Sometimes you have great plans for making a meal, other times you have to forage through your refrigerator and be creative. This was definitely one of those other times.
A few weeks ago, I cured and smoked two beef tongues and made them into pastrami. I have been eating it and sharing with others, but I still have almost an entire one remaining. Tonight I planned to make a nice hot, pastrami sandwich, but when I opened the refrigerator door, I noticed that there was a pizza dough ball that needed to be baked. My on the fly decision was to make a pastrami calzone.
First I preheated the oven with our pizza stone in it to 475°. Then I stretched out the dough ball on the pizza peel.
I diced up about 2 cups of the pastrami, half of a red onion, and a quarter of a red bell pepper.
I sauteed these ingredients with a 1/4 cup of whole grain brown mustard. While that was cooking, I shredded about a cup of aged Irish cheddar cheese.
After I took the pan off the heat, I began assembling my calzone. I put half of the meat, onion, pepper and mustard mixture onto the crust, then sprinkled the cheese on top, before adding the other half of the pre-cooked mixture.
I laid the other side of the pizza crust over the top, carefully folding the edges over one another to make a good seal. Then into the oven it went for about 18 minutes.
Once I removed it from the oven, I cut it in half.
The dominant aroma from the calzone was the vinegary mustard. My first taste combined the flavors of the mustard, the pastrami, and the onion. Those flavors completely over-powered the cheese and the red bell pepper, but sometimes that’s what happens when you challenge yourself with the contents of the refrigerator. It tasted pretty good, but perhaps a stronger flavored cheese and some roasted bell pepper would give it a little bit more. There is always the next time.
The first time that I made this recipe we were hosting friends for dinner and I wanted to make cornbread to go along with a smoked tri-tip roast. As I read the list of ingredients, I noticed two things that stood out. 8 ounces of frozen broccoli-thawed and 16 ounces of 2% cottage cheese. I have never been a fan of frozen broccoli, so I determined that I would break not just one, but two of the cardinal sins of hosting someone for a meal at your home (1. Never try a new recipe for the first time; and 2. Never alter a recipe the first time you make it). I decided that fresh corn, cut off the cob, and some chopped peppers (bell, jalapeno, or whatever I had on hand) would be good substitutes for the unwanted ingredient.
My second favorite part about this cornbread is that I get to bake it a cast iron skillet. One lesson that I learned the first time that I made it was that I needed to bake it in a skillet with taller sides, as the butter that the Vidalia onions saute in will flow over side and make a big smoky mess of the oven if the sides are not tall enough. The second time I made it, I used the cast iron Dutch oven that I got from my Mother. Any time I get to use one of the kitchen tools I got from her is a good day. The tall sides of the Dutch oven successfully contained the butter, and that made everyone in my house much happier.
