Ingredients
12 soft torpedo buns (preferred 9” long)
Dijon mustard
Sandwich-sliced bread and butter pickles drained of excess liquid.
24 slices swiss cheese (have deli slicer set to thick).  Use more slices if thin sliced.
24 slices rectangular deli ham or 36 slices round deli ham
36 slices salami
2 lbs boneless pork loin or pork tenderloin, sprinkled liberally with rub of your choice, placed in 1 gallon zip lock bag.  Keep on ice until ready to grill.
Spray olive oil
Plantain chips for garnish

Directions
DAY BEFORE:
1.    Slice buns lengthwise, being careful to create a “hinge”.
2.    Spread mustard on both bottom and top of inside of hinged bun.
3.    Lay two slices of thick cut swiss cheese into bun
4.    Place three pickle slices on top of cheese.
5.    Lay two slices of salami on top of pickles and cheese
6.    Lay three slices of ham on top of salami
7.    Close bun to form what would be a mighty delicious sandwich even at this point!
8.    Tear 12 pieces of aluminum foil (approximately 14’ long) from box.
9.    Working with one sandwich at a time, spray a light film of olive oil in the middle of a piece of the foil, and wrap a sandwich snugly in that sheet of foil, repeat for all twelve. (Butter may also be used instead of olive oil).* 

* These wrapped buns may be made the night before the tailgate and stored in the refrigerator overnight.  They should be stored chilled until ready to grill.

Day of tailgate:
1.    Prepare a charcoal grill with a bed of white coals.  Preheat grill if using gas.  Grill pork loin to internal temperature of 145 degrees F.  Grilling time will vary, but it should take approximately 30 minutes.  Take off fire and let sit for 10 minutes. 
2.    While the pork loin is sitting, place the foil wrapped buns on the hot grill.  Let sit for 2 minutes, turn a quarter turn, let sit for 2 minutes, turn a quarter turn, etc., so each of four sides gets 2 minutes on the heat.*
3.    Hand out the foil-wrapped buns, swaddled in a heavy napkin, and placed on a paper plate (so no one burns themselves!), and have each guest, in turn, unwrap the foil, and hold out their splayed bun to accept the thin slices of pork loin you are now carving with great flourish, and placing into their bun.
4.    Serve with plantain chips on the side.  If you are really ambitious, you can wrap the plantain chips in foil and warm them up on the grill.  Give them a quick sprinkle of the rub before serving.

* If your guests are arriving at different times, toast only as many buns as you need, keeping the pork loin warm between servings.  Another suggestion is to make a few Cuban Sandwiches, and slice them into six small slices to pass around as an appetizer course.  Cuban sandwiches are always sliced at an angle.

From the recipe files of Roy Roberts

2 large onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 16-oz jars of roasted red peppers, drained

3 16-oz cans of peeled crushed tomatoes

2 cups freshly shucked corn (or 1 lb. frozen super sweet corn)

2 bay leaves

6 oz lime juice

Hot sauce to taste

Black pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, heat oil, add onion cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add garlic, peppers, crushed tomatoes, lime juice, hot sauce.

Bring to a boil.  Turn down heat and simmer for about 35 minutes.  Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth consistency (you can also use a regular blender, working in small batches).  Add corn and cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve with corn tortilla chip strips.

From the recipe files of Roy Roberts

Roy’s Brine Solution

For each 1 gallon of brine:

½ gallon apple juice

1 cup kosher salt

1 cup Roy’s Rub

Dissolve the salt and Rub in the ½ gallon of apple juice over low heat in a 6 qt stockpot.  Once dissolved, remove from heat and add 8 - 10 cups of ice cubes (enough to bring the level to 2/3 of the 6-qt pot) to cool the brine down.  The ½ gallon of apple juice and the ice, once dissolved, should make just over a gallon of brine solution, enough for a 10 lb pork loin.  For a turkey or other large piece of meat, double the recipe and make two gallons of brine.  Brine should be chilled before placing meat into brine.

Roy’s Pork Rub

1 cup turbinado or brown sugar

½ cup kosher salt

¼ cup granulated garlic 

¼ cup onion powder

¼ cup ground black pepper

¼ cup chili powder

2 tablespoons mustard powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Put rub in a shaker-top jar and apply liberally to pork loin, butt, etc.

From the recipe files of Roy Roberts, 2009

Ingredients:

12 soft torpedo buns (preferred 9” long) 

Garlic butter (mix softened butter with minced garlic)

36 slices of sharp provolone cheese 

Three large sweet onions, diced, and caramelized

Five 1.5” thick New York strip sirloin steaks, trimmed of all perimeter fat, with Roy’s Steak Rub (see below) applied

Spray olive oil

DAY BEFORE

Slice buns lengthwise, being careful to create a “hinge”

Spread garlic butter on both bottom and top of inside of hinged bun 

Spread a layer of caramelized onions on inside of hinged bun

Lay three slices of sharp provolone cheese into bun

Close bun

Tear 12 pieces of aluminum foil (approximately 14’ long) from box.

Working with one sandwich at a time, spray a light film of olive oil in the middle of a piece of the foil, and wrap a sandwich snugly in that sheet of foil, repeat for all twelve. (Butter may also be used instead of olive oil).*  

*These wrapped buns may be made the night before the tailgate and stored in the refrigerator over night.  They should be stored chilled until ready to grill.

DAY OF TAILGATE:

Prepare the grill with a bed of white coals (can also use propane or electric grill).  

Grill steaks to internal temperature of 130 degrees F.  Take off fire and let sit for 10 minutes.

While the steaks are sitting, place the foil wrapped buns on the hot grill.  Let sit for 2 minutes, turn a quarter turn, let sit for 2 minutes, turn a quarter turn, etc., so each of four sides gets 2 minutes on the heat. 

Open the foil-wrapped buns, swaddled in a heavy napkin, and placed on a paper plate (so no one burns themselves!), and place slices of grilled steak into each bun.

*If your guests are arriving at different times, toast only as many buns as you need, keeping the steaks warm (and un-carved) between servings.

Roy’s Steak Rub

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup kosher salt

¼ cup granulated garlic

¼ cup onion powder

¼ cup ground black pepper

From the recipe files of Roy Roberts; October 2009

Ingredients
1 rack of St. Louis Style Ribs (choose the meatiest ones you can find)
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ cup brown sugar
1 bottle squeeze margarine
½ cup of wildflower honey
2 containers of BBQ rub
½ cup apple juice
½ cup smokey BBQ sauce

Directions
1.    Pull membrane from bone side of ribs
2.    Lightly sprinkle cayenne evenly on both sides of rack
3.    Shake on rub (both sides)
4.    Place in oven or smoker at 275° F (If using a smoker, use 2 small chunks of apple or pecan wood for smoke)
5.    While ribs are cooking lay out two 24” pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil.
6.    After 4.5 hours the meat should be receding from the bone about ¼”.  Place ½ of the honey, brown sugar three ½” dollops of margarine and a light dusting of rub onto top sheet on foil.
7.    Lay the ribs, meat side down onto the seasoned foil. Repeat the process on the bone side of the ribs with the rest of the ingredients.
8.    Place ½ cup of apple juice into the foil with the ribs and cover tight with both layers of foil.
9.    Cook for another 1.5 hours and remove from oven or smoker.
10.    Open foil and let ribs rest for 10 min.
11.    Carefully pick up ribs with two hands or a set of tongs and lay them on a baking sheet or grill rack with the meat side up.
12.    Brush BBQ sauce on the ribs covering the whole rack and place them back into 275° F heat for about 10 min.
13.    Remove from heat, let cool for 10 minutes and slice.

Recipe from Bob Trudnak, Pit Master and Captain of the BBQ Guru Competition BBQ team, Warminster, PA.  See other recipes at thebbqguru.com.