I don't know when my mustard obsession (fetish?) began. When I was a kid I put mayonnaise on everything and I mean everything, every sandwich, every burger, eggs...yes eggs. Everything that is except hot dogs, they went virtually naked; I was never a lover of ketchup (still not, only on french fries) and that yellow ballpark mustard made me want to puke just looking at it because what on edible earth could actually be that color? Then one day everything changed, out with the mayo and in with the mustard. All kinds of mustard, dijon, honey, english pub, grainy and even yes icky yellow ballpark mustard, what else are you supposed to make jerk sauce with? My hotdogs were no longer naked they now wore mustard and relish. So now I always have to have all kinds of mustards in the fridge and pantry:
Yes 6 jars is a bit pathetic but I need to go to the market. Usually one night during the week we have pasta for dinner and I try to keep it simple so that I don't defrost anything which makes it mostly a vegetarian pasta, unless I add bacon which I do a lot. My obsession with bacon is a whole other story. I love this dish from an old Time Life Cookbook series I have which is called Fresh Ways with (pasta, poultry, appetizers, etc.) It is Buckwheat Pasta in a Sauce of Green Peppercorns and Mustard. They would like you to make the pasta yourself which is something I love to do but don't have a lot of time for (well now I do) so I don't do it very often; and this particular pasta needs buckwheat flour which is not something I usually have lying around the house since my obsession with flour hasn't reached the mustard level yet and while there are many times I have a jar of green peppercorns there are others which I don't therefore we must improvise, hence we have Pappardelle in a Sauce of Capers and Mustard:
Ingredients:
6 oz. egg Pappardelle
1 tbsp. oil - either olive oil or canola
1 tbsp. finely chopped shallot - or onion
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tsp. Dijon mustard (I have also used mustard w roasted shallots and green peppercorns or some such)
2 tbsp capers, drained and crushed
1 1/2 cups milk (I use whole)
1 tomato, coarsely chopped
salt & pepper to taste
Chopped parsley for garnish
In a large saucepan bring 4 qts (or thereabouts) salted water to a boil, add pappardelle and cook until al dente. Drain.
Meanwhile prepare sauce:
Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed skillet over med-high heat; add shallots and saute until translucent. Add white wine mustard and capers. Cook stirring until all the wine is evaporated. Add milk, return the mixture to a simmer, reduce to medium, stir until mixture thickens a bit, add salt & pepper, stir in pasta and heat through stirring until sauce clings to pasta. Stir in the chopped tomatoes. Garnish with parsley and serve. Serves 2-3
And this is not a food blog, it's about Max so here he is:
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