Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Cafe Rio

This summer the wives made dinner for ALL the guys in the office. It was Cafe Rio style. Here are some of the recipes that were used!

Tomatillo Dressing Cafe Rio

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch (Buttermilk style)

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup mayonaise

1-2 tomatillos, peel

1/2 to 1 garlic clove, minced

1/3 buch cilantro chopped

1 tsp lime juice

6 slices pickled jalapenos.

Blend ingredients together in blender. More mayonnaise may be added if too thin. Keep refrigerated.

Lime Rice

In a sauce pan, saute:

2 T butter

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic minced

In a large pot, bring the following to a boil: (I just throw all of these ingredients into a rice cooker and it works just great – you don’t need to boil the rice in a pot.)

3 cups rice

6 2/3 cup water

8 tsp bullion (I usually use Swanson’s chicken broth if I have it.)

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

2 tsp cumin

2 small cans diced green chilies

1 T lime juice

1/2 t salt

Green Sauce

4 TBSP butter

1 med onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large can green enchilada sauce (I use Las Palmas brand, which can be found at super Wal-mart)

1 can chicken broth (14-16 0z)

3-4 TBSP flour

In a large sauce pan, melt half of the butter (2TBSP) and sauté garlic and onions until they are almost clear (add garlic more toward the end, so it doesn’t burn). Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, add the chicken broth and flour, mix until lumps are out. Add the remaining butter to the garlic and onions, once melted stir in the chicken broth/flour mixture (make sure to stir continuously while adding so the four doesn’t burn on bottom of pan). Then add the can of green sauce, mix and stir. Cook on med to med-high heat for about 10 mins. Simmer on Medium for about 30 more mins. (If you have time and it makes the flavor stronger b/c it reduces and starts to be more condensed). Stir often while on simmer.


SWEET PORK ( a variation on Café Rio Pork recipe) Kim Sadowski

4 pounds pork roast
1/3 cup water
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup green chili sauce (La Costena is a good brand)

1 can El Pato tomato sauce (jalapeno variety – green label)

1 6 oz. can of regular tomato sauce

2 T. Canola oil

1 large sweet onion – diced

6 cloves of garlic - pressed
½ to ¾ cups brown sugar


Place the pork, 1/3 cup water, garlic salt, salt, and pepper, in a *crock pot. Cook slowly for 6 hours. Remove pork and cool for 30 minutes. Set aside liquid. Shred pork and set aside.

Strain the liquid from the pork and put in a freezer-safe container. Place in freezer for about an hour to allow oils and fat to separate and rise to the surface. Once oils and fat have risen to the top and solidified, remove and discard. Set aside drippings for use later.

Sauté onion in Canola oil until tender. Stir garlic into onion and sauté lightly for one minute. Add tomato sauce, green sauce, 1 ½ cup of broth and brown sugar. Simmer for 3 minutes until all ingredients are mixed well. Add pork and simmer on low for 20 minutes. Serve pork in warm freshly-made flour or corn tortillas and garnish as desired.

* You can also cook pork in covered roasting pan in oven if you prefer. If you choose to cook it in the oven, cook at 250 degrees for 4 hours.