Mom's Cafe Rio

After several nights of ridiculously lame dinners, I mustered all my gumption to pull myself out of the post-vacation-dinner-rut I was stuck in and made Mom's Cafe Rio. It was the meal that just kept on giving! (I love leftovers with all my heart and soul.) I was always really intimidated of making homemade Cafe Rio because in the past it has just seemed so labor intensive. But it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. For a few reasons:

1. Mom's cilantro lime rice goes in the rice cooker. Hallelujah.
2. I used just tomatoes in lieu of making pico de gallo. I only make pico when Blake and I are tag-teaming it.
3. I didn't sear the pork. Just rubbed on the spices and threw it in the crockpot.
4. I used boneless pork loin instead of a pork roast. Pork roast is tastier because it's higher fat, but because of the fat you have to go through all of the meat and separate the fat out. (Like we did with the BBQ pork sandwiches at the cabin.) Takes FOR-EH-VER. But with the boneless pork loin, I just trim the big fat pocket off, throw it in the crockpot with the other ingredients, and once it's done I can just shred it and call it good. Not quite as fatty-delicious, but healthier and still the Cafe Rio pork we know and love.

I'm glad I gave this a try and found out it wasn't as intense as I was anticipating. Still more than my average meal, but definitely doable.

Homemade Cafe Rio

tortillas (we didn't see a need for tortillas--we just made massive salads)
chips (technically optional, but you know how I feel about chips)
cilantro lime rice
black beans, rinsed and drained
sweet pork
lettuce
pico de gallo (or tomatoes)
guacamole (or avocado)
cilantro lime dressing

Sweet Shredded Pork

4 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast

½ t. salt

¼ t. black pepper

2 t. chili powder

1 t. onion powder

1-2 T. vegetable oil

2 (10 oz.) cans red enchilada sauce

1 C. brown sugar, divided

½ C. salsa

½ T. Worcestershire sauce

¼ C. apple juice

Trim the visible fat from the roast and sprinkle with salt, pepper, chili powder, and onion powder.  Use hands to massage the spices all over sides of meat.

Heat the oil in a large pot over stove (medium-high heat).  Sear the pork roast for about 1 minute on all sides or until meat surface is golden brown.

While meat is searing, combine the enchilada sauce, 2/3 C. brown sugar, salsa, Worcestershire sauce, and apple juice in a slow cooker.  Add the pork, cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

Remove pork and shred, discarding any pieces of fat.  Add the additional 1/3 cup brown sugar to slow cooker and turn heat to high.  Add shredded meat.  Simmer with lid off for 30 minutes.

(*Note: I cooked an 8 lb. roast. After searing it, I put it in the oven, covered with foil or an oven-proof lid and cooked it at 325 degrees for about 2 hours.  By that time, the roast was starting to get more tender, and most of the fat had baked off.  I took the roast (I discarded the juices and fat from the roast) and put the roast into the crockpot, then covered it with all of the sauce mix (I doubled the sauce mix because the roast was double in size from what the recipe called for) and cooked it on low for about 5-6 hours.  One other tip: I had another recipe for this sweet pork that called for barbeque sauce.  So, I added anywhere from ¼ cup – ½ cup Sweet Baby Ray’s barbeque sauce.  I really think that helped the pork to taste pretty “authentic.”)

Cilantro-Lime Rice

Ingredients

• 1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)
• 1 tsp. butter or margarine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (1/4 t. garlic powder)
• 1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Instructions

• In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.
• RICE COOKER METHOD:  Put the first 6 ingredients in the rice cooker and cook like normal rice. Add the lime juice, sugar, and cilantro after the rice is cooked.

Creamy Cilantro-Lime Ranch Dressing

(aka Mom's Best Dressing Ever)

1 C. mayonnaise

½ C. buttermilk

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix (buttermilk kind)

1 lime, juiced (about 2 T. lime juice)

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ C. cilantro

1 tomatillo

Combine mayonnaise, buttermilk, lime juice, and contents of the packet of ranch dressing mix in a blender.  Add other ingredients and blend to thoroughly mix all the ingredients.  Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow dressing to thicken and meld flavors.

*Note: I have seen recipes use half mayo, half sour cream, maybe even Greek yogurt. Might be worth a try. If any of you try it, let us know how it turns out!