Black Bean and Beef Pastrami Soup

[Habanero Smoker]

Black Bean and Beef Pastrami Soup   

Here is another use for your homemade beef pastrami, or deli styled beef pastrami. If you with to go vegan; do not add the pastrami. This tastes good either way.

Recipe Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 onion medium size, chopped
• 1 carrot medium size, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cloves garlic; minced
• 2 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock; divided
• (2) 15 – 16 ounce cans of black beans, divided; drained and rinsed
• (1) 15 ounce can diced tomatoes with jalapeno peppers
• 1 tsp dry epazote or dry oregano
• 1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice or red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 1/4 - 1/2 pound thin sliced pastrami, coarsely chopped (sliced corned beef or deli ham can also be used)
• salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4 as a main dish

Directions

• In 3 quart pot, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the onion, carrots, bell pepper, salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions turn translucent and start to soften, about 8 - 10 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another two minutes.



• While vegetables are sautéing, take about half the amount of beans and place them in a food processor or blender. Add about 1/4 cup of broth and puree until it is a smooth paste.
  a.   Instead of a food processor you can and place beans in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Slowly add 1/4 cup of broth and mix until smooth.



• Add the remaining broth to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, add epazote and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about another 10 minutes; stirring occasionally. Next stir in whole beans, bean puree and diced tomatoes into the soup. Stir until well blended. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
  a.   At this point, if you want this to be a vegetarian soup, just add salt and pepper to taste. Add some vinegar to give it some tang.



• Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the pastrami, and lime juice or vinegar. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. If needed; season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls, garnish and serve with Italian or French bread.

Garnishes (optional; use one or more)Dollop of sour cream

• Dollop of salsa
• Shredded cheese; sharp cheddar or Monterey jack
• Sliced hard boiled egg
• Chopped scallions

Enjoy!

[La Quinta]

Looks amazing Habs...I don't really care for epazote...I would use the oregano....but...WOW...the flavors look great...great...thanks for the post...YUM...gotta try it...have some of "your pastrami" curing now...  :)

[Habanero Smoker]

LQ;

When you make this, before you put the pastrami in taste the soup. It is good with or without the pastrami.

[La Quinta]

I will Habs....but geezzzzz the pastrami is killer!!!  :) I can't even imagine it would detract????

[Ka Honu]

Okay, so I finally made a batch of Hab's soup and it was a terrible experience...

... mostly because I only made one recipe and everybody loved it and had seconds (and some had thirds) and it was gone before I could set a bowl aside for tomorrow's lunch.

[Habanero Smoker]

Ka Honu;

Thanks for the compliment. I forgot about this recipe. I was going to make chili on Sunday, now I may make this instead. I forgot where I got the original recipe. It was for corned beef, but the concept looked good so I did a major work over and added the pastrami.

[manxman]

Must have missed this first time around .......... looks really good and definately one to try.  :)

[sherlock]

Habs
Do not know if I have ever eaten pastrami. I can eat corned beef but don't want it very often. Is pastrami anything like CB? In any case, the soup sounds good and I will add it to my list of things to make.
Thanks

[Caneyscud]

Nathan, 

Both start out in life in similar situations - first papa (bull) gets this glint in his ey...........

Well while that's not entirely wrong, not your question.  Both pastrami and corned beef start out the same - cured, pickled beef - usually brisket, but sometimes eye of round or a couple of other cuts.  Neither is a description of a cut of meat, but a style of preservation.  Where the main difference is that the corned beef will be boiled, sliced and served while the pastrami will be soaked to rid of some of the preserving salt, then encrusted in black pepper and spices and smoked, then sliced and served. 

Shakespeare
The Bard of Hot Aire
Pontificator Extraordinaire.

[Habanero Smoker]

Sherlock;

I'm not sure if CB means corned beef, or Canadian bacon. Just joking. :)

As Caneyscud pointed out, both beef pastrami and corned beef are generally made from cured brisket; though pastrami is highly seasoned. As pointed out, for beef, other cuts can be used, if you can find beef plate they say that is best for beef pastrami. I prefer a dry cure rather then a wet brine (pickle), and use the flat because I find the point to fatty. It can be either smoked or not, steamed or slow roasted. The next time you are in a deli or deli section of the supermarket asked the person behind the counter for a sample of beef pastrami, and while you are there ask for a taste of turkey pastrami so you can see what each tastes like.

But pastrami is generally just highly seasoned meat, it can be made from chicken, turkey, salmon, tuna and venison are just a few. I often see recipes for salmon pastrami.

Here is a link to my pastrami recipe:
Beef Pastrami

[seemore]

Habs, that soup sounds wonderful and definitely one that we will try.
Seemores

[Up In Smoke]

Gonna have to try this with a good spicy sausage!

[Habanero Smoker]

Gonna have to try this with a good spicy sausage!

I'm thinking that will work, really well!!!! I going to have to try it that way myself.

[Smokin Soon]

Yep, I'm with Up In Smoke on this one. I have a lot of Cajun Brats in the freezer that may be very good for this recipe. I do a lot of stuff with a mixed bean recipe and I think this would go well.
Thanks!

[Up In Smoke]

I have done this soup 2 times,
the first time i followed the recipe but substituted spicy italian sausage for pastrami, it came out really good.
the second time i followed the recipe but added 1/4 tsp cumin(ground) and 1/2 tsp parmesan cheese,(grated)
i grilled the italian sausage (simmered them 1st then finished on gas grill) then cut them into bite size pieces and added them at the end.
Wow what a difference....
this soup tastes great either way and i am sure there will be many more twists added.
thanks Habs for taking the time to post this, it is now part of my weekend cook!