Turkey Pastrami and Gigondas

[Ryan M]

Last weekend I smoked home-made turkey pastrami on the grill (pastrami is a curing process, not a specific type of meat), and paired it with a Guigal Gigondas - in fact, the 1982 that I was lamenting a while back after somewhat unintentionally acquiring it via online auction. Yes, I will post my note for the wine at some point, but suffice to say it was more than drinkable, and even a relative wine-novice friend of mine enjoyed. Anyway, since I had no expectations for the wine, I figured I'd pair it with a simple meal, although I had a hunch the earthiness and acidity of the wine would work well with the turkey and heavy seasoning. It was quite a nice match.

[michael dietrich]

So what was your preparation for the turkey pastrami ? Did you just use a turkey breast ?

[Ryan M]

So what was your preparation for the turkey pastrami ? Did you just use a turkey breast ?

Recipe is out of Steven Raichlen's "How to Grill." Whole turkey breast, skin on, remove the backbone, put on the rub (a whole slew of spices and seasonings) and let cure for 24 hours, then smoke over an indirect fire for about 2 hours. Served room temp, on pumpernickle, with brown deli mustard and Swiss.

And I'd imagine any CdR would work well with it, although the Pastrami is very flavorful, and you might need something like Gigondas to answer it: even the 27-year-old I served brought that extra richness. Chateauneuf would be fabulous with it. Of course, Chateauneuf is fabulous in and of itself!

[michael dietrich]

Have you ever been to the virtualweberbullet.com site ? It has lots of great BBQ info.

[David M. Bueker]

I am very glad the '82 Gigondas worked out well for you.

[Ryan M]

I am very glad the '82 Gigondas worked out well for you.

Thanks David - like I said, I will get a note up sometime soon - I've got a whole summer's worth of unposted notes, and need to find to time to type them all up.