Karin's Week Forty-Two Recipe: Oktoberfest Beer Mustard

While reading through my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, I started marking recipes for things that sounded interesting to can. I generally tend to stick to commonly canned things like pasta sauce, salsa, juice, and jelly. Last fall I tried canning chili, which tasted great. This year I found these cute little half-pint jars that looked perfect for putting mustard in. And, in the Ball Home Preserving book, I found multiple recipes for mustard, including one entitled Oktoberfest Beer Mustard. How could I not try that one?

Oktoberfest Beer Mustard

1 - 12oz bottle beer, darker = more flavor*
1 c brown mustard seeds (available at Penzey's, where else?)
1 c water
1/2 c malt vinegar
1/2 c lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 c dry mustard
1 T onion powder

*I used Capitol Brewing Company's Oktoberfest beer, as both Nate and I like its flavor

In medium stainless steel pan, combine beer and mustard seeds. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 2 hrs until seeds have absorbed most of the moisture. In a blender or food processor fitted with a metal blade, puree marinated seeds and any remaining liquid until blended and most seeds are well chopped - i.e. slightly grainy looking. (Note: I thought I would be clever and use my stick blender to just blend in the pan. Mustard seeds - 1, Karin - 0. Seeds went everywhere. Follow directions and put into blender. I also had to add a bit of the water to thin it out a bit to get it fully blended.)

Transfer mixture to a stainless steel pan and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and boil gently, stirring frequently, until volume is reduced by about 1/3, or 15 minutes. (Note: Must have a splatter screen at the ready! This stuff can spit at least 6 feet! Even with the splatter screen, my stove, counter and floor all had to be cleaned.)

Have jars, etc. ready for canning. Put hot mustard into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Place lid and screwband on, then tighten. Place in boiling water canner, with water covering tops of jars. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars. Let cool and store.

Verdict is that this stuff will clean out your sinuses. It smelled great. We tried it on sandwiches, and decided that this is the type of mustard that one has with pretzels and possibly beer or cider. It overpowered the entire rest of the sandwich. Tasty though. Also, the recipe said it was supposed to make 5 jars of mustard. I got only 3. Maybe I'll try this again with a different beer to see if the flavor changes at all.