I’m German…Austrian or something.  I recently found out, after many years of labeling my heritage as German, my ancestors actually hailed from Austria and Luxembourg.  It makes sense since after visiting both Germany and Austria, I resemble more like the Austrian peoples performing at the Mai Fest in Salzburg.

Mai Fest celebration in Salzburg

A delicious meal enjoyed at the Augustiner keller in Salzburg

Ok, so I am indeed Austrian and Irish instead of German and Irish. Let’s just forget the fact that Hitler came from Austria…forgotten. Whatever I am, I love mustard.  I learned two(three)words in German while in Bavaria and they are: bretzeln, senf and spargel. Translated it is: pretzels, mustard and white asparagus. The pretzel and mustard was my go-to food in Bavaria.  Not a lot of choices sometimes for a vegetarian.  Trust me, I never went hungry; the food and the beer were always delicious. Oh, and I learned the German word word for asparagus because it was in season and all of the biergartens featured it.  

Making Whole-Grain Mustard

Combine the apple cider vinegar, yellow mustard seeds, brown mustard seeds, and beer. Stir and cover with plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature for up to two days.

After leaving at room temperature for the desired amount of time, pour the seed mixture into a food processor. Add salt and brown sugar and process for one minute. Transfer mustard to jar and leave sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 days.  This is where the heat of the mustard is decided so do the 1 day if you like it mild.

Here is the finished mustard with some of my homemade pretzel bites(may be a future blog item after a little tweaking).

Recipe for Whole Grain Mustard

Ingredients
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds
1/4 cup brown mustard seeds
1/4 cup beer
2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions
1) Combine vinegar, mustard seeds, and beer in medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.
2) Process soaked mustard seeds with sugar and salt in food processor until coarsely ground and thickened, about 1 minute, scraping down bowl as needed.
3) Transfer mustard to jar with tight-fitting lid and let stand at room temperature until it achieves desired spiciness, 1 to 2 days. Transfer to refrigerator. Mustard can be refrigerated for up to 3 months.

Ok, while this mustard is a breeze to make, dijon–not so much.  I have tried two different recipes and both turned out extremely bitter. If you know of a fail-proof dijon recipe, please share it.