Many-Fruited Mustard

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Title: Many-Fruited Mustard
Categories: Sauce
Yield: 1 1/2 cup

1/2 c Dry mustard powder; lightly
-packed
3/4 c Cold water
1 1/2 tb Orange or tangerine zest;
-packed, coarsely shredded
2 tb Dried apricots; packed and
-diced
2 tb Dried peaches; packed and
-diced
2 tb Dried figs; preferably
-white, packed and diced
2 tb Candied cherries; packed and
-diced
2 tb Golden raisins; packed
1/2 c White wine vinegar or
1/2 c Oriental rice vinegar or
1/2 c Cider vinegar
1/2 c Sugar
1 ts Salt
2 tb Fresh lemon juice; strained
-(up To 4)

Stir the mustard and cold water together in a bowl, mixing until all
lumps
vanish. Let the mixture stand at least an hour, better 3 or 4 hours.
Simmer
the orange zest in about a cupful of water for 5 minutes. Drain the
shreds,
then chop them very fine, reserving the zest. If the dried fruit is
not
tender, cover the pieces with boiling water and let them stand 5
minutes,
then drain them well. Combine the drained orange zest, vinegar and
sugar in
a medium-sized saucepan and boil the mixture, uncovered, over medium
heat
for 5 minutes, until the syrup has thickened somewhat. Stir in the
salt,
then add the fruit and the mustard mixture. Stir the mixture over
medium-high heat until it comes to a boil and thickens smoothly.
Remove
from the heat. When the mustard has cooled, taste it and add lemon
juice to
taste. Scrape the mustard into a clean, dry jar and store it,
covered, in
the refrigerator. If it should thicken too much upon standing, thin
it with
more lemon juice or with water. Keeps indefinitely in the
refrigerator.

Witty says this recipe is inspired by mostarda, an Italian specialty
of
mixed fruits pickled in a sweet mustard syrup. Other fruits can be
added or
substituted for the ones listed above, depending on what you have.
She
suggests using glazed pineapple, dried pears and/or candied citrus
peel.
The exact combination of the fruits isn't important, so long as the
total
amount is about 10 tb. and the fruits are balanced for sharpness and
sweetness. Good with cold ham or smoked poultry, especially when it's
been
mixed half-and-half with any bitter-orange marmalade.

From _Fancy Pantry_ by Helen Witty. New York: Workman Publishing
Company,
Inc., 1986. Pp. 184-185.

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