Saturday's Spice: Mustard

Mustard Fields Bloom In Napa.

The mustard that grows in Napa is a wild flower (Brassica rapa). It is closely related to green cabbage-like vegetables such as bok choy, napa cabbage, and turnips. Wild blooming mustard signals the beginning of spring in California, and is celebrated in the Napa Valley with the Mustard Festival.

The wider Brassica family is one of the world's agricultural work horses, and is said to include the greatest number of useful edibles. These vegetables go by the name cruciferous and we eat its roots (rutabagas, turnips), stems (kohlrabi), leaves (cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, collard greens), flowers (cauliflower, broccoli), and seeds (mustards, condiments). Rapeseed oil, and canola oil are also products of Brassica seeds. And maybe sooner rather than latter, we will all be driving cars filled with such biodiesel .

Various mustards sit in my fridge. I'm partial to Dijon in my salad dressings, and my egg casserole. I use honey mustard as a quick and easy rub for grilled pork tenderloin, and nothing says childhood like the spicy brown mustard we used on brats, and ham and rye sandwiches. This site provides a nice listing of the many different kinds of mustards and then there's the Mustard museum.
With just a touch of tang from the Dijon mustard this cheese and egg casserole makes a great entree for brunch.

Touch of Tang Cheese and Egg Casserole

• 1/2# grated Swiss cheese (Gruyer is a nice alternative)
  4 TBS butter (Less does not hurt the dish)
  1 cup milk (Over the years I've used many different milk combinations, from 2% with half and half, to all half and half--basically the richer the milk the richer the dish).

1/2 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
1-2 TBS prepared Dijon mustard

• 12 slightly beaten eggs (I use a fork to break the yolks and swirl with the whites--do not beat).
• Butter 13x9 casserole dish ( I think glass works best)
• Spread cheese on bottom of dish
• Dot with butter
  
• Mix Milk/Cream with seasoning + mustard
  Pour 1/2 of liquid mix over cheese
  Pour beaten eggs over cheese/milk mixture
• Pour rest of milk mix over eggs (The milk mixture will not completely cover the eggs, and I usually pour it on in a zigzag fashion)
  
• Bake at 325 for 35 mins. or until eggs set (no longer than another 10 mins.).
  Serve immediately.
  

• Champagne is always a good choice with brunch and reminds many in my family of the great Easter A'la Carte Breakfast of the early 80's. The restaurant seated us in a remote part of the restaurant, setting several bottles of champagne on the table, and them promptly forgot about us. We managed to snag the champagne server several more times before a waiter ever showed up.....can I say that by then food was simply an afterthought .