Readers’ recipe swap: mustard

Your heady inventions made picking a winner this week particularly hard. Angela Kim’s creamy mustard chicken with green peppercorns was simple yet indulgent, while Fadime’s fried prawns with honey, mustard and chilli made for a quick and elegant starter. TwinnyDip’s ingenious mustard seed-infused oil to coat popcorn provided several tasty mid-morning snacks, and I was enamoured with Miz Pepperpot’s approach to the theme – taking a condiment to make a condiment in her punchy mango mustard – a delight with roast chicken.

But it was when I silenced a gaggle of noisy guests with Cookeathope’s roasted cauliflower with anchovy mustard that I knew I had a winner.

The winning recipe: roasted cauliflower with anchovy mustard

This is inspired by one of my favourite Italian dishes: broccoli with anchovy, chilli and breadcrumbs. Mustard and anchovy is a great combination and a perfect way to liven up a cauliflower. Finish with a sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs and you have a delicious dish. For an extra mustard hit, coat the breadcrumbs in a mixture of mustard and oil before toasting.
Cookeathope, via GuardianWitness

Serves 4 as a side dish
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for the breadcrumbs
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1 heaped tbsp chopped parsley
1 medium cauliflower, broken into florets
A handful of breadcrumbs

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Combine the mustards, oil, garlic, anchovy and parsley in a large bowl, then add the cauliflower and toss until well coated. tray and roast for 25-30 minutes, or until tender.

2 Five minutes before the cauliflower is ready, toss the breadcrumbs in a little olive oil, spread on to a baking tray and pop in the oven until golden. Scatter over the cauliflower to serve.

Creamy mustard chicken with green peppercorns

When I first moved to Germany to study at a music university over 10 years ago, one of the first friends I made was a French girl from Nantes, who was in my year. Not long after the beginning of the semester, on a cold winter evening, she invited me to her small dormitory kitchen, and cooked this creamy, mustardy chicken dish in a mini toaster oven. Although the exact ingredients remain somewhat blurred, this dish I make is similar. It’s such a comforting dish, which warms my body, and also takes me back to that first year of university in a foreign country, where everything was so new, scary, hopeful and exciting at the same time.
Angela Kim, via GuardianWitness/shortblackcoffee.wordpress.com

Serves 2
1 tsp vegetable oil
600-700g organic or free-range skin-on chicken thighs, on the bone
2 small onions, sliced thinly
70ml single cream
40ml creme fraiche
30ml dry white wine or vermouth
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp honey
1½ tbsp dijon mustard
½ tbsp lightly crushed green peppercorns
1 tbsp roughly chopped tarragon leaves
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1 Take the chicken thighs out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking, then salt the chicken all over generously.

2 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Heat the oil in an heavy-bottomed ovenproof frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown the chicken all over until golden. Remove and set aside.

3 Fry the onion over a medium heat in the same pan until soft, then in a small bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients until smooth.

4 Return the chicken to the pan, skin-side up, with the onions, then pour in the cream-mustard mixture and toss gently. Cover with an aluminum foil or a lid and bake for about 35 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Baste once, halfway through. Serve with a side of steamed green beans and boiled potatoes.

Mustard- and honey-glazed deep fried prawns with mustard dressing

This is a simple and delicious starter. The mixture of sharp dijon mustard, sweet honey, lemon and chilli works so well together. I deep fried the prawns but baking them equally taste great.
Fadime Tiskaya, via GuardianWitness

Serves 2
50g mustard
50g honey
Juice of ½ a lemon
1 medium-hot red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Salt and ground black pepper
1 egg yolk
2-3 tbsp cornflour, plus extra to dust
½ tbsp sesame seeds
½ tsp poppy seeds (optional)
14 raw king prawns
Sunflower oil, to fry
Wild rocket to serve (optional)

1 In a large bowl, mix the mustard, honey, lemon and chilli together with a little seasoning. Put half of it in a small bowl for later to use as a dressing.

2 Mix the egg yolk, cornflour, sesame seeds and poppy seeds with half of the mustard mixture in the big bowl and mix into a batter. Add more flour if you want the batter little bit thicker. Dust the prawns with a little flour to help the batter stick, then put them in the bowl to coat.

3 Heat enough sunflower oil to cover the bottom of a pan, and when the oil is hot, fry the prawns for 20-30 seconds each side (depending on size) in batches until they are crispy on the outside and they turn red – around 1-2 minutes. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Serve on a bed of wild rocket, drizzle with the dressing and serve immediately. Alternatively, just serve it with the dressing on the side as a dipping sauce.

Mustard seed and salted chilli caramel popcorn with chopped almond and lemon zest

Mustard seeds do not have a very pungent flavour until you toast them in a bit of hot oil, and suddenly they release their full potential and fill the entire room with an uplifting fragrance. Here they add spice and flair to a sweet and savoury popcorn; the chopped almonds and the lemon zest bring a refreshing aftertaste to this indulgent snack.
TwinnyDip, London

Serves 4-6
2 tbsp corn oil or other vegetable oil
100g corn kernels
50g toasted almonds, chopped
1 lemon, zest only
A small pinch of chilli flakes, to taste

For the mustard seed oil
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds

For the caramel
A generous pinch of sea salt, to taste
100g caster sugar
50g butter
4 tbsp water

1 First, prepare the popcorn. Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan. When hot, add the corn kernels. Cover and wait a few minutes until all the kernels are popped. Transfer to a large mixing bowl, then set aside to cool.

2 Next, prepare the mustard seed oil. Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds. Toast for 1 minute or so until they start to pop. Use a lid to prevent them from spluttering everywhere. Make sure the oil is hot before the mustard seeds are added, and don’t leave the seeds in the pan for too long – burnt mustard seeds taste and smell bitter and unpleasant.

3 To make the caramel, combine the salt, sugar, butter and water in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until sugar has dissolved, swirling the pan around slightly to make sure all ingredients are well combined (do not stir). Increase to a high heat and cook for a further 5 minutes or so until they are a light golden brown colour.

4 Immediately pour the caramel, mustard seed oil, almond and lemon zest into the popcorn bowl. Add chilli flakes to taste. Stir until well mixed, allow to cool a little then eat.

Mango mustard

My Jamaican father is always bewildered when I cook with fruit, especially if it’s a savoury dish. For him, fruit is best eaten straight off the tree in its natural form. As a child, his family was blessed with a small piece of land on which to grow provisions and fruit, and he recalls sitting in the shade of a mango tree with his brothers and sisters, eating the fruit until he was fit to burst, his skinny legs barely able to hold him up afterwards. I’ve tried to convert him to the idea of fruit in condiments, but he’s having none of it! This mustard is extremely moreish, even on its own, spread on toast. It also makes a great baste for spare ribs and will go fabulously well with that Christmas ham.
MizPepperpot, via GuardianWitness

Makes 1 jar
1 large ripe mango, peeled, stoned and diced, or 1 x 425g can of mango pieces, drained
1 small red onion, diced
½ or 1 small scotch bonnet pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped
60ml red wine vinegar
60ml water
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 heaped tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp ground allspice
A pinch of salt

1 Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the onion is soft and a thick consistency is achieved; about 20 minutes. Leave to cool.

2 Put the mixture into a blender and process until smooth, then store it covered in the fridge or seal in a sterilised jar. Scotch bonnet peppers are very, very hot but give a lovely flavour. Try using just ½ a pepper then add more during cooking if required.