Out of the rotating cast of condiments in my pantry, mustard ranks high on my list and I’m always looking for new ways to enjoy it. These simple mustard batons is a delicious way to kick start an evening of festivity, just add wine and olives! Exactly how simple? Unroll sheets of premade puff pastry, spread with some good kicky mustard, fold, cut, egg wash, and bake!
Seeing that so few ingredients are used in this recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table, it is worthwhile to seek out high quality ones for each of them. Frozen puff pastry is a staple at most grocery stores but if you look closely at the ingredients, more likely than not they are made with puff pastry fats instead of traditional butter. Despite the ease of handling, I loathe the artificial taste. Of course I would love to have a steady supply of all-butter frozen puff pastry in the grocery store next door, I’m okay using their store brand made with a blend of butter and vegetable oils. If only there is a Picard where I live! Sigh, a girl can dream…
Fortunately, I have much better luck sourcing the other ingredients. Do you know that Canada is a major producer of mustard? Appropriately enough, there are some local artisanal mustards that I really like. Kozlik’s has a whole line of really awesome flavoured mustards ranging from fiery to mellow to sweet. I always have a few bottles at home. When I visit their shop at St Lawrence Market, I love to taste test their whole line of mustard in search of new favourites. Not only do they offer pretzel sticks as tasting vessels, on weekends, they may even be grilling up some peameal bacon so you can judge how well the mustard taste with its natural match! The white sesame-topped mustard batons are filled with a thin layer of Kozlik’s Amazing Maple mustard. I only wish I hadn’t finish my bottles of Sweet & Smokey or Balsamic Fig & Dates earlier this week.
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The other half of my mustard batons are filled with Organic Gold’s Classical Mustard and topped with black sesame seeds. When it comes to the strength of mustard, freshness is everything! When I purchased my bottle at the One Of A Kind show directly from the vendor, she warned me of the potent taste because they were only bottled the previous day. I can attest to its sinus-clearing ability! This is the standard mustard I love to use in everyday cooking.
Taking this simple idea of filling puff pastry sheets with a spread, I can imagine all sorts of delicious variations. Greenspan suggested using tapenade but I think the tangy spicy sweet Moroccan walnut spread of muhammara would be absolutely fantastic. In the summer months when we have more basil than we can manage, a filling of pesto would be perfect. I wonder if hummus would work? How about a sweet version made with marmalade or spiced chocolate peanut butter? One thing is for sure: experimenting will be absolutely necessary (mmmm….tasty experiments).
Don’t forget to check out the work of other French Fridays with Dorie members!
