Pastrami

I was browsing the web for woodworking tools (I got myself a lathe recently--not only did I turn this little vase, but the sawdust adds fiber to my bread)

 and came across a tool blog about making pastrami.  Pastrami is smoked corned beef.  And this particular blog was about making pastrami starting with store bought corned beef.  Corned beef goes on sale around St. Paddy's Day, so I stock up, and having some corned beef on hand, I thought I would give pastrami a try.

 There are two approaches here, depending on whether or not you have a smoker.  The blog that got me started, Cheater Pastrami and Getting Stuff Done is for those with no smoker, hence the "cheater" part.  You can also check out  Cheater Pastrami at Cheater Chef for another version.

I do have a smoker, an Old Smokey Electric Smoker, which I just love.

It is electric, so no fussing with adding charcoal to keep it going, and does not use a water tray since the smoker is basically a sealed drum. It is easy to use and I have used it to smoke brisket, chicken, salmon, pork tenderloin, catfish, and even cheese. 

So I started looking for a recipe using a smoker, and found one for Making Pastrami at About.com.  I pretty much folowed it to the letter.

You start by soaking the corned beef, to remove some of the salt.

 Then you make a rub, and coat the meat well,

 and put it in the smoker for about an hour per pound.  I used apple chips made from prunings from my apple trees.   To quote Ina Garten (who actually referred to The Hamptons as "The 'Hood"), how easy is that? 

 To make slicing easier, I put it in the fridge over night.  

Meanwhile, I baked a loaf of HB in 5 Whole Grain Rye.  I revisited my Pullman Pan technique, and used about 3/4 of a full batch of dough. 

 I put my foil wrapped cardboard lid on, and weighed it with pie weights.  Given the size, I baked it at 375 for an hour covered, then 15 minutes uncovered. 

My goal was a sandwich, though I am not sure what kind I made.  According to Wikipedia, a Reuben "is a hot sandwich of layered meat, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese, with a dressing. These are grilled between slices of rye bread. The meat is either corned beef or pastrami, and the dressing is either Russian or Thousand Island dressing."  A Rachel "is a variation on the standard Reuben sandwich that substitutes pastrami for the corned beef and coleslaw for the sauerkraut."  Well, I used pastrami, and a homemade Quick Sauerkraut that was more like a slaw, and a remoulade type sauce I cobbled together.  I also used my panini press.   A rose by any other name ....

I sliced the pastrami thinly and steamed it;

added the Quick Sauerkraut (which is milder and, since it does not taste so much like old socks, is more to my liking than regular sauerkraut);

topped it with Swiss cheese and Dad's Remoulade;

and grilled it in the panini press. 

It was a resounding success!

So, if you have any corned beef hanging around, or even if you don't, you might give this a try. 

Dad’s

Dad’s Remoulade

 1/3 cup light Mayo

1/3 cup light Sour Cream

1 tsp Sweet Relish or Hot Dog Relish

1 tsp Horseradish

1 tsp Ketchup

1 tsp Spicy Brown mustard or Dijon Mustard

Several dashes of Hot Sauce

 Mix and let meld.