Homemade Pastrami
Great pastrami is not the easiest thing to find west of the Catskills, so a few years ago, I embarked on a mission to find a way to make homemade pastrami using corned beef. My goal was to devise a reasonable substitute that could be done in less than a day at home, without a smoker or any other special equipment. Impossible? No!
vegetable oil
½
cup
garlic, crushed
2
cloves
coarsely ground fresh black pepper
¼
cup
smoked paprika
2
tablespoons
ground coriander
2
teaspoons
dry mustard
1
teaspoon
ground white pepper
½
teaspoon
cayenne pepper
¼
teaspoon
corned beef brisket
4
pounds
 Mix vegetable oil and garlic in a small bowl; set aside for 1 hour. Combine black pepper, paprika, coriander, dry mustard, white pepper, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl; set aside.
  Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C).
  Cover a baking sheet with a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil; coat with prepared garlic oil. Lay beef brisket on the oiled foil sheet and brush with remaining garlic oil. Cover brisket completely with pepper mixture, reserving 1 to 2 tablespoons.
  Wrap brisket, fat-side up, in the sheet of foil. Place wrapped corned beef on another sheet of aluminum foil with the seam- and fat-sides down. Place double-wrapped brisket, seam-side down, on a third sheet of aluminum foil; wrap again.
  Bake in the preheated oven for 6 hours.
  Remove pastrami from the oven and let cool to room temperature, about 3 hours. Do not remove the foil.
  Place foil-wrapped pastrami in a freezer bag or other plastic bag; 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 the refrigerator, unwrap, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle top with 1 to 2 tablespoons remaining pepper mixture.
  Place pastrami under the broiler and cook until surface browns, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pastrami from the oven and cut into thin slices, about 1/8-inch thick.
  Heat a large skillet over low heat; warm pastrami slices in the skillet with a few drops of water until fat turns translucent, about 5 minutes.
