Recipe: Homemade Dijon Mustard

Condiments are like old friends—highly thought of, but often taken for granted. – Marilyn Kaytor

Moutarde! Left to right: Pommery, Dijon and Tarragon.
 Photo: Michael Dietsch, Flickr ccl

OK, I promised you this one when I posted the Pastrami recipe. So here it is.

Making Dijon mustard is very easy. In fact, making any mustard at home is easy, and if you have a good recipe, you get stellar results. I have made Dijon for the past three years and it has never failed.

Keep in mind that store-bought mustard has stabilizers that make it extremely smooth. You won't accomplish that with homemade. Nearly, but not quite, and it has no affect on taste. 

Think about it, when you're making homemade bread, is your aim to come out with a loaf that looks like sliced bread from the store? No. The hand made quality is what drives us to create!

From Wikipedia:

Dijon mustard is not covered by a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) under the auspices of the European Union; thus, while there are major mustard plants in Dijon and suburbs, most Dijon mustard is manufactured outside of Dijon.

Dijon mustard originated in 1856, when Jean Naigeon of Dijon substituted verjuice, the acidic "green" juice of not-quite-ripe grapes, for vinegar in the traditional mustard recipe.

Mustards from Dijon today generally contain both white wine and red wine. Mustards marketed as Dijon style may contain one or both of these wines or may substitute vinegar or another acid in order to conform to local laws.

Some general notes from Docaitta: 

Homemade Dijon is pretty spicy, as a rule.

When cooking with wine in any dish remember that why you're using it is because of the flavor. Some of the alcohol will be burned off, so get a wine you like. Bad wine goes in, bad taste comes out.

The majority of the heat comes from the yellow mustard. You can substitute other dry mustards, but it won't be Dijon. If you're fancy, get mustard seeds and grind them. This will result in a coarser mustard than by using powdered.

For a sweeter mustard, add more honey, for less sweet, reduce. You can adjust the Tabasco to your liking as well.

To check out some of my other mustard recipes here click the links below:
Dijon Mustard (No. 2)
Porter Beer Mustard
Oktoberfest Mustard
Cognac Mustard
Yellow Hot Dog Mustard
14th Century Lumbard Mustard

Homemade Dijon Mustard

2 cups dry white wine

1 cup minced onion

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tbsp honey 

4 oz dry yellow mustard 

1 tbsp oil 

2 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce 

In a small saucepan, heat garlic, wine and onion, bringing to a boil. Then simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Set aside in a bowl for 10 minutes.

Add the dry mustard into saucepan and slowly strain the heated wine mixture over top to remove the solids. Whisk until smooth, ensuring to remove any lumps. Add honey, salt and Tabasco sauce. 

Place over medium low heat and stir until the mixture thickens. It will set up more as it cools.

Remove from heat, cool, then store in glass or plastic jar. Refrigerate. 

It takes a couple days for the mustard flavors to meld completely, but it can be used immediately.

This is a great gift to make for the hard to buy for foodie.

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