Pastrami Bacon Brussels Sprouts
After making pastrami bacon and confirming the stuff is undoubtedly delicious, I was then left with the question of what to use it in. The heavy pastrami flavor made ruebens a no-brainer as a starting point and I did that by way of pastrami bacon burgers, but following that obvious use, I now had to think a bit more creatively. With the changing seasons, my mind has begun to shift to fall and winter cooking and brussels sprouts are among my favorite veggies for these time periods. The pastrami bacon felt like it might be a perfect match for those little cabbage-like orbs, so I gave the pairing a shot and was left sufficiently impressed with how it came out.
It wasn't much of a stretch to turn to mustard to serve as the base of a dressing for these—both brussels sprouts and pastrami are close comrades with the pungent sharp bite of mustard. I used a double wave of mustard with both smooth and whole grain Dijon varieties and then added in olive oil, vinegar for tang, honey for a light sweetness, and the required salt and pepper to taste.
To prep the brussels sprouts, I trimmed off any large portions of core, halved, and removed the loose outer leaves. Then I placed the brussels sprouts in a large bowl and tossed them with oil, salt, and pepper to get them ready for grilling.
I used the live charcoal fire to cook all the elements that comprised this side dish. When the fire was ready and at its hottest, I started with placing rings of onion over the coals. To keep the onion together while grilling, I ran a skewer through it horizontally before cooking. I grilled the onion slices until they were well charred and crisp-tender, which took a little under ten minutes total, flipping them occasionally. Once done, I transferred them to a cutting board.
Next I laid strips of the homemade pastrami bacon on the cool side of the two-zone fire I had going. I then covered the grill and let the bacon cook for about five minutes. After that initial roasting stint, the fat had just begun to render and I flipped the bacon over, re-covered, and continued to cook, flipping the strips occasionally until they became well browned and completely crisp. As each piece was done, I transferred it to a paper towel lined plate for draining the excess fat.
Next the brussels sprouts went on the now empty grill. I positioned them close to, but not directly over the fire and put them cut side down so those flat faces would pick up the most browning and charring. I covered and let them roast for about ten minutes undisturbed. I took this downtime to roughly chop the bacon and also remove the skewers from the onion slices and finely chop those too.
At the ten minute mark, some brussels sprouts had already browned and softened nicely, while others still needed more heat and time. So I began rearranging them, moving the less cooked ones closer to the fire, and the almost finished ones further away. I kept doing this every couple minutes until all the sprouts were done to my liking. That total cooking time clocked in just around twenty minutes for me.
Once all done, I placed the sprouts into the bowl they were in before cooking and added in the onion, bacon, and dressing. I tossed until all the ingredients were distributed evenly and then plated them up with kielbasa I had also grilled, rye bread I had toasted on the grill, and a serving of sauerkraut.
I've done mustard brussels sprouts before, and I've done bacon brussels sprouts before, but those three things combined tasted like a holy trinity, all working in harmony to make a dish that tasted whole and complete. What really elevated this even more was that peppery and earthy pastrami flavor that definitely came through even against the sharpness of the dressing, and found a pleasing contrast with the sweet onions. There's so much good to say about the taste here, but the texture was also noteworthy with the base of those crisp-tender brussels sprouts gaining a lot from the bits of mustard seed and crunchy pieces of bacon. This may have just been my favorite incarnation of brussels sprouts I've made yet, and this recipe is a good argument for why you need to drop everything and start making some pastrami bacon right now!
