I was watching Diners Drive Inns and Dives on Food Network and saw a restaurant that made Pastrami from eye roast. I thought that was a great idea. So I can do it too. Actually this is my favorite pastrami recipe I’ve done so far. It taste the best to me. It’s a lot easier to trim. It’s leaner but in a good way and not dry way. This comes out tender moist and flavorful. I might delete my older brisket recipes for pastrami. Real pastrami takes at least a week. This Pastrami Eye Roast sits in brine for three days and gets cooked on the fourth day. I only use Diamond Brand kosher salt because it has a different salt content for brining meat. The crystals are also shaped different and penetrate the meat better. The different brands work different on the meat and Diamond brand works best for this application. DO NOT USE ANOTHER BRAND. I thought the seasoning was perfection when I tasted it on rye bread with a thin smear of extra mild French mustard (Amora Brand) I liked the clove finish it had. It was Forking Delicious! The next day I tasted just a small piece plain and plain I thought the cloves could be cut back a little…….so adjust to if you want a clove finish or cut the cloves in the recipe by up to a teaspoon.

Ingredients for around 20 servings

4 lb eye roast (Do not use a smaller eye roast…The eye roast must be at least 4 lbs after trimming) (I bought a whole eye roast from Safeway….It was the skinniest eye roast I ever saw) – The eye roast needs to be trimmed of all fat and silver skin.)

1 cup brown sugar

5 oz DIAMOND kosher salt – ONLY USE DIAMOND BRAND OR RECIPE WON’T WORK and you can get sick if the meat isn’t salted correctly!

1/4 cup honey

2 teaspoons juniper berries

3 Tablespoons coriander seeds

2 teaspoons allspice berries

3 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

2 teaspoons whole cloves (or decrease up to one teaspoon less to cut the clove finish)

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

2 Tablespoons black tellicherry peppercorns

2 teaspoons white peppercorns

1 teaspoon ground ginger

10 garlic cloves – sliced thin

1 Tablespoon granulated garlic

2 dried hot Calabrian Peri Peri peppers (or a 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper)

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 quart water

1/3 cup canola oil – (for rub)

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce – (for rub)

4 Tablespoons ground coriander

1 Tablespoon ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon smoked paprika

Directions

To your sauce pot add the salt, brown sugar, honey, juniper berries, coriander seeds, allspice, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, mustard seeds, pepper corns, ginger, garlic, hot pepper, (2T) smoked paprika and 32 oz of water and bring to boil then reduce to simmer for around ten minutes and then take off the heat and let it cool. You can’t use it until it feels cool to the touch. I put a bowl of ice under the pot and it cooled down pretty fast.

Peirce eye roast all over with a fork.

Get a large bag. Either a brining bag or a turkey roasting bag and add the eye roast and when the brine is cool to the touch add the brine. Put the bagged meat in a pan for support. Push air out of bag and tie well. Let it sit in the refrigerator for three days.

On the forth day set oven to 500 degrees F.

In a small mixing bowl make the rub. Add oil, Worcestershire, (4T) coriander, ground black pepper and (1T) smoked paprika. Mix well and rub all over the eye roast.

Put it in a pan.

It goes in the pre heated oven at 500 degrees F for 15 minutes BUT DON’T OPEN THE OVEN DOOR! After 15 minutes shut the heat off but leave in the oven 2 hours (don’t open oven door) After the two hours take out. Let it rest maybe 30 minutes and then you can enjoy!

This is really Forking Awesome!

This is really beet guacamole but I didn’t want to call it that. It came out really Forking Delicious. I made this with some ingredients that you might not have. like chitepin chili peppers and the brine from my Forking Awesome pickled caccabella peppers. You can make substitutions if you care to but you will not get the same delicious flavors. This came out as flavorful as really good guacamole but it seems lighter and it’s a bit fruity. I think it will be great as a dip or a relish for poultry.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

1 lb beets (must be red because yellow react from foil) peeled

1 lime (just the fresh squeezed juice

3 oz sweet onions – diced

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

4 Tablespoons pickled pepper brine – preferably Forking Awesome Pickled Cascabella Peppers recipe

1/2 oz fresh cilantro (leaves and some tender stems) – chopped

.03 oz mint leaves – chopped

1/2 apple – peeled – small dice

4 chitepin chili peppers – crushed with fingers

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut down beets so they are smaller either in halves or quarters depending on size. Wrap each beet piece with foil and add a tablespoon of water to each wrapped piece of beet. Put the wrapped beets on a baking sheet or dish to catch liquids that might run out. Cook beets till tender. Timing may differ but in my oven this took one hour. Take beets out of foil and add to a container for stick blending.

To yor container add the beets, lime juice, garlic, cascabella pepper brine, chitepin peppers, salt and pepper and blend till smooth. Mix in the apple, onions and fresh herbs. Finish with some pomegranate seeds.

It’s Forking Delicious!