Roast Pork Sandwich w/broccoli rabe [Pictures]

LTH,

Inspired by watching Dinic's in the Reading Terminal Market on Man v Food and this thread I thought I would give Philly roast pork with broccoli rabe a go. Turns out its simple, inexpensive and astoundingly delicious.

Roast Pork, broccoli rabe and aged provolone in the style of Dinic's, Philadelphia

Braise pork shoulder with Italianesque seasonings, covered for a few hours then open.



Onion, garlic, hot pepper, broccoli rabe. Sautee



Reheat sliced pork in defatted juice. I added a little water to balance.



French bread, aged provolone.



Construct sandwich



Spoon hot juice over sandwich.



Slice, eat, repeat.



A really terrific sandwich, goes straight into my repertoire.

Enjoy,
Gary

oh MAN..that looks GOOD!

I'm all over this.
I have a pork shoulder in the freezer and I found a nice bunch of broccoli rabe at Capoto's.

Send some good thoughts this way Gary! Hopefully I'll be back in a day or three with an update.

I made the same sandwich a couple of weeks ago except I cooked mine in the crockpot overnight. I was a bit disappointed in the flavor of the pork. I used about 8 cloves of chopped garlic when all was said and done. But, the garlic flavor seemed to get blanched in the crockpot.

I would definitely suggest s low braise in a covered vessel in the oven versus the crockpot method.

I may be one of the few that prefers the cheesesteak to the roast pork sandwich. But don't get me wrong: I love the roast pork sandwich too, be it at John's or Dinic's. And I'd say you've done yourself proud. Do you deliver?

Great pics, Gary, and a great sandwich.

We had the same urge I guess, 'cause SaintPizza and I made these sandwiches at home last week too. Amazing, though I think I salted the water for the rabe a bit heavily. Anyway, Saturday morning I made myself an omelet out of some of the leftovers and it turned out fantastic, so there's an idea for you, if you're into omelets.

G Wiv wrote:Braise pork shoulder with Italianesque seasonings, covered for a few hours then open

G Wiv,

Your sandwich pictures made my mouth water and brought back very nice recent memories.

I didn't see Man vs. Food, so it's possible there's a behind the scenes story of which I'm unaware, but my from my experience at Dinic's it seems that what you made is closer to the "Italian Style Pulled Pork" sandwich than the "Roast Pork" sandwich. From what I witnessed, it did not appear that the Roast Pork was braised - just roasted dry then given a bath in pork stock. The Italian Style Pulled Pork, on the other hand, seemed to browned then braised in a mix of stock, wine, tomato and aromatics.

KZ

Well I have to say - dinner last night was excellent!
Alas the wife and kids wanted nothing to do with the rapini so poor little old me will just have to finish it off alone.

Looks wonderful, but I have one question: How much better would it be with hot giardinera?

Kennyz wrote:I didn't see Man vs. Food, so it's possible there's a behind the scenes story of which I'm unaware, but my from my experience at Dinic's it seems that what you made is closer to the "Italian Style Pulled Pork" sandwich than the "Roast Pork" sandwich. From what I witnessed, it did not appear that the Roast Pork was braised - just roasted dry then given a bath in pork stock. The Italian Style Pulled Pork, on the other hand, seemed to browned then braised in a mix of stock, wine, tomato and aromatics.

On Man v Food they called the sandwich Roast Pork, "covered in a secret blend of Italian seasonings and roasted in its own juices for 5-hours." Dinic's used boneless fresh ham (green/uncured) roasted then chilled over night, sliced thin then reheated in simmering pork juice that did not seem to have any tomato products. I've not been to Dinic's, and sometimes tv is edited weirdly, just relating what was on the show.

5-lb bone-in pork shoulder dusted with salt/pepper, Italian seasoning added a couple of cups of water and roasted at 350 for a few hours loosely covered with foil in a Dutch oven then uncovered for another hour or so, I did not check times. I took the meat to approx 170 internal temp, carry forward cooking took it up to 175. I was looking for sliced pork, not pulled pork.

I'll make a few slight changes next time out, roast entire time without cover, use a slightly softer bread similar to what Al's or Johnnie's use for Italian beef and cut wedges of aged provolone, as they do at Dinic's, rather than sliced. The broccoli rabe was quite bitter, though it worked on the sandwich, but I plan on blanching prior to sauteing to reduce bitterness. I'd like to try the sandwich exactly as depicted on Man v Food, fresh ham, roast, chill, slice thin, but fresh hams run 15-lbs and I don't have an electric slicer.

JoelF wrote:Looks wonderful, but I have one question: How much better would it be with hot giardinera?

It would be terrific, though not the classic Philly roast pork w/broccoli rabe.

Based on many pork Italians from Tony Lukes and one from John's, I'd say your sandwich looks very close to the real deal, Gary. The prov used there tends to be of the sharp aged variety, very robust, and the rabe very garlicy. Not a subtle sandwich.

I used to live in Philly and Tony Luke's roast pork is just about my favorite sandwich in the whole world. I just wanted to reinforce JeffB's statement that the provolone used is an aged, super sharp, semi-hard variety, not the mild sandwich slice kind. It makes a tremendous difference. I've never found aged provie here in Chicago, but I must admit I haven't looked very thoroughly. I bet you could find it at Caputo's or one of the other Italian specialty shops, if anywhere.

Graziano's is a great start:

viewtopic.php?t=2975

Nice to see someone take my idea and run with it, I still haven't got around to trying it, but this is basically what I was after. One question - when you braise something like this, do you need to make sure that you have enough liquid to cover the meat?

I only went about 1/4 to maybe 1/3 the way up.
That was plenty. Just be sure to do it nice & slow.

zoid wrote:I only went about 1/4 to maybe 1/3 the way up.
That was plenty. Just be sure to do it nice & slow.

I did a second round of roast pork sandwich, my oven temp was 350 with a finished internal meat temp of 170 as I am looking to slice not pull the pork.

Did you chill the roast after it came out of the oven?
I threw mine in the fridge for an hour and a half and it really helped with slicing.

I saw this on tv and immediately thought of this sandwich post. Looked pretty similar and tasty.

I had a chance to try out GWiv's second attempt at this sandwich. All I can say is it's one hell of a sandwich. The addition of the aged provolone and the garlicky broccoli rabe put it over the top!

stevez wrote:I had a chance to try out GWiv's second attempt at this sandwich. All I can say is it's one hell of a sandwich. The addition of the aged provolone and the garlicky broccoli rabe put it over the top!

Thanks Steve, the addition of longer aged provolone, as opposed to sharp provolone which is not aged all that long, really made a difference.

Roast Pork Sandwich w/broccoli rabe

G Wiv wrote:Inspired by watching Dinic's in the Reading Terminal Market on Man v Food and this thread I thought I would give Philly roast pork with broccoli rabe a go. Turns out its simple, inexpensive and astoundingly delicious

Dinic's roast pork with broccoli rabe looked terrific on tv, tasted good when I made it at home, but neither tv nor my home-made version hold a candle to the real thing.

Dinic's, Reading Terminal Market







Joe, Gary

sarcon wrote:I used to live in Philly and Tony Luke's roast pork is just about my favorite sandwich in the whole world. I just wanted to reinforce JeffB's statement that the provolone used is an aged, super sharp, semi-hard variety, not the mild sandwich slice kind. It makes a tremendous difference. I've never found aged provie here in Chicago, but I must admit I haven't looked very thoroughly. I bet you could find it at Caputo's or one of the other Italian specialty shops, if anywhere.

just a follow-up: I have located sharp provolone at the new Mariano's downtown, in the neighborhood that I've seen referred to as the "New East Side" (an appellation I find both weird and boring/non-descriptive. I prefer "North of Pritzker Pavilion" or "NoPritzPa")

Mariano's Fresh Market
333 E Benton Pl
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 228-1349

Sargento makes a really good sliced "sharp provolone". The aged sharp provolone is way too over powering to the pork. Best to use a non aged sharp, and a tiny bit of shaved aged provolone on top.

In Philly for AAUP and FINALLY went to Dinic's: heretic I am, I ordered a beef with hot peppers and sharp provolone, augmented with soupçon of pickled horseradish. OMFG. Pilgrimage, played.

Christopher Gordon wrote:In Philly for AAUP and FINALLY went to Dinic's: heretic I am, I ordered a beef with hot peppers and sharp provolone, augmented with soupçon of pickled horseradish. OMFG. Pilgrimage, played.

You can imagine my reaction when I sent my non-food-oriented sister in to order sandwiches, while I drove around the block. All the sandwiches were ordered plain. I need to go back to do it right.

Regards,

Mojo's in Downers Grove makes some very good Cheesesteaks and Hoagies including a Roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe red onion and sharp provolone. (stingy with the broccoli rabe) All are served on Philadelphia baked amoroso rolls which I believe they get every day. Not in the same league as John's or Dinic's but worth a try if your up that way.
Mojo's
east coast eats
2758 Maple Ave
Downers Grove
(630) 796-2832
right at 355 and Maple (55th)

Didn't realize we had a thread about this. Here was my take from a few months ago:





I thought I had used spinach, which is what I usually use a la John's Roast Pork, (as my local groceries don't carry broccoli rabe, and spinach is also a classic topping), but it looks to me like I used chard in that one. Sliced thin on my Globe deli slicer, plenty of jus, and there's aged provolone hiding in there somewhere. I daresay, as a sandwich it may be more delicious than an Italian beef. Take my Chicago cred away. I've also recently succumbed to putting ketchup on certain types of hot dogs (not just currywurst, but Sahlen's pork-and-beef dogs, as, I dunno, a Ted's everything hot dog from Buffalo --which uses Sahlen's-- has ketchup, so I've kind of grown fond of it in that context.)

Marshall K wrote:Mojo's in Downers Grove makes some very good Cheesesteaks and Hoagies including a Roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe red onion and sharp provolone. (stingy with the broccoli rabe) All are served on Philadelphia baked amoroso rolls which I believe they get every day. Not in the same league as John's or Dinic's but worth a try if your up that way.
Mojo's
east coast eats
2758 Maple Ave
Downers Grove
(630) 796-2832
right at 355 and Maple (55th)

Ooo! This is exciting news! And I'm up in that area once every couple of weeks, anyway. Thanks!

I love Dinic's, my first time there with friends, we were all in town for a wedding a few years back, and they were all, "you've gotta try this place we love!" And, we walked in and I was like, "you guys! you think I don't know of this place!?" Great sandwich, great experience. And, with that said, I know what I am making my next day off.