latest project: PASTRAMI!!!!
katz’s deli beware. i’m taking on the pastrami challenge and not looking back.
preliminary research has shown that i’ll need to buy either a fresh cut or center cut brisket and brine it for three weeks. i’ve also read that you want a good layer of fat on the said brisket for the brining and smoking phase. i went to whole foods this week to get the brisket but all of their’s were neatly trimmed with hardly a shadow of fat. i passed. i plan on going to citarella sometime soon and hopefully get it there. if they don’t have what i’m looking for then i’ll need to do additional research on getting the brisket. maybe albanese meats in nolita?
after studying various recipes online, i’m leaning to following this recipe from emeril legasse. he calls for:
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons dried thyme
6 bay leaves, crumbled
2 teaspoons whole cloves
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 teaspoons whole juniper berries, plus 1/3 cup crushed juniper berries
16 cups (or 4 quarts) water
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup kosher salt
1 (4 to 5 pound) beef brisket
2/3 cup coarsely ground black pepper
his is the only recipe i found that DOES NOT call for coriander on the brisket. i HATE coriander. it’s probably the only taste on this earth that i can’t stand and it’s MY pastrami. not gonna budge on that one.
anyway, after the three week brining, i plan on smoking the brisket (it’ll be called corn beef at this point) in an indoor smoker i recently purchased from amazon. again, after reading all the reviews on amazon and cooking.com, i chose to go with the Cameron Cookware Stainless Steel Stovetop Smoker.
not only were the reviews all very good but it also was half the price of the other smoker i was looking at: Emeril’s $100 cast iron monster.
i plan on starting my brining this weekend. updates and photos to follow shortly.
