Why roast beef and pastrami together? Because both are meats you can slice and eat cold, and both can serve as a much better alternative to the preserved deli meats from the supermarket (heaven forbid).
Both can be prepared in several ways. Here I will outline the basic principles, so each of you can choose the method that suits you best.
Ingredients:
Turkey breast, preferably from a hen turkey, or a good cut of veal or beef. The classic cuts are ribeye or sirloin, but picanha, rump cap/top sirloin cap, rump roast, and other good roasting cuts can also work.
A piece weighing about 4.4 lb (2 kg) is usually recommended.
Instructions:
Dry or Wet
- Choose whether to prepare the meat dry or wet. You can soak it for anywhere from two hours to four days in salted water with spices, or you can leave the cut dry.
- For the dry version: rub the meat with seasonings before it goes into the oven. It is common to coat it with mustard and/or silan (date syrup) and/or something spicy, as you like, and to add a little salt.
- For the wet version: soak the meat in water in the refrigerator with spices you like, such as black pepper and coriander seeds. Add salt equal to 3% of the total weight of the meat and the water together.
- Before cooking, remove the meat from the brine and pat it dry.
Open or Covered
- For the roasting stage, choose whether to cook the meat in a covered dish or in an open pan in the oven.
- For open roasting: heat the oven to 445 F (230 C), without convection/fan. Put the meat in when the oven is very hot. After 15 minutes, turn the oven off and leave the meat inside for another two hours. There are many other ways to prepare this kind of roast, of course; choose the method that suits you.
- For covered roasting: transfer the meat to a dish with a well-fitting lid. Place it in an oven preheated to 425 F (220 C), preferably without convection/fan. After 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 285 F (140 C) and roast for two and a half hours at that temperature.
- When the roasting is done, take the meat out, let it cool, and slice it into delicious slices.
- Keep the slices in a container in the refrigerator for a few days, or freeze them and thaw whenever you want them.
