This past holiday weekend, I wanted to make a big dinner for my boys and my mom.  BUT I was torn between taking the opportunity of an extra day off from work to spend with my family, OR to take advantage of the last pool day of the season.  Anybody that reads this site with any regularity knows what a sun/pool freak I am.  So it was tough. . . at first.  That’s when I came across this little jewel of a recipe in my Red Hat Society Cookbook, while I was the pool of course.  (There are a jillion recipes in there that I’ve yet to try)  It was cooked in the slow cooker, so I could cook it WHILE I was at the pool.  Yippee!  

Actually, I cooked it in the slow cooker on Sunday and made some other dishes that night so that they would be ready to pop in the oven for lunch the next day.  I easily had it everything ready for lunch, with plenty of pool time that afternoon.  See?  The best of both worlds.  It just took a tiny bit of planning.

This recipe was a simple one.  My favorite kind.  The recipe in the book called it Italian Beef Sandwich Meat and called for 3 – 4 pounds of beef.  Well, I went to the grocery store and found the beef to be $5.29 per lb.. I was thinking “Twenty somethin’ bucks for just the meat?  Hmmmm”  So I looked at the pork.  A shoulder pork roast was $2.49 per lb.  “Bingo!”  We were just going to have to change this recipe up a bit.  Italian Pork Sandwich Meat it was!

Italian Pork Sandwich Meat

3 – 4 lbs. Pork Shoulder Roast
1 jar Sliced Pepperoncini (NOT drained)
1 12 oz. beer
1 15 oz. can beef broth
1 pkg. Hoagie rolls

I rubbed the pork roast with salt and pepper and seared it in a frying pan on all sides. Then I put it in the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients. Cook it on low for 8 hours. Then shred the meat with two forks. Scoop shredded pork with a slotted spoon and drain. Put on a toasted hoagie roll along with whatever condiment you like best. I just added a little coleslaw like on a barbque sandwich and it was delicious.

This is what it looks like in the slow cooker.  I know it doesn’t really look all that appetizing, but you have to trust me on this one.  Everyone in my family liked it!  And that is a rare feat at my house. (I had made a big pot of spagetti just in case for the folks that didn’t like the sandwiches, but it wasn’t needed.  Don’t get me wrong – they ate that TOO.  My boys eat like they’re starving!)

THIS is what the sandwich looks like.  This looks better and is oh so good.  It’s like a twist on North Carolina BBQ.  It still has that vinegary flavor from the pepperoncini, but slightly different.  It’s really pretty good.  And you can’t get any easier!