Pastrami On Rye Recipes

PASTRAMI RUEBEN AKA "THE RACHEL"

Steps:

• For the dressing: Combine the mayonnaise, chili sauce, sour cream, horseradish, lemon juice, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, smoked paprika, dill pickles and shallots in a food processor until thoroughly mixed. Do not over blend, you still want to see some texture. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside or refrigerate in a covered jar until serving time.
• For the sandwich build: Combine half of the dressing with the sauerkraut and toss. Place 1 slice of cheese on a piece of bread. Pile the meat high on the cheese, top with an additional slice of cheese, some of the sauerkraut mixture and the second piece of bread. Butter the outsides of the sandwich. Heat a heavy-bottomed nonstick skillet or griddle pan over medium-low heat. Add the sandwiches, cover with a heatproof bowl and griddle until golden and gooey in the middle, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip, cover and let cook until golden all around, another 3 minutes. Serve the extra dressing on the side.
• Cook's Note: I love getting a whole piece of pastrami, uncut, from Fumare's in Chicago. If you have a favorite deli, try getting a whole piece and cutting it yourself; the meat will stay nice and tender and you can mix the bark from the end cut with the meatier middle. You'll fall in love with pastrami all over again.

PASTRAMI AND RYE BERRY SALAD

Steps:

• Cook 1 cup rye berries in simmering salted water until tender, about 1 hour. Drain, transfer to a bowl and let cool. Add 1 cup each thinly sliced red cabbage and celery and 1/2 cup chopped pastrami. Whisk 3 tablespoons each cider vinegar and whole-grain mustard and 1/3 cup olive oil; toss with the rye berry mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

EASY HOMEMADE PASTRAMI

Steps:

• Mix garlic and vegetable oil in a small bowl. Set aside for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C).
• Combine black pepper, paprika, coriander, dry mustard, white pepper, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Cover a baking sheet with a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Coat aluminum foil with prepared garlic oil. Lay corned beef brisket on foil and brush with remaining garlic oil.
• Cover all sides of corned beef brisket completely with pepper mixture, reserving 1 to 2 tablespoons.
• With fat side of corned beef brisket up, wrap in the sheet of aluminum foil. Place wrapped corned beef on another sheet of aluminum foil with the seam and fat side down. Place double-wrapped corned beef on a third sheet of aluminum foil (seam down), and wrap again.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 6 hours.
• Remove pastrami from the oven and let cool to room temperature, about 3 hours.
• With pastrami still wrapped in aluminum foil, place in a freezer bag or other plastic bag and refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours.
• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Remove pastrami from refrigerator, unwrap, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle top with 1 to 2 tablespoons of remaining pepper mixture.
• Place pastrami in the oven, 6 to 8 inches below broiler heat. Broil briefly to brown surface, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pastrami from the oven and slice thinly, about 1/8-inch slices.
• Heat a large skillet over low heat.
• Heat pastrami slices in the skillet with a few drops of water until fat begins to turn from white to translucent, about 5 minutes.

PASTRAMI AND RYE PANZANELLA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F with the rack in the middle. Put the onion in a bowl and cover with 1 to 2 cups of cold water. Swish the water around and rub the slices with your hands. Strain and repeat the process two or three times, letting the slices soak and changing the water at 10-minute intervals. (Soaking raw onion in cold water mellows the harsh bite.)
• Meanwhile, spread out the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake until the edges are crispy and golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• On a cutting board, finely chop the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Using both the blade and the flat side of a chef's knife, chop and scrape the mixture into a paste. Put the oil and vinegar into a bowl, add the garlic paste and whisk to combine.
• In a large bowl, combine the cooled bread, tomatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss to combine, gently pressing the tomatoes a bit to release some of the juices.
• Peel the cucumbers in a zebra pattern and cut on a diagonal into half moons. Drain and pat dry the onions. Add the onions, cucumber, celery, basil leaves, pastrami and parsley leaves to the salad. Whisk together the dressing, add it to the salad and gently toss to combine.

PASTRAMI ON RYE

Steps:

• Butter both slices of bread and toast until golden.
• Spread mustard on both slices.
• Warm pastrami in a hot skillet until heated through.
• Pile on top of one slice of the bread and carefully close the sandwich.
• To make a cold pastrami sandwich, skip buttering and toasting the bread and place meat cold on the sandwich.