Pastrami Pockets

Yo yo yo and ho ho ho. After living in fast forward with two weeks of finals, two weddings in two days, two Dakotas in two days, and two Iowa cities in two days things have finally slowed down. Internet speed included.

During the two weeks of finals I did a minimal amount of cooking, and I took even fewer photos. These pastrami pockets were one of the few things that made it out of my kitchen that are worthy of posting. The day I discovered pastrami was a day my life changed forever. I've always been a fan of corned beef, but pastrami is like corned beef version 2.0. Upgraded and enhanced. When you sandwich it with good bread and some cheese, it's hard to beat. Or cheese, hot peppers, and pie crust, as the case may be.

I got this pie mold a month or so ago at Williams-Sonoma for about $10. Like many of their products it's a little unnecessary, but I really like the idea of serving a pocket of meat in the shape of a heart. If you're a kid, or just act like one like me, I would recommend this little gadget. You can still make pocket pies without one, though, so nobody has to miss out on the fun.

Pastrami Pockets

Makes about 8

1 recipe of pie crust

1/4-1/2 lb. thinly sliced pastrami

A few ounces of swiss or cheddar

Dijon mustard

Giardiniera

1 egg

After making batch of pie dough and refrigerating it, place in on a floured surface. I used a wheat crust that I'd made a few weeks before and stuck in the freezer, but any kind of pie crust is fine.

Roll out the dough until it's fairly thin. Just kind of eyeball it and make a guess at how thin it has to be to get about 16 cut outs. You don't want it too thick or the dough will take away from the filling.

Stamp out shapes with the pie mold or use a bowl or cookie cutters to get an even number of pieces.

Place one piece in the mold and spread a little mustard or some kind of sauce up to about 1/4" from the edge. You can spread it much more liberally than I did in this photo.

Add some cheese.

Add a little giardiniera. I wish I would have added more than this to ensure a little spice in every bite, and I definitely will next time. I made a few pockets sans hot peppers because Matt isn't as into them as I am, so feel free to leave them out if they're not your thing.

Top it all off with a little pastrami. You don't want to go so overboard with the fillings that you can't seal the pocket, but don't skimp either.

You should brush the edges with egg wash before adding the top layer and pressing them together, but I completely forgot. It still worked out fine, but I'll try to remember that step next time. If you don't have the pie mold you can just use a fork to seal the edges.

Place the pockets on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush with a little egg wash, and bake at 375 for maybe 15 minutes or until the tops are golden.

I heart you, pastrami.

Ham and cheese pockets are good, too. Just make sure you add some kind of sauce or they're a little on the dry side.

Peanut butter and Nutella pockets are a tasty dessert. I might even heart peanut butter and Nutella more than I heart pastrami. Yeah, I said it.