This is more of a continuation of my previous corned beef post. I decided to go all in and make pastrami. I'm going out on a limb and feeding some out of town Jewish/Foody friends and a couple of restaurant owning pals as my guinea pigs, oy vey!
I did a whole packer and 3lbs of short ribs. My wife and I are having a little of each tonight to see how it goes. Here's some pics, and I am most definitely looking for some feedback:
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
We had some of the point and a couple of the short ribs last night. While very good, it tasted more corned beefy than pastrami. We're having the flat on Fri and I'm hoping the 2 days in the fridge will infuse the meat and little more.
Okay, trigger warning, a little bit of bragging is about happen:
As I shared earlier, I decided to try out my first pastrami on a couple of world traveling Jewish foodies and a couple of restaurant owning pals. Great friends that I knew would be gentle but honest with their opinions. I told Mike, my Jewish friend, that I was using the "Close to Katz's" recipe to which he replied that he has visited Katz's deli many times. I instantly felt like a maven goy, oy!
As he was opening one of his contributions to the affair, the 26 year old Boudreaux pictured, I started to feel the pressure build. I forged on and began unwrapping the, hopefully, succulent treat I brought. The aroma filled the room and almost overpowered the subtle bouquet of the wine. Almost. We paired the great wine with great conversation while I sliced the pastrami with intense concentration using my best, sharpest knife.
Cut to the finish, we made pseudo pastrami Reubens and all were offering great accolades! My friend Mike opined that the pastrami was every bit as good as Katz's, and perhaps better because I trimmed so much fat from the brisket.
Thanks Meathead for the great recipe and for giving me the confidence to try it!
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