From the Pantry Bookshelf
A jar of Dijon can earn its place in dinner long before anyone reaches for a sandwich. In a dressing, its sharpness travels across a bowl of vegetables. Stirred into a warm sauce, it seasons what you spoon over the plate. Served on the side, it gives each person a choice about how much mustard goes into a bite.
Rick Stein uses Dijon in both dressings and a warm cream sauce in Franse Odyssee. His cold examples include a dressing for frisée, the curly salad leaf. The warm sauce comes with a dish of lamb kidneys. Both ideas work with food you may already be making at home.
1. Whisk it into a cold dressing
Begin with the dressing you already like. Whisk in a little smooth Dijon, then taste it on a piece of whatever you are going to dress. Try it on a crisp cabbage shred, a cucumber slice or a leaf. The acidity that seems sharp on a spoon may be welcome against a mild vegetable. Smooth mustard disperses readily, so the flavour is even across the dressing.
If the dressing is too strong for the vegetables, combine it with a little more of the plain dressing. If it suits the first bite, dress the salad lightly and taste again. You can always add more at the table, especially with a sturdy slaw that people might like to dress more generously than a plate of tender leaves.
2. Stir it into a warm sauce
Stein’s cream sauce suggests another place to start. Take a warm sauce you already make, such as a white sauce for leeks, and add a little Dijon when you are adjusting the seasoning. Stir until the sauce looks even, then taste some with a piece of leek. If the dish will have cheese or a salty topping, try a bite with that too before you add more seasoning.
A sauce spooned across a plate of leeks gives each forkful some mustard. For roast vegetables with a plain grain, you could spoon the sauce over the vegetables and leave the grain plain so the two can be tasted separately. Keep the rest of the sauce within reach for anyone who wants a little more.
3. Put a little on the plate
A small dab of Dijon alongside roast carrots or potatoes brings its flavour to whichever bites you dip. That can suit a plate where the vegetables are already well seasoned and you want the mustard to remain distinct.
Try it on the cut side of one roast potato first. A thin swipe gives a bit of mustard in each bite, and the cut side is easier to spread it across than the crisp skin. A dab of Dijon can also be good next to a spoonful of white beans, where there is enough softness in the bite to carry a little heat. At a shared table, put the mustard in a small dish with a spoon and leave it within reach.
Bookshelf source — Rick Stein, Franse Odyssee (first Dutch edition, Tirion, 2006), pp. 159 and 205.