Dijon Mustard

I just love Dijon Mustard and have wanted to make my own for a long time. Finally I had the time and ingredients and couldn't wait to get started.

Loaded with great garlic flavor this classic white wine Dijon mustard will be your go-to for sandwiches and roasts. Trust me, it's damn delicious and has become a new favorite at our house.

RECIPE
Ingredients
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups Pinot Grigio or other dry white wine
1 cup white wine vinegar (5% acidity)
1 tsp. salt
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
4 black peppercorns
1 rosemary sprig (1/3 tsp dry)
1 cup yellow mustard seeds
1⁄3 cup dry mustard
Water to thin, about 1 1/2 cups or slightly more

Method
Combine first 7 ingredients in a large stainless steel or enameled saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes or until onion is very soft, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat; pour onion mixture through a wire-mesh strainer into a glass or stainless steel bowl. Discard solids.

Stir mustard seeds and dry mustard into wine mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature at least 24 hours, but no longer than 48 hours.

Process mustard mixture in a food processor then transfer to a blender adding water, a little at a time (I used about 1 1/2 cups) until consistency of cooked oatmeal. Mixture should be thick but smooth.

Transfer mustard to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered 5 minutes.

Ladle hot mustard into a hot jar, leaving 1⁄4-inch head-space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim, top with lids and apply band to fingertip-tight. Place jars in boiling water bath or steam canner.

Process jars 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat; remove lid, and let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove jars and let cool 24 hours undisturbed on your kitchen counter-top. Store in pantry up to one year.

Cook's note - for best results, let mustard sit 2-4 weeks before trying for flavors to blend and mellow

Yield: 6 or 7 - 4 oz jars

Recipe excerpted from The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, 2016.

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

My husband loves honey mustard salad dressing, but he also loves my homemade Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette, so I began to wonder how I could recreate a good honey mustard dressing at home. It ended up not being so hard to do ... in fact it was really very easy. Since he's not a huge salad fan, I was happy he finally found one he liked.

The sweet and tangy comes together in a delicious dressing you can use in a multitude of ways ... over a salad of mixed greens, with pecan crusted chicken, or as a finishing/basting sauce on grilled meats. It's also excellent brushed on a baked ham, PLUS it's so simple to make, literally takes minutes. What could be better than that?

Recipe
Ingredients
¼ cup raw local honey (I use honey from Bell Honey Company )
3 tbls. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. course-ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried minced onion
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Method
In a small bowl, whisk together honey, Dijon mustard, course-ground black pepper,  minced onion and apple cider vinegar until well blended.

Whisk in olive oil and pour dressing into a bottle or container with a lid.

Store dressing the your refrigerator.

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Strawberry Dijon Sauce

I recently received a small produce box from Farmbox Direct, a virtual online Organic Farmer's Market delivering amazing products right to your door.

"I started Farmbox Direct with a vision of how food SHOULD be: fresh, local (when mother nature permits), and free from pesticides! Having grown up in a family of farmers and living on a farm, I spent summers working at my uncle’s compost in the Midwest, learning how to live off the land, and the benefits of local and organic food! You could say the foundation of Farmbox Direct is in my blood!

After I became a mother I really began to pay very close attention to exactly what was in the food not only I was eating, but also what I was feeding my daughter. I was a busy NYC working mom, I didn't always have time to make a weekly trip to my local farmers market to pick up the freshest local, and organic items for my kitchen, I began to realize the true need for this service!

What was in the box!

I decided to step down from the corporate world, and go back to my roots! I personally hand pick every Farm, Artisan, and Vendor we deal with! If it’s not USDA Certified Organic, we do not carry it! We strive to bring you local USDA Certified Organic when Mother Nature permits! My goal is to bring you an Organic Farmers Market in it’s purity to your door!

Our promise is to bring you ONLY USDA Certified Organic Produce, and Local USDA Certified Organic items when Mother Nature permits! All farms we work with use ZERO pesticides on the produce they grow! Our Artisanal items come direct from the Artisan! Our eggs are cage free, free range, and come directly from that Farm. We believe in farm to table, the way food should be! Ashley Tyrner, Farmbox Direct CEO.

Disclaimer: The produce used in this post was provided by Farmbox Direct. All opinions are my own.

Things I personally like about Farmbox Direct:

• No weekly commitment
• You can customize up to 5 substitutions each week
• No registration or membership fees
• All packing used is recycled and biodegradable
• All produce is certified organic (All are 100% certified organic and follow the strict USDA standards. Organic is a unique label that can only be placed on a product that has been certified, unlike other labels you might see at your local supermarket).

At this time delivery is not available to all states, however, it is the goal of Farmbox Direct to expand their delivery area in the very near future.

My box arrived early on a Friday morning and everything inside the box was perfectly wrapped and still cold due to an ice pack on the bottom. The smaller fruits or veggies were protected by being packed in a smaller box. Some of the veggies were inside green veggie bags (I'm keeping those to use to store the veggies in the refrigerator).

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Sauce
3 tbsp. strawberry jam 
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Heat strawberry jam in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat. Mix in remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat. Drizzle over top of roasted Brussels sprouts.

Method
Preheat oven to 400. Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves.

Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 25-35 minutes or until they are crisped on the outside and tender on the inside.

Stir around from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly.

Sprinkle with more kosher salt, if desired, and serve immediately with sauce drizzled over top.

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Molasses Pork Tenderloin

I just love pork, all kinds of pork!  We've had it prepared in a variety of different ways, with all kinds of cuts of pork; pork scallopines, pork shanks, pork chops, pork roast, tenderloins and more.  Each is very good in its own special way, and it almost always exceeds our expectations as far as taste and flavor.  Of course the BEST pork ever is pastured pork, raised humanely with no antibiotics or hormones from your local farm. This is always the kind of pork we seek out, since there is simply no comparison in the flavor.  Simply put, pastured pork is a superior product from anything purchased in a grocery store. Once you've tried it, I promise you will never look back.

Ingredients
1 small pork tenderloin
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbls. Dijon mustard
1 tbls. Balsamic vinegar
sea salt and pepper to sprinkle on pork

Method
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Lightly oil a baking dish on all sides and bottom to prevent sticking.  Lightly oil pork tenderloin, place in baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix molasses, Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl; spoon 1/2 of the mixture over the pork tenderloin.  Roast pork at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes; reduce heat to 350, baste remaining sauce over pork and continue to roast 15 additional minutes or until internal temperature is 145 degrees.  Remove from oven and let rest 5-10 minutes, covered with foil, before carving to serve.

Be careful not to over-cook.  You want the pork to be slightly pink inside, or medium.  This will insure it's still moist and juicy.


Enjoy,
Mary




Safe internal temp of pork

Asparagus & Tomato Pasta Salad

I told y'all I love Asparagus! Adding a variety of Asparagus dishes to the ones I already enjoy just seemed like a win-win to me. More ways to eat and enjoy it is always a good thing.

This Asparagus and Tomato Pasta Salad uses a dressing mix of Balsamic Vinegar and Dijon Mustard to give it a nice little kick. Use the freshest Asparagus you can buy when preparing this dish.

What will you need to make Asparagus and Tomato Pasta Salad?

• 3 cups uncooked rotini or penne pasta
• 1 lb fresh asparagus
• 1/4 cup oil of your choice
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1-14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes drained or 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
• garlic powder, salt and pepper

RECIPE
Ingredients
3 cups uncooked rotini or penne pasta
1 lb. fresh asparagus, cut into 1/2-1-inch pieces, discarding woody ends (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup oil (your choice)
2 tbls. balsamic vinegar
1 tbls. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. course-ground black pepper
1 -14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained (or 2 fresh tomatoes cut into small pieces, approx. 2 cups)

Method
Cook pasta according to package directions, adding asparagus during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Rinse with cold water and drain well.

In a small bowl add oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper; whisk well until blended. In a large bowl toss pasta, asparagus and tomatoes with dressing mixing well.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to blend flavors. This is a great fresh pasta salad, good by itself, or served as a side dish to grilled meats.

Find more cholesterol lowering recipes in this wonderful collection from Sumptuous Spoonfuls

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.ix all ingredients in a large sauce pan. Stir to combine and bring to a low boil over medium heat.