|
You know how they say it’s all about who you know in life? Well, since moving to DC, that’s rung totally true. The people I’ve met have opened many a door. This door in particular was opened by my good friend (and name twin), Rachel! When she saw a post on Facebook about a new cookbook looking for reviewers, she didn’t waste a second letting me know about it. It was through her that I got in touch with Emily of Wild and Crazy Pearl, who very generously offered to send me a copy of Washington DC Chef’s Table to check out*.
The cookbook was written by Beth Kanter and has page after page of gorgeous photos taken by Emily. It compiles some of the best recipes from all of your favorite DC restaurants. The only problem you’ll have leafing through this beauty is deciding which recipe to try first. After browsing the pages of Chef’s Table, one recipe in particular stuck out to me: beer mustard butter. It’s a recipe that I knew would be just challenging enough that would me an excuse to try my hand at yeasted bread baking for the first time.
The recipe for beer mustard butter comes from District Commons, and while I’ve never been to the restaurant, they serve the butter with a hot pretzel baguette that I’ve heard is pretty darn amazing. Keeping that in mind, I decided to take on pretzels rolls to go along with my beer mustard butter.
I used this step-by-step tutorial from Tasty Kitchen to make my rolls, replacing half the all-purpose flour with white whole wheat flour. While it added an health factor to these rolls that they might not have had otherwise, slathering them in beer mustard butter kind of cancels that out. Life is all about balance though, right? In true Studio Cuisine fashion, I cut the recipe down to a 1/3 of its original size, but bear in mind this still leaves you with a lot of left over mustard mixture, so prepare for lots of beer mustard butter in your future!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp brown mustard seeds (original recipe calls for black but my grocery store only had brown)
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1/4 cup malt vinegar
- 1/3 cup + 1.5 tbsp dark beer
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2.5 tbsp dry mustard
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
Instructions
- Mix together mustard seeds, vinegar, and 1/3 cup beer in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight (or for 6 to 8 hours).
- In a small saucepan, combine 1.5 tbsp beer, honey, brown sugar, salt, allspice, and turmeric. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Once at a boil, remove mixture from heat and allow to cool completely (about 30 minutes).
- Transfer mixture to blender, add soaked mustard seeds and their liquids, dry mustard, and blend until consistency is smooth.
- Add two tablespoons of mustard mixture to one cup of softened butter, saving remaining mustard mixture for future use. Season butter blend to taste with additional salt.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Washington DC Chef's Table: Extraordinary Recipes from the Nation's Capital
Recipe did not state how long mustard blend would last in a sealed container in the refrigerator, but as always, err on the side of caution with perishable food.
*As a disclaimer, all opinions about Washington DC Chef’s Table are my own. I received a copy of this cookbook for my personal use and review, and received no compensation for this post.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
What a great idea! I’ve got some grainy mustard at home that I’m just going to add butter to and I’m sure it will be close enough to the cookbook’s recipe.