Guinness and Chili-Garlic Mustard

chili_garlic_mustardThis mustard is easy to make and has ton of awesome flavor without being too spicy.

It grew out of my desire to have a spicy mustard that could stand up to a great cheddar cheese, hot-dog or salami, without overwhelming it, and without costing $5 for a tiny jar.

Besides, if you ever find yourself on Chopped, now you can have mustard even if there isn’t any in the pantry!

Now, on to the recipe!

Ingredients:
2/3 C Black or brown mustard seeds (black is spicier).
2/3 C Guinness Stout at room temperature
2/3 Cup Cider Vinegar
6 Allspice berries
1/2 teaspoon (or until the color looks right) Ground Turmeric
2 Tablespoons Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce (rooster on label)
1 (approx) T Sugar

Where to buy the ingredients:

Spices can be insanely expensive if you buy them in the wrong place.

This recipe, for example, requires dried allspice berries. They’re almost impossible to find in any of the major grocery stores near me, and were extremely expensive in the places that did carry them. However just by chance, I tried Price-Rite and they had a half ounce package for less than $2, which is enough to keep me in mustard for at least a year. They seem to be less expensive and easier to find in grocery stores with a lot of Caribbean customers.

Mustard seeds are another one. They’re $8 for a little jar in Price Chopper, but $2 for a 14 ounce bag in the Asian and Indian markets.

I was unable to find similar savings on the Guinness, however. 😎

Directions:

Place the mustard seeds and allspice berries into the spice (coffee) grinder and grind until powdered and no visible chunks are flying around.

Put the spice mixture (above) into a blender with the ground turmeric and sugar. Add Guinness as necessary to keep the mixture smoothly flowing in the blender. Stop and check the consistency. It should be about the same thickness as store-bought brown mustard. Add more Guinness if too thick. Turn off the blender.

Let sit, and check the heat level every few minutes, for up to 15 minutes. It will increase over time. When it’s hot enough, restart the blender and add the vinegar, which will stabilize the heat level.

Transfer to a clean glass jar (I usually use a clean peanut butter jar) and refrigerate overnight to let the dry ingredients fully absorb the liquids.

Makes about 18 ounces of mustard, which is enough to fill a peanut-butter jar, and have some left over for “sampling.” 😎

Feel free to add more or less of anything listed here. This is all “to taste” and depends entirely on what you like. The allspice berries give it a more complex flavor and the sugar makes it taste less sharp, while still spicy. You can probably guess what the chili-garlic sauce adds. 😎