Mustard Made with Caper Vinegar - a strong flavor

I use capers in a recipe I created and posted about at this blog. When the jar of capers is empty, I save the vinegar that the capers had been packed in.

Today, I got out my Italian mortar and pestle and the following ingredients, pictured below.

Mustard flour, yellow and black mustard seed, capers in brine, shallot, powdered bay leaf, garlic, lemon and anchovies packed in olive oil.

This mustard is quite pungent. More so than Dijon. The liquid from the capers seems to lend extra strength to the mustard.

I had about 3 tbs. of mustard flour left in one of the bottles and started with that. The capers yielded about 100 mL of liquid. That turned out to be a lot of liquid.

I put 1/4 tsp. of salt and 1 tbs. of chopped shallot in the mortar and reduced that to a paste. Then I added about 1 tsp. of whole, drained capers and continued to reduce that to a paste. Once smooth, I added 1 tbs. of mustard flour and mixed it until it was thick. Next alternately, more caper liquid then more mustard flour was added. The trick here is to blend to a slightly thinner consistency (viscosity) than Dijon mustard as over a few days, the Caper Mustard will tighten up. 

Next I added 1/2 tsp. of sugar and 1/2 tsp. of powdered bay leaves. Mixing again, and adding more caper liquid and flour until I had used up the caper liquid, I must have used about 3 to 4 tbs. more of mustard flour before the recipe came together. At the end I added 1/2 tsp. of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Wonderfully that made about 4 ozs. of mustard. When I first thought of using the caper brine, I searched for mustard, caper and variations on the 'net, but couldn't find a recipe similar to this one. So, for now, this is a one-of-a-kind condiment.

For those of you who like bright flavored mustards, this is the number. I suggest you use it anywhere you would use wasabi. It would lend itself to fish dishes, too.

Please note that this isn't as much as a recipe, as it is a guideline for making a powerfully flavored mustard. I did not use garlic or whole mustard seed in this recipe, this time. Please experiment and report your findings. Thanks.