I’ve had a real yen for a Hot Pastrami sandwich. But can’t find it here. So Tiger and I went to the internet to find out how to make it from scratch. How many of you knew that pastrami is made of Beef Brisket? (I didn’t). What I’ve found out is you can make your own quite easy. First you have to make the brisket into corn beef, then into pastrami. 
The difference between corned beef and pastrami is slight. In both cases, a beef brisket is 'corned' by curing it in a salt brine for a couple weeks. This comes from the days before the Ice Box, where they used salt and sugar to preserve meat for a long time. The term 'corn' comes from the fact that the salt used to preserve beef was roughly the shape of a corn kernel. (Like rock salt). To turn the corned brisket into a corned beef, you boil the meat. To turn the corned brisket into pastrami, you smoke the meat.
The Brine recipe:
* 4 quarts water
* 1 cup kosher salt
* 12 cloves garlic, crushed
* 3 tablespoons pickling spices
* 8 bay leaves
Yield: Enough brine for 2-3 lbs of beef
There are a lot of recipes on the internet for this brine solution. (I cheated). Since it’s Saint Patrick’s Day Corn beef is in all the stores so why wait for a couple of weeks. I just bought the Corn Beef and soaked it in a tub of water for 24 hrs to get most of the salt out and then I added my dry rub and let it stand for another couple of hours and then smoked it.
We bought Mesquite for the smoke and the smoker with some briquettes .
Pastrami Dry Rub:
* 1/4 cup kosher salt
* 1/4 cup paprika
* 3 Tablespoons coriander seeds
* 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 Tablespoons black peppercorns
* 2 Tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
* 1 Tablespoon white peppercorns
* 8 cloves garlic, minced
Now it takes about 8 hours to smoke this meat. That is equivalent to a 30 pack of beer, or 3 liters of wine, or a 5th of scotch. (These amounts are adjustable according to personal preference). If you like watching grass grow this is the fun part.
No I don’t have a slicer, so I take it to the VFW and use theirs. This slicer isn’t the best I’ve ever used but it did work. I take a couple of pieces and make a sandwich and it just isn’t like what I use to get in Sacramento. Don’t get me wrong it was great tasting and it was real pastrami. But something missing, from the taste I had in my mind. I remember it was boiling because of the smell of the water (so into a pot of boiling water it goes), I boil it just long enough to get the seasoning into the center of the meat.Drain, put on bun and add the mustard with horseradish and the little yellow peppers, chips and dill pickle. So back to the store for the good stuff and let me tell you I just created an exact duplicate of what that pastrami taste like. Or at least like the Pastrami I got at Auburn Blvd. and Hwy. 50. ( The place is closed now but I think the name was the Hot Pastrami).
The meat comes out so tender and juicy…Hummmm!!!!!!Good..
Till later stay healthy and safe from Tiger and Stu
