Pickled Mustard Seeds

I subscribe to a lot of food-centric magazines.  Of course, the obligatory Bon Appetit and Food & Wine are scattered around the house, but there are also stacks of Eating Well and Saveur piled by the couch.   Most of the other magazines I subscribe to have at least one or two sections about food as well, publications like Southern LivingNew MexicoCountry Living, Sunset, Organic Gardening and Mother Earth Living.  Yes, that is a lot of periodicals to keep up with.

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That leads me to the pickle I was in regarding today’s post.

Pun intended.

In a recent publication (see list above), I read a blurb about pickling mustard seeds and how these little brined seeds were become popular as garnishes and condiments by chefs worldwide.   I made a mental note to make some and dog-eared the page.  I still had a surplus of mustard seeds from the mustard-making kick I have been on.   (See Homemade Dijon Mustard and Oktoberfest Beer Mustard.)

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Now all I had to do was find that darned magazine.   I did a halfhearted search through some random stacks and quickly gave up and went to the internet.   I found my recipe here, but there are many, many, many similar ones out there.

Pickled Mustard Seeds
from Danny Bowien (A fellow Okie, I might add.)

¾ c. whole yellow or brown mustard seeds (I used brown.)
1 c. white vinegar
c. sugar
2 Tianjin dried chiles or a pinch of red pepper flakes (I used one dried Thai chili.)
½ t.salt

Place mustard seeds in a small heatproof bowl and set aside.   I simply used a pint jar.  In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, chiles or pepper flakes and salt. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil.

Pour the hot liquid over the mustard seeds. Stir and set aside at room temperature for 4 hours.

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You will have a little over 1 cup. May be stored, covered and refrigerated, for up to 1 month.

 

I have to confess that I am a hoarder when it comes to magazines because there is always a recipe or two in each one that I dog ear to come back to.   These are stacked in huge piles in my psuedo home office (that wants to be a library when it grows up).   Also, I rarely let go of Gourmet editions so I have at least a couple of drawers full of those vintage copies.

The first step is admitting I have a problem, right?

Back to the pickles.

I love these.   They burst in your mouth.   They are sweet and tangy and spicy flavor explosions.   I can just imagine them on top of deviled eggs.  Beyond that, I don’t know as of yet what I will do with the rest of the jar.

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If you want to read my other weird forays into pickling, check out Pickled Grapes and Pickled Chard Stems.

Who knows what will get pickled next.

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