One of the first establishments I visited upon moving to Duluth was a little place called Z's Deli. Z's was located in an area that at one time had considerable foot traffic. Deli sandwiches of all variety could be found at Z's. The first sandwich I tried was named the La Kosher Nostra. This was a triple decker corned beef and pastrami with cole slaw and swiss cheese. Man was it good. Every time I went back to Z's I looked the menu up and down but always returned to the La Kosher Nostra.
Z's recently closed its doors. The La Kosher Nostra will have to live on in my memory and despite my best efforts I doubt that I will ever be able to duplicate it as well.
This was my attempt. I love the throwdowns because I am always trying to make something I've never made before. I was not going to attempt swiss cheese, but everything else seemed within my reach. First I needed to find some brisket. Not wanting to go overboard if I messed it up entirely I settled on a smaller 3 to 3 1/2 pounder.
Found a recipe based on an Alton Brown original and mixed up my brine.
Next came the Pumpernickel. I did a practice run on this one since I wanted to make sure I didn't go through all the trouble of making corned beef and pastrami and then not having a respectable bread. I modified a recipe I found on the net and it turned out great (at least I think so).
After 9 days in the brine I pulled out the two pieces of brisket, threw one in a pot with onions, carrots, and celery and the other went on the BGE with a mix of black pepper, coriander, smoked paprika and some other stuff I can't remember right now. Smoked at 225 with apple wood.
And finally the slaw. Now it seems a bit strange after all the pulled pork I've made that I've never made cole slaw but a local store has some really good creamy slaw and I just never thought about making my own. But since this is a throwdown I decided to search the Brethren pages for slaw recipes. I actually did a Google search first and entered "Best Damn Cole Slaw Recipe". That search brought me back to the Brethren and a post about the famous Cock Of The Walk Cole Slaw. Now that is just a great name and I hope someday I can visit the Cock Of The Walk. For now I must settle for my rendition. I doubled the sugar as I wanted something a little sweeter but other than that stayed true to what I found. I also had a very nice helper. I promise no children were injured in the making.
So here it is my version of the La Kosher Nostra. There are a couple of slices of swiss cheese in there, but be darned if I can see them. I learned a ton while making this. My bread and slaw and corned beef turned out better than I hoped. The pastrami tastes great but has too much salt left and I know now that I need to soak it longer. Overall this was a lot of fun.
Thanks for looking