Life is too short to use American
yellow mustard on everything ...
By Cynthia Bowan
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I read an article some time ago that was talking about the difference between kitchens today and yesterday, and mainly dealt with the ingredients we use today, versus those of many years ago.
They pointed out that today's kitchen cupboards contain several kinds of oils, vinegars and mustards. After I finished the article, I went into my kitchen and counted - and had more than their average number of all three! Mustard has come a long way from the basic seeds and the neon yellow we are all used to. Today, we have mustards that range from stone-ground to Jack Daniels, to herb or fruit flavors and so much more.
We use mustard for more than sandwiches. It now flavors sauces, or helps form a delicious crust over baked pork or chicken, and gives ribs a kick.
When I was growing up, I took mustard for granted. I loved it on hot dogs and ham sandwiches. I thought my traditional Momma was going a bit wild when she made a mustard sauce for the Easter ham!
But one thing I couldn't stand - my Momma's potato salad. She would add either prepared yellow mustard or a few dashes of Colman's dried mustard to her dressing for the salad. I eventually figured out that she did it for my Dad, who loved potato salad this way.
After Momma passed away, Dad would alternate coming up to our home or my sister Sue's for cookouts and holidays. By then, I had developed my own potato salad, sans mustard. And my family loved my salad. During one such Memorial Day picnic, Dad said "You know, you make pretty good potato salad, but it would be much better if you added just a bit of mustard."
One of my children handed him the yellow squeeze bottle and said "Go for it, Pop!". Dad laughed…but I didn't change my salad.
And it was only a few weeks ago, when I was visiting our oldest son, Doug, in North Carolina, that I was in a Harris Teeter grocery store and walked past a prepared foods display case. There was a bowl of electric yellow potato salad, with a small sign "Southern Potato Salad". Ah, mystery solved. Momma, after all, was from South Carolina and Dad was from Pennsylvania…and she had been cooking true to her heritage and fortunately, found the love of her life who also loved her potato salad.
I've found I love a variety of mustards for various dishes. Neon yellow may be fine for hot dogs, but the brown mustard or German mustard is best with sausages…ham is great with raspberry mustard. Sauces benefit from different types as well.
I've learned also that you should end the mustard near the end of the cooking time, because you will lose the taste and flavor if it cooks too long. If you make your own mustard, remember that mustards will keep for about a month. And, if you use perishable ingredients, be sure to store it in the refrigerator. Refrigerating mustard will keep it from getting hotter.
Ah, what a pleasure to have to choose between American, English, French, German, Dijon or other mustards. There is a whole spicy world out there, and life is too short to use American yellow mustard on everything… I encourage you to live a little, and try some of the wonderful mustards that are available to us now - put a little spice in your life, experiment, and Enjoy! And speaking of Enjoying!, I hope you will try one of the following. As always, CYH - consider yourself hugged!!!
Creamy Mustard Potato Salad
5 lb. potatoes, cooked, peeled and diced fine
1 doz. boiled eggs, chopped fine
3 c. finely chopped celery
1 large sweet onion, chopped fine
3 tsp. celery seed
Dressing:
3/4 to 1 qt. (3 to 4 c.) mayonnaise salad dressing (not Miracle Whip)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. mustard
1/3 to 1/2 c. white vinegar
Stir together salad ingredients in a large bowl. Combine dressing ingredients and stir
into potato mixture. Chill until ready to serve.
Easy Honey-Dijon Chicken
4 boneless chicken breast halves, without skin
1 c. fine unseasoned dry breadcrumbs
1 tsp. plus 2 T. Dijon mustard, divided
3 T. honey (a light one, like wildflower)
2 T. butter (not margarine)
Flatten chicken breast halves to about ¼" thickness. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, combine breadcrumbs and 1 tsp. mustard. In another shallow bowl, combine honey and remaining 2 T. mustard. Dip chicken in the honey-mustard mixture, then coat with crumbs. In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt butter; cook chicken for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and juices run clear.
Serves 4
Sweet and Sour Spinach Salad with Honey-Mustard Dressing
1 lg. bunch fresh spinach
1 sm. can mandarin oranges, drained
Sliced sweet onion or green onion
Wash and drain spinach. Mix with oranges and onion. Top with dressing. Salad can be topped with bacon bits or croutons.
Honey Mustard Dressing:
2 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. cider vinegar
2 T. toasted sesame seeds
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 T. honey
1/8 tsp. pepper
Combine together and pour over greens..
Mustard Dip
1 c. real mayonnaise
1/2 c. prepared mustard (yellow <GBG>)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 c. dairy sour cream
1/2 cup prepared horseradish
¼ tsp. kosher salt
Mix all ingredients together; cover and chill well. Serve with cut-up fresh vegetables.
Roasted Mustard Potatoes
Vegetable oil cooking spray
4 T. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/8 - 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
16 baby red potatoes or 4 med. potatoes, cut into chunks
Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a roasting pan with cooking spray. Whisk remaining ingredients in a bowl.
Prick potatoes with a fork. Toss with the mustard mixture, coating all potatoes well. Place in the pan. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hr. Serve hot.
Razzleberry Salad
For the salad:
4 c. Bibb or Boston lettuce or baby greens mixture
1 small cucumber
1 lb. fresh thin asparagus
½ lb. fresh strawberries
For the dressing:
½ c. light vegetable or grapeseed oil
½ c. raspberry vinegar
1 T. raspberry mustard
freshly ground pepper
Wash, dry, and tear the lettuce. Peel the cucumber and cut in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and slice into half moons. Cook the asparagus until crisp tender. Run under cold water to stop the cooking and to set the color. Slice into 1" pieces. Slice the strawberries. Put all the dressing ingredients into a jar, cover and shake well. Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss well with the dressing.
Note: Try substituting cranberry mustard for the raspberry, and add dried cranberries to the salad instead of the fresh strawberries.
Sunday Sirloin with Mustard Sauce
8 oz. steak
1/3 oz. chopped fresh thyme
1/3 oz. chopped fresh rosemary
For Mustard Sauce:
3 oz. white wine
fresh thyme and rosemary
1/3 c. veal stock or beef base (generous)
¼ c. cream or half-and-half
2 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. whole grain mustard
Season the meat first, and preheat a frying pan. When hot, add a bit of oil and cook the meat until the desired temperature. Then add the remaining herbs and wine, reduce. Add veal stock and cream. Remove the steak.
Continue to cook the sauce an additional 5 minutes or until proper consistency.
Add the two mustards, stir well, add salt, pepper if needed. Place the meat back in the pan with the sauce for one minute to reheat and serve. Serve with fresh vegetables.
Cauliflower with Mustard Sauce and Croutons
1 lg. head cauliflower
3/4 c. whipping cream
3/4 c. real mayonnaise
Kosher salt
1 1/2 T. prepared mustard
1/2 lemon
Paprika
Remove the stem and leaves from the cauliflower. Steam the cauliflower whole until it is barely tender. Drain and keep warm.
Whip the cream and set aside briefly.
In a mixing bowl combine mayonnaise, salt, mustard and lemon juice. Whip until blended; fold in the whipped cream. Pour sauce over cauliflower or serve it separately. Sprinkle with paprika.
Halibut With Mustard-Caper Sauce
1 1/4 lb. fresh halibut
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 c. flour
2 T. butter (not margarine)
1/2 c. cream or milk
1 sm. shallot or green onion
1/2 c. Dry Vermouth
1 1/2 T. drained capers
2 tsp. Dijon-style mustard
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Salt, pepper and flour the fish. Pan fry 1 1/2 to 3 minutes on each side until fish tests done. Arrange on platter and keep warm. Saute onion or shallot until soft and transparent. Add vermouth, capers and mustard. Stir and boil 2-3 minutes, add milk or cream, stirring frequently, cook over med. high heat until sauce reduces and thickens enough to coat spoon lightly. Spoon sauce over fish and serve.
Creamy Mustard Zucchini Slaw
2 medium zucchini, grated
2 carrots, grated
Kosher salt
4 T. real mayonnaise
1 T. dill pickle liquid
1 T. prepared yellow mustard
1/2 c. toasted sunflower seeds
Freshly ground black pepper
In a colander, combine zucchini and carrots with 1 tsp. salt; mix well and set aside to drain for about 30 minutes.
Squeeze out as much moisture as possible from the vegetables. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl.
Combine mayonnaise, dill pickle liquid and mustard in a small bowl, blend well. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the vegetables. Mix in the sunflower seeds. Taste and adjust seasoning with plenty of pepper; but go easy on the salt. Let stand for about 30 minutes. before serving, or refrigerate, covered, for up to 4 hr. Mix well before serving.
Serves 4
From The Classic Zucchini Cookbook
By Cynthia Bowan
Return to Index
Creamy Mustard Potato Salad |
Easy Honey-Dijon Chicken |
Mustard Dip |
Razzleberry Salad
Sweet and Sour Spinach Salad with Honey-Mustard Dressing |
Roasted Mustard Potatoes
Sunday Sirloin with Mustard Sauce |
Cauliflower with Mustard Sauce and Croutons
Halibut With Mustard-Caper Sauce |
Creamy Mustard Zucchini Slaw
