Ball Blue Book of preserving. It is the same recipe that is in my oldest book dating back to the 1930's. After the sauerkraut is finished fermenting and tastes the way you like it, I clean off any nasty looking cabbage on the top. This year it looked really good and there was hardly any to take off and throw out.

Next the sauerkraut is put in to a big pot and brought to a simmer. I thought that it didn't have enough brine, so I made a little extra and added it to the pot.



Once the sauerkraut is simmering, it is packed in to hot jars and processed in a boiling bath for 15 -20 minutes.

I think this batch of sauerkraut tastes better then the last batch I made. I do believe that there will be plenty to last us and our family a year!

Making Homemade Mustard Part 1

Most of the gifts we give for Christmas are homemade jellies, jams and other delicious treats. This year I wanted to make something a little different to add in to their basket of goodies. I decided to make different varieties of mustard. After looking long and hard on the internet for mustard seed in bulk, we decided to take a little day trip to Philadelphia. There is a great spice shop with good prices in the Italian Market. There are also a couple of good Italian cheese shops....and we always need some good cheese for the holidays to serve with my jams and jellies!!



It took me some time to find recipes and then decide which ones I wanted to make. I finally narrowed it down to four different mustards.....which will probably turn in to five! Making mustard takes takes some time. I didn't realize that it needs to sit in a cool dark place for 2 days to 8 weeks, depending on the recipe, to age before it reaches the desired pungency level. Mustard is very strong when it is first made. I picked recipes that required about a 2 weeks maximum time to age.

The first mustard is a coarse ground Yellow Mustard. This recipe required soaking the seeds in vinegar and water for two days before processing.

• 1/2 Cup Yellow Mustard Seeds, 3/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar & 1/3 Cup Water: soak mustard seeds in vinegar and water for 2 days.
• Add 1 1/2 tsp. Sugar & spices if desired. I added the suggested 1 tsp each of Tumeric and Ground Allspice.
• I also added 1/4 Cup Mustard Powder to make it a little thicker.
• Blend in food processor or blender. Then store in a glass jar in a cool dark place to age.

This recipe can also be made into a Honey Mustard by combining 1-1 ratio of mustard and local honey after the mustard has been aged. I may make half of it into honey mustard after it is ready, depending on the taste.

The second mustard is a Bavarian Whole Seed Mustard. This mustard recipe is made with a combination of yellow and black mustard seeds soaked in beer overnight.

• 1/4 Cup Yellow Mustard Seed, 1/4 Cup Black Mustard Seed & 1/2 Cup Beer. Soak mustard seeds in beer overnight.
• Add 1/4 Cup Cider Vinegar, 4 tsp. Brown Sugar, 3 Tbsp. Mustard Powder & 1/2 tsp. Salt (recipe called for 1 tsp)
• I also added a little water while blending, it was a little too thick
• Blend in food processor or blender. Then store in a glass jar in a cool dark place to age.

The third mustard is another Coarse Ground Mustard w/Red Wine. Here is the original recipe . I changed it quite a bit.

• 1/2 Cup Yellow Mustard Seeds-  soak in 1/2 Cup Red Wine and 2/3 Cup Red Wine Vinegar for 4 hours.
• I then added 1/2 Cup Water and 2 tsp Honey, 1/4 tsp Ground Allspice, 1/4 tsp of my Garlic Powder and 1 tsp. Salt
• Next you are supposed to put all of the ingredients in the food processor or blender and process briefly. It was too watery, so I strained it and then processed it to grind the seeds a bit.
• The mixture is then placed over simmering water in a double broiler for 10 minutes or until it starts to thicken.
• The recipe then said to place in hot canning jars and refrigerate. Due to the fact that all of the other recipes I had read said to let the mustard sit in a cool dark place until it reaches desired pungency level, I let mine cool and placed it in the basement with the others. I will check it every couple of days to see how it tastes before I can it.
• This mustard seems a little thin, I may add some Mustard Powder to it, depending on how it ages.

The fourth mustard is a Spicy Brown Mustard. This recipe was the quickest to make.

• 1/4 Cup Black Mustard Seed, grind in a spice or coffee grinder
• 3/4 Cup Yellow Mustard Powder
• 3/8 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 3/4 Cup Water
• 2 tsp. Brown Sugar, 1/2 tsp. Salt (recipe called for 1 tsp) dash of Cayenne Pepper, Ground Allspice & Ground Cloves
• Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix. The mixture is put in a glass jar and stored in a cool dark place to age. (at least 2 weeks)

This is a double batch of each variety

When all of the mustards are finished and put in to smaller jars. I will do a Part 2 post on their taste and any additional adjustments that were made to the original recipes.