I got these beautiful baby eggplants so I had to come up with something with things I had at home. This was pretty easy to make. It would be best to pickle the peppers the day before. The eggplants, tomatoes and shallots all went in the 350 degree F oven at the same time and all got done in 45 minutes. White they were roasting the dressing can be whipped up fast. Basil leaves can be crisped in oven. They only take 3-6 minutes. You can do this while stuff is cooking. This recipe makes more pickled peppers than you need. The extra peppers are great in sandwiches and salads.

Ingredients for around 5 servings.

8 oz baby bell peppers – sliced in rings

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup rice wine vinegar

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

3 garlic – ground to paste

1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dry oregano

1 lb baby eggplants (I had 5 baby eggplants) – cut in half long ways and score them (like cross hatch)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I don’t know the exact amount because I sprayed the vegetables and basil with the oil. I also used one Tablespoon of oil later in the recipe for the dressing.

1 lemon just the fresh squeezed juice (one lemon goes on eggplants ( half a lemon for the juice is used later for the dressing)

1 pint grape tomatoes – cut in half

2 shallots – diced

1 cup basil leaves

fresh crushed sea salt to taste – goes on eggplants, tomatoes, shallots

fresh crushed black pepper to taste – goes on eggplants, tomatoes, shallots

10 anchovies + a little oil (1 or 2 teaspoons)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1 Tablespoon capers – drained

1 Tablespoon golden raisins

Directions

You need to make the pickled peppers first.

Put your pepper rings in a container with the garlic. In a sauce pot on medium high heat add the vinegars, water, kosher salt, sugar, peppercorns, coriander seeds, bay leaf and dried oregano. Bring this mixture to a boil and then pour it over the peppers. Leave it on the counter till it’s room temperature. After it cools down you can refrigerate it.

Your oven gets set to 350 degrees F.

Baking sheets get sprayed with olive oil. Put the eggplants on one sheet, the tomatoes on another sheet and the shallots on another sheet. They all get sprayed with olive oil. The eggplants get drizzled with lemon juice too. They all get seasoned with salt and pepper.

I put the eggplants on the middle rack and the shallots and tomatoes on one rack under the eggplants. In my oven they took 45 minutes to be cooked and nicely browned. Your oven might differ some.

While they were roasting I whipped the dressing with my stick blender.

Blend up the anchovies, anchovies oil, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, capers and rosins till smooth and set to the side.

Now spray a baking sheet (lightly) with olive oil and place a single layer of basil leaves on the pan. lightly Spray the tops of basil leaves with olive oil. The leaves will crisp up fast…only 3-6 minutes.

Get ready to serve.

Eggplants on platter. Top with tomatoes. Then top with shallots. Top with some pickled peppers. The dressing you either put on bottom. Or dress around the plate or pour over. Lastly add the crisp leaves.

Enjoy!

I’ve been making tweaking my pastrami recipes but this one so FORKING AMAZING that I was told not to tweak or change things ever again. I do note that this is the first thing I ever smoked….some how I did incredible. I recommend my rye rolls recipe, my garlic dill pickle recipe and my beer mustard recipe to go with the pastrami. My idea of portion size may differ from your idea of portion size. I’m thinking 3oz portions are perfect and I think I got around ten portions. I do note that this recipe takes about a week to prepare. 6 days in brine. One day to smoke and finish in the oven. I like to make the brine the day before so it’s cool enough to use and I don’t water mine down with ice to use. I can brag here because my pastrami is way better than from the stores or certain deli restaurants. BRAG BRAG BRAG!

Ingredients for around 10 portions

1/2 a brisket trimmed up (around 3 1/2 pounds)

1 Tablespoon prague powder (you need to order it one line I got mine from Olive Nation)

4 oz Crystal kosher salt (this can not be substituted) (Crystal brand salt has a different salt content and different shape crystal that penetrates the meat in a different way)

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 teaspoons juniper berries

3 Tablespoons coriander seeds

2 teaspoons allspice berries

3 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon whole cloves

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

2 Tablespoons black tellicherry peppercorns

2 teaspoons white peppercorns

1 teaspoon ground ginger

20 garlic cloves (around 3 ounces) – crushed and rough chopped

1 Tablespoon granulated garlic

2 hot dried peppers – crushed

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

8 cups water

4 Tablespoons coriander seeds (ground up in spice grinder for the rub)

1 Tablespoon black tellicherry peppercorns (ground up in spice grinder for the rub)

1 Tablespoon smoked paprika (add this to rub for more flavor)

Directions

In your sauce pot add the prague powder, Crystal brand kosher salt, sugar, honey, juniper berries, coriander seeds, allspice berries, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, mustard seeds, peppercorns, ginger, granulated garlic, dried peppers, smoked paper and water. Bring to a boil. Let it boil about ten minutes and simmer it for about 20 minutes. This needs to cool before you use it. I leave it out till it’s room temperature and then I but it in the refrigerator and use the next day.

When your brine is cool …….. Pierce your brisket all over with a fork. Place brisket in turkey bag with the garlic and brine. You need a pan to support the bag.

The brisket gets turned every day. This stays in the refrigerator for 6 days.

After 6 days you take the brisket out and rinse it off. It only takes a few seconds to make the rub. Put the coriander seeds and peppercorns in your spice grinder. Till it’s broken down and a little chunky. Mix in the smoked paprika. Rub it all over the brisket.

Now you are ready to smoke it.

I used pecan wood and changed it a few times for around 5 hours. (it’s not done yet)

Set you oven to 185 degrees F.

Wrap your brisket TIGHT with foil.

The brisket stays in the oven till it’s tender. (maybe 4-5 hours)

Then let the pastrami cool to room temperature.

Refrigerate the pastrami so you can slice it up.

You MUST make my beer mustard recipe to go with this.

You might want to make my rye mini rolls too!

And my garlic dills.

You’re Welcome!