Faux Cafe Rio

We had some missionaries over for dinner a little while ago. I stressed about what to make. I know they aren't picky, and are just grateful for a home cooked meal, but still, I stress about it.

I think it has a lot to do with the time that people brought us dinners after Madison was born. Don't get me wrong, I was very touched, and grateful for the service rendered by the ladies in my church, especially since this was the very first time any one had done this for me, but the problem was they all brought spaghetti. And salad with Italian dressing. And there were lots of leftovers. Each person brought enough for my little family for at least 2-3 meals. (We Mormons are known for liking to feed people) And well, this may sound a little ungrateful, but after several days of spaghetti for lunch and dinner, a cold ham sandwich was sounding mighty tasty.

Long story short, I worry that behind their polite smiles these boys are actually thinking "Oh joy. Pot roast again." Even though I know they're not. I realize I tend to have paranoid episodes. John thinks I'm crazy most of the time.

That being said, what to serve? I ended up going with something I enjoy and wanted to try out anyway. (and I pushed back the thoughts that even though I'd never made it, it didn't mean they hadn't already eaten similar variations 3 times that week.)

There are several different variations out there for the Barbacoa pork, and the reason I went with this recipe is because it looked like the easiest and it is the recipe of a trusted friend. I was pretty amused with the directions to add a 20 oz bottle of Coke. I felt like quite the rebel feeding the LDS Missionaries pork soaked in Coke without their knowledge.

Anyway, dinner rocked if I do say so myself.

The first few recipes I stole from my friend's food blog "What's for Dinner", the Black bean recipe I stole from "The Sisters' Cafe".

Pork Barbacoa
5-6 pound pork roast*

1 Tbs. cumin

1 cup brown sugar

12 oz bottle La Victoria taco sauce

20 oz Coke

Place pork roast in a crock pot, add water halfway covering roast.Cook on low for 12 hours (or on high for 6-8 hours)Drain water and shred pork.
Add remaining ingredients and cook 2-4 more hours on low.
Serve over rice, in tacos or in a salad (Cafe Rio style)

* We have used pork butt (shoulder) to make this recipe and it works very well also. However, the butt seems to cook faster than a roast does (it only took 4 hours on high until it was tender enough to shred). So, basically just keep an eye on your meat as it cooks and shred it when it's tender.

** My brother also experimented with this recipe and cooked a pork butt in the oven at 220 F overnight (about 8 hours) and it turned out awesome too.
Have fun and eat well! :)

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Cilantro Lime Rice

4 tsp chicken bouillon

4 tsp minced garlic

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 can diced chilies

3/4 tsp salt

2 Tbs butter, melted

1 small onion, chopped
Juice from 1/2 a lime

3 cups non instant rice

Put bouillon, garlic, cilantro, chilies, salt, butter, onion & lime juice in blender.Puree until smooth.Pour into a saucepan, add 3 cups water and bring to a boil.Add rice and simmer until done, about 30 minutes.Stir and serve.

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Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing

1 packet Hidden Valley buttermilk salad dressing mix (it is very important to get the package that directs you to use 1 cup mayo and 1 cup buttermilk and that you get the buttermilk flavor instead of the original flavor of dressing mix)*

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
2 tomatillos

1 jalapeno pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
1 lime
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F. Remove tomatillos from husks and wash. Cut tomatillos in half, sprinkle with salt to taste and roast in oven for 20 minutes. Remove stem from jalapeno and rough chop (seeds and all but if you like it less spicy you can remove the seeds and the inner membranes from the pepper). Add roasted tomatillos, jalapeno, cilantro, juice of lime and garlic to food processor. Pulse until a semi-smooth liquid is formed. Add packet of dressing mix, mayo and buttermilk. Blend until mixed well. Refrigerate until used.

* If you do happen to use the packet of dressing mix that indicates using 2 cups of mayo and 2 cups of buttermilk then just double the rest of the ingredients. WOW, that will make a ton of salad dressing though! Be forewarned!

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Garlic Black Beans
1 can black beans
1/3 c tomato juice
2 cloves garlic, minced (1 tsp)
1 tsp cumin
2 Tb canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tb chopped cilantro

Heat oil then add cumin and garlic until garlic begins to pop. Add rest of ingredients and serve warm.