Pastrami Sandwich OR Corned Beef Sandwich?
For me, it's like Sophie's Choice. Hot and cold. Both.
I'd love to hear your thoughts, pro and con on both.
Grilled Reuben with sauerkraut or slaw (I know - slaw is supposed to go on cold sandwich only but I like it on grilled as much as sauerkraut, but not both) and swiss & Russian dressing on rye.
Hot pastrami. I also like it with swiss, but provolone wouldn't be turned down. Again, has to be rye (which includes pumpernickel).
If you are also a fan, make us your sandwich or sandwiches! I know it says OR in capital letters, but I don't have that cruelty in my heart on Superbowl Sunday, so I'll let you choose both or neither. This generosity may not happen again, so take advantage now! ;-D
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38 Comments:
I like grilled Reuben but I haven't had one in so long, and hot pastrami I can't even remember what it tastes like. But what I remember of Reuben's they were great. I like Patty melts, and that I haven't had in 1000's of years either.
pjracz10 at 2:37PM on 02/01/09
@Perk, you were watching Man v. Food this afternoon just before wtiting this, weren't you? ;-)
Corned beef, no question.
LunaPierCook at 2:43PM on 02/01/09
Corned beef, with chopped chicken livers and mustard on rye. No brainer for me.
NorthernBBQer at 2:54PM on 02/01/09
@LPC ~ I thought I asked you to remove that peeping tom camera? ;)
PerkyMac at 2:59PM on 02/01/09
Yup : )
NanaJoie at 3:09PM on 02/01/09
Neither for me, however hubby brings home a corned beef on rye on the train from the Carnegie Deli EVERY time we go to NYC. EVERY time. It gets soggy and leaks and smells but he insists on showing it to the kids before he indulges. UGH
donnie at 3:21PM on 02/01/09
ooohhhhh my! 2 of my favorite sandwiches. i love them hot or cold. on rye or without. spicey mustard on both. potato salad and a crisp kosher dill pickle. cheese is provolone but not important. it has to be red pepper pastrami and my own corned beef. the lean stuff tastes bland to me.
dearrie at 3:22PM on 02/01/09
HOT, for both! Reuben is my all time fav sandwich. I also make reuben dip, reuben casserole, anything reuben I can find. (Got any good recipes for those or other ideas?)
I found the best way to heat up pastrami for sandwiches is to put it in a colander over simmering water for a few. Zapping it leaves too many hard pieces. Thanks, PerkyMac, for bringing this subject up...maybe i'll gleen some ew ideas and recipes!
Karencooks at 3:26PM on 02/01/09
Gotta be hot pastrami on rye with mustard...and not too lean.
bessfour at 3:42PM on 02/01/09
Both - either...Hot Pastrami and Cold Corned Beef on pumpernickel or rye.
Ribster at 4:19PM on 02/01/09
Droooooooooollll.....Both
Markbb at 4:46PM on 02/01/09
*sigh*
I don't eat either anymore (no red meat) but I love pastrami. I could only get good stuff in Chicago. Yum.
I wish memories had a flavor!
sadiepix at 4:54PM on 02/01/09
Neither, thanks.
Roast beef would be my preference. Must be the New Englander in me.
Amandarama at 4:59PM on 02/01/09
@Amandarama: I would have to disagree about the New Englander part. I'm a New Englander as well and I love both of them!
I love NY Deli Pastrami, but in the Boston area you can get red pastrami that is awesome!! Love it on rye with spicy mustard.
Grilled corned beef and swiss with mustard. Yum! Not much of a Reuben fan because I don't care for sauerkraut.
SayWhat at 5:38PM on 02/01/09
I have to be vigilant when ordering a Reuben sandwich! You never know when they're going to plop on Thousand Island Dressing which IMO does not belong on a classic Reuben. Oooh and deli potato salad and a Kosher dill. I miss NY!
annzee at 5:53PM on 02/01/09
both! Havent turned SO on to the joy of a great hot pastrami sandwich, guess that'll be the next project.
huneybumper at 6:22PM on 02/01/09
I obviously haven't had one in years, but found it odd to hear that people ate either with cheese, since where I used to go with my mom and/or grandmother, they were usually 'meat alone' affairs--although they did sell brisket on a sandwich of fried potato pancakes, which must have had dairy in it. Although I know now Reubens are classics, I never heard of meat on corned beef.
Ah, what about a Rachel, for you deli-fanciers?
HeartofGlass at 7:14PM on 02/01/09
I'm a New Englander and I too love pastrami. I like mine with dijon and provolone. I'm not a fan of most rye bread, so I prefer a softer roll or ciabatta. No corned beef for me.
Pawsinhand at 7:28PM on 02/01/09
@Perk~ I'll have to get back to you on that. Due to excruciating toothache, I can't even think of anything sandwich-like right now...:-( I think it's corned beef though.
brooke29 at 7:47PM on 02/01/09
Definitely pastrami. Hot, on rye with swiss and mustard. Thing is, I only like it for the first 2 or 3 bites. After that it's just too darned heavy and fatty. Those first bites are wonderful though.
@brook29 - I feel for you. I am no stranger to such things. Unlike a sore foot, it's not like you can stick your head in a bucket of ice water until the pain goes away. My doctor told me that I can take both aspirin/ibuprofin and tylenol at the same time since they both have different drugs that don't interact with one another. When I get a toothache, I take two ibu and two tylenol. It really does seem to help.
chisai at 8:22PM on 02/01/09
@chisai - thanks for the tip, I'm going to try it right now since tylenol alone is not doing anything at all. And if it doesn't help, I promise not to hold it against you:-)
brooke29 at 8:32PM on 02/01/09
@brooke29---poor kid, this is a pain that rivals childbirth. Try some excedrine migraine. This stuff is amazing, kills most pains in the body.
When all else fails, my go to is 2 aspirins and a glass of REALLY nice cab.
donnie at 10:03PM on 02/01/09
@donnie - thanks! The funny thing is, I'm one of those people who don't take pills unless they are really, really, really suffering (can't give any reasonable explanation to this) - OH knows that if I'm willing to take several pills at once (which I am right now - he ended up giving me some combination of tylenol and excedrine migraine since we apparently don't have aspirin/ibuprofin), it's not a good sign:-)
@Perky - the more I think about it, the more difficult the choice seems to be (even though right now it's definitely neither, but I'm trying to see the bigger picture here). And I don't even have either one all that often, but I still would find it difficult to choose just one.
brooke29 at 10:33PM on 02/01/09
@brooke29--get thee to a dentist, asap! I remember having a dental problem (the first time I really had a bad toothache) over Easter week, and my dentist was on vacation. His 'replacement' wouldn't see me but only offered to prescribe me Percoset, which left me screaming 'I don't want a pill, I want this fixed' inside while I pleasantly refused. Eventually, I went to the dental place in the local Sears, which was open, and got it fixed.
I think deli food is universally regarded as the worst thing for bad teeth--bagels and deli sandwiches have been keeping many dentists in business, for ages...
HeartofGlass at 6:29AM on 02/02/09
both on rye bread with a fist full of vinegar based slaw a nice aged stank nasty slice or three of swiss cheese and remoulade sauce slathered on both pieces of bread!
Pavlov at 6:42AM on 02/02/09
@brooke29 ~ I echo HeartofGlass ~ get thee to a dentist NOW. I used to be a dental assistant. When you have that kind of pain, you probably have an infection and pain killers will only help once you're on antibiotics and the source has been cleaned out. If you can't get an appointment today, find a better dentist !
PerkyMac at 9:02AM on 02/02/09
Yes, either, both, any way. My DH is a pastrami fan, but I came late to it (hey, he's from Brooklyn, I'm from WV) so I would take anything with that much flavor. Oh, and please, not the lean stuff!
susanova at 9:37AM on 02/02/09
@brooke29 - you do have an appointment, right? @Perk's right you know. If something hurts that bad, it really probably is infected and it will only get worse until the nerve is dead, and I really don't think you want to go to that place. The journey will kill you.
Off my soapbox.
chisai at 11:37AM on 02/02/09
yes, brooke29, get to a dentist immediately! a mouth infection leads to all kinds of health problems.
cybercita at 11:53AM on 02/02/09
@Heart, Perk and chisai - apparently my dentist has gone on holiday. I could only get an appointment for next Monday. I may look for another dentist (er, my OH is in charge of doing it). At least it calmed down for now, so maybe I'll finally get some sleep. And hopefully, dream of corned beef. Thank you guys.
brooke29 at 12:07PM on 02/02/09
@chisai - I totally agree about the first two or three bites of pastrami. I find it too heavy and cloying. However, corned beef is another story. I love a classic "corned beef special" - hot/cold corned beef, coleslaw and russian dressing on rye. It's the best sandwich ever, although I do like a Reuben too. When the ex and I moved to NYC, it was a shock to discover half-sours, which I still don't like. In Philly, corned beef is usually served cold, but I like it both ways. BTW, in Philly the pickles are usually kosher dills.
duncan1205 at 12:16PM on 02/02/09
I've never seen corned beef served cold...
Extra lean warm corned beef between 2 latkes, but not potato pancakes, with cole slaw and Thousand Island dressing. If latkes are unavailable, I'll get it with toasted white bread, but the bread gets tossed 1/3 of the way through and I end up eating just the meat and cole slaw.
I used to order pastrami and corned beef sandwiches at work (sandwiches stack over 4" high), but I found that I would throw half the pastrami away because I always eat around fat since I don't care for the flavor of fat at all. Pastrami sandwiches served when I was in high school were really lean, so I thought getting fatty pastrami was a fluke...5x in a row.
Cassaendra at 12:17PM on 02/02/09
If I even THINK about corned beef or pastrami, my ankles swell. And I would only have corned beef in a Reuben, with lots more salt from the sauerkraut, and swiss cheese. But it would definitely be the Reuben! *sigh*.
Donnamarie at 12:37PM on 02/02/09
We have a family picnic every year and always make corned beef sandwiches on rye bread with mustard! Never gets old. Sommmmetimes I put chopped liver on mine! :)
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 1:30PM on 02/02/09
Corned beef! In a Reuben on marble rye, or plain on the seedy rye bread (brian block right now...) with a side of german potato salad. Darn it, now my stomach is rumbling!
cowprintrabbit at 1:43PM on 02/02/09
@brooke29--I can't believe I passed my 'only get a toothache when the dentist is on holiday' karma off on you--at least I can vouch that the Sears in Ocean Township has a good dentist that will see you quickly, from my past experience! Heck, it's near Wegman's and you can go shopping for deli meat afterward, which is just what you feel like after dental work :P
HeartofGlass at 2:52PM on 02/02/09
Mmmmmm. Either is good. On rye bread with mustard and pickles. Warm is preferred.
With a side of potato salad or skin on, twice fried french fries.
Carnal at 3:34PM on 02/02/09
Mmm, I forgot about the potato salad on the side. Of course, the deli I go to has a bottomless kosher dill pickle and pickled green tomato tray too.
@Donnamarie: LOL Once, I went to the ER because of the swelling a couple hours after eating my corned beef sandwich and 5+ pickles. My husband had to carry me in because I couldn't bear weight on my feet because my legs and feet had swollen so much. My toes didn't even touch the ground. It was rather funny.
Cassaendra at 7:24PM on 02/02/09