Chicago Italian Slow-Cooked Beef Sandwich

I recently picked up a large jar of Central Grocery's Olive Salad, which has lots of chopped up giardiniera in it, to make muffuletta sandwiches with, as I found a container of all the meats used in muffulettas (Genoa salami, capicola and mortadella) in the grocery. I think it was Columbus brand. They turned out great but I was looking for something different in which to use the rest of the olive salad, and this looks like it would fill the bill quite well.

Chicago Italian Slow-Cooked Beef Sandwich
Serves 6. Recipe by Susie Heller, chefscatalog.com
She seasons the meat the day before, but not necessary.

Seasoning Mix:
2 Tablespoons fine sea salt
1 Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
1 Tablespoon onion powder
Beef:
3-1/2 to 4 pounds beef cross rib roast, chuck roast or rump roast
6 large garlic cloves, cut into slivers
2 Tablespoons canola oil
4 cups beef stock
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons butter, cut into 4 slices
Sandwich:
6 large (6-inch) Italian sandwich rolls, unsliced
1 cup hot or mild giardiniera [I’m using olive salad with giardiniera in it]    

For the spice mix: Combine all the ingredients.
For the beef: Cut the roast into 4 equal pieces. Cut slits into all sides of the meat and insert a sliver of garlic into each slit. Rub the beef with the oil and rub the seasoning mixture on all sides of the meat. Put the meat on a tray, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. [I’m sealing it in the FoodSaver.]
Combine the stock, tomato paste, and vinegar in the cooking vessel of the slow cooker.
       [I’m browning the meat first, as not only will the color be better but there will be some crunchy beef pieces, but I’m still going to top it with butter.] Put the meat in and top the meat with the slices of butter. Set the cooker to low cooking for 8 hours. Check the meat, it should be very tender and shred with a fork but the time could vary depending on the cut used. If it is not completely tender, continue to cook for another 1-2 hours.
       Remove the meat and shred it with 2 meat forks. Return it to the broth unless you are ready to continue making the sandwiches. If you have cooked the meat ahead, it can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Any fat will congeal at the top and can be lifted off before reheating if desired.
For the sandwiches: Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Cut off the ends of the rolls so that they can absorb the broth [not necessary because you dip the cut side in the broth] and cut the rolls in half, stopping just short of cutting them through. Gently open the rolls and toast in the oven for 4-5 minutes to dry them slightly.
        Meanwhile, reheat the meat and broth if necessary. Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, remove the meat and keep warm. Pour the broth into a wide skillet and bring to a simmer.
        Working quickly dip the cut side of the roll into the simmering broth letting the bread absorb some broth. Lay cut side up on a cutting board. Spoon giardiniera on the bottom of each roll and top with a generous portion (about 1 cup) of beef. Close the sandwiches and cut in half. If the center of the bun looks dry the ends can be dipped in broth again.

The recipe looks good but it definitely is not Chicago Italian beef. If you want a real Chicago beef recipe, I’d be happy to give one to you.

I have been wanting to play around with a giardinera recipe but truthfully I like roasted green peppers on mine. I’ll,probably play around with a giardinera recipe later this year.

Laughed, Judy, as I just liked the recipe. I trust your knowledge in this regard, as I've never even had Chicago Beef.

I just HAD to have a slow cooker several years ago and Brian and I laugh all the time -- he wanted one too -- as we've used it only once and really weren't crazy about what we made. So besides using up the large jar of olive salad I bought for muffulettas, I thought maybe we'd get some use out of that big and so far useless small appliance! Most of the dishes I consider making in the slow cooker I usually think I could make just as nicely on the stove or in the oven. I think if we'd have bought the darn thing when we were still working, we'd probably have gotten a lot more use from it.

Look forward to seeing your recipe for giardiniera recipe but it may not be for me if it has green pepper in it. Don't get me wrong -- I love green peppers. But I often don't care the way they taste in leftover food so I only use them occasionally while cooking, unless they're the star of the meal, e.g., stuffed peppers. My personal "holy trinity" of Louisiana cooking -- usually onions, bell peppers and celery -- replaces the bell peppers with garlic. I love bell peppers added in some dishes 5 or 10 minutes before the dish is done as the flavor really apoeals to me, but there's some flavor I find green peppers develop the next day in a reheated dish that I don't care for.

I love them, though, stuffed or raw on a cruidite plate.