Homemade Mustard

I was about 15 the first time I made mustard, and, like a lot of my cooking experience, it was invention born out of desperation and poverty.  We were out of mustard, and I was babysitting my brother and sisters (my last brother wasn’t born until I was 20), and I needed the condiment for something–I don’t remember what..  I made the mustard out of butter and salt and dry mustard. I didn’t cook it.  It was horrible, but it worked–marginally.  The recipe below is much better.

Homemade Mustard

1/4 cup dry mustard

1/4 cup plain or apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 egg yolk (necessary for texture)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

Combine mustard and vinegar and mix with wire whisk until mustard is blended in. Add water, egg yolk, sugar and cornstarch until combined in a double boiler (or metal bowl perched over a pan of boiling water). Stir constantly, until as thick as store-bought mustard (about 8-10 minutes). Put in a tupperware container or something with a cover.  Cool, covered, in the the refrigerator.

NOTE: There are a couple of variations that spice up the mustard.  Add a tsp. of honey for a sweet and sour mustard.  Add horseradish for a hotter mixture.  Add sweet relish for brats or hot dogs.