Market House Pastrami

I'd forgotten that it was my justified day to make some corned beef brisket.  Really, so many good memories of corned beef and pastrami in our past.  Of course there's the New York deli pastrami sandwich..we like the peppery seasoning of the pastrami to the milder corned beef.  And the UW Husky tailgate where I first cooked up some Market House corned beef for Ruebens at the tailgate.  It was a little epic if I may say so.  I cooked the corned beef in beer, sliced it, then put it in a foil pan with some juices and topped with swiss cheese, then covered it in foil.  To the tailgate I also brought buns, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing.  We reheated the corned beef on a portable grill and the cheese melted so nicely on top.  Beers and Reubens at a tailgate... need I say more?


So, Market House Corned Beef is here in Seattle on Howell Street.  They sell, well, corned beef of course, as well as pastrami and a variety of sandwiches.  You can get the corned beef and pastrami in both raw and cooked forms.  But if you need a lot of either cooked, you best order ahead.  This year, I decided to go with pastrami instead of corned beef.  After the meatloaf experience last night, Stella found the pastrami, sealed in a plastic bag with its brining juices, and pulled it out asking "and whhhattt is thisss?"  Nothing to see here.... just put that back in the refrigerator.  


Per Market House's cooking instructions, I placed the pastrami in a dutch oven and braised it at 300f in the oven for about 4 hours (or until fork tender).  I added a bottle of Guinness for good measure as well as a bit of pickling spices that normally come with corned beef.  

For the cabbage portion, I decided to wok fry, instead of boil or add to the pastrami to braise.  This is my preferred way to have cabbage.. wok fry over high heat with just a bit of oil and salt.  For our starch, I made a gruyere tart.  Not the classic pairing, but it will appease the natives.  Meanwhile, for Chris, it was a pastrami sandwich with Swiss cheese, dark rye (thanks to my neighbor Anne) and some home made thousand island dressing.  The kids... still not won over, but the tart was a hit.