Hot Pastrami

I know I'm not posting the healthiest things on here lately but every once in awhile we detour from our normal healthy stuff or I have to make food for church potlucks which is my time to make desserts that I don't want to keep around the house! I actually have been cooking some healthy things lately, they just aren't entered as drafts yet....so before the weather gets too warm for this sandwich.....here is a hot pastrami Matt and Tony's style.

I worked in an old style deli in Mission Hills (N. LA County) while I was in high school and then again when I was first married. If you are familiar with the area, it's called Matt and Tony's* (established in 1959) and it's a total hole in the wall place....probably not bigger than about 500 square feet at the most. Some friends of ours from church bought the place when I was in high school. I loved working there and I love sandwiches....this was before Subway had gotten as popular as it is today.

*their website leaves a lot to be desired but their reviews and their sandwiches are great. You can at least see where their locations are. They use fresh baked bread that's delivered by an Italian bakery every morning. Their meats are all hand sliced and prepared. All the toppings (there are only three, diced onion, diced tomatoes, and diced pickles) are all hand chopped in the back. Try the pepper steak, Philly cheese steak, the Italian cold cut, or the meatball! They are all great really. Just lock your doors and keep your purse close to your side. ;0)

The Hot Pastrami~
So, for a hot pastrami, you boil some water in a pot with a lot of deli mustard squirt into it. Your basic American yellow mustard does the trick beautifully.


Add your thinly sliced pastrami and cook it for just a few minutes. It's actually already cooked, you're just heating it up and giving it a mustard flavor.

Take the meat out of the pot and let it drain for a moment. Then place it on a sub bun with mustard on it. I use whole wheat hoagie rolls.

If you like, you can melt some cheese in the water as well to put on your sandwich. Use provolone cheese and dip it with the tongs for

just a few seconds in the water then lay it across your sandwich. If you leave it in the water too

long it will melt into the pot and you won't be able to hang on to it with the tongs. I guess there is an art to this! =0)

It's very common to serve these with Kosher dill pickles. At Matt and Tony's they serve them diced and pile them on top of the sandwich. At home I just lay some slices on the bread.

Enjoy your sandwich and try to eat low sodium the rest of the day!