What we call pastrami in Turkey is completely different from the lunch meat pastrami that you can find at the stores here. At Sahara Mart, I found this pastrami which was, to my surprise, a product of USA--not imported from Middle East. It looked like Turkish pastrami; however, it was way less spicy and as a result way less flavorsome and stinky.
2 cups of cannellini: white kidney: fazolia beans or 2 cans of those beans
10 pastrami strips (I used 10, but you can use less or more)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
2-3 banana peppers, chopped
1 tbsp pepper or tomato paste, or half & half
2 tomatoes, diced or 1 can of petite diced tomato
2 tbsp butter or 1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp crushed pepper
1/2 tsp dried mint flakes
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
1 tsp salt
2 cups of water
-Heat the oil in a big pot and stir in the onions and garlic cloves. Cook until onions are soft
-Stir in peppers and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the paste, cook for another 2 minutes
-Add tomatoes, oregano, crushed pepper, mint flakes, and salt. Stir for 4-5 minutes
-Stir in the beans (I used dry beans. I didn't have time to soak them over night, so I pressure cooked them for 30 minutes. Either soak them over night and then cook them in water until they're soft, or use canned beans) and water. Bring to a boil.
-Tear the pastrami strips in to bite-size pieces. Place them on top of beans with dried hot peppers.
-Seal the pot with aluminum foil and cover. Cook on low for an hour.
Oooh I just made this recipe and it was delicious! I was at the international store and saw the 'pastrami' (there it was called Halal Bastirma) and once I tasted it and liked it I picked up a quarter of a pound. Now I will serve it regularly--it has such a nice flavor.
ReplyDeleteI made a couple of substitutions:
1) I used navy beans instead of cannellini, since that was what I had on hand (soaked and pressure cooked 'em). It turned out tasty but would be better with the bigger beans.
2) I didn't have any mint, so I used marjoram instead. I also decreased the oregano since I didn't want it to seem too much like pasta sauce in the absence of mint.
Overall, served with some warm, crusty bread and butter, this made a very tasty meal. Thanks for your recipes!
I made this last night and it was a nice, simple hearty wintry dish. I loved the rich spiciness of it, and found that the oregano and mint worked really well with the onion-chili-tomato sauce. Thanks!
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