Cafe Rio Pulled Pork

Just between you and me, I have no idea what or where Cafe Rio is.  But I kept reading the praises of the pulled pork by this name and really wanted to try it.  I'm pretty glad I did.

This pork is so easy, and So tasty...a little sweet and little spicy.  I was rather full from test bites before dinner and didn't have much room left for the main event.  But I managed to muscle through it anyway.  Who could resist it in a taco rolled up with cilantro lime rice?  Not me!  

Here's the recipe from Mmm...cafe  Hope you like it!

3-4 lb. Pork Butt or Shoulder Roast

2 small cans El Pato Tomato sauce (found in the mexican aisle, this is a key ingredient)

1 15 ounce can tomato sauce

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

Wrap pork completely with foil, place in crock pot and pour ½ cup water around roast. Cook for 8 hours on low. Remove roast, drain juices, remove fat and shred. Dump the tomato sauces and brown sugar into the crockpot, stir together and add shredded pork back in. Cook two additional hours on low.

Cilantro Lime Rice
2 cups white rice
4 cups chicken broth
½ bunch cilantro, chopped
½ tsp. salt
2 limes, juiced
1 Tbs. butter

Combine rice, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and the juice from 1 lime in a rice cooker or saucepan. Cook according to package directions. When rice is cooked, juice the additional lime and add in butter. Stir to incorporate.

R&B for Dinner

I was planning to fascinate you with a list of names of R&B artists I may or may not have had dinner with. But then I realized I really couldn't come up with any names other than BB King, so I went to wikipedia to jog my memory.  BB's not even on the list....so that shows what I know! I guess he's just straight up blues, not so much rhythm.  What does any of this have to do with my dinner?  Absolutely nothing!   

The r&b in question here is ribs and beans.  And this dinner made me feel anything but the blues!

The ribs are a repeat of the ones I made a little while back (with bbq sauce)....nothing easier.

The beans are based on the recipe I found at Colleen's Recipes.  Since I didn't have a pork tenderloin that her recipe calls for I added more beans with some bacon for flavoring, and served the ribs on the side.  I'm sure even BB would approve.

Printer Friendly Recipe

3 cup dry pinto beans (no need to soak)

(1) 4 ounce can of mild green chilies

3 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon dry oregano

1 clove garlic minced

1 cup chopped sweet onion

1/2 pound bacon, chopped

Saute the onions & garlic in a little olive oil; add in the bacon toward the end of sauteeing.  Place in crock pot with  the dry beans, spices, & canned chilies . Add just enough water to mostly cover the beans.  Cook on low until beans are tender, 6-8 hours.  Enjoy! 

Asian Style Short Ribs & Nanaimo Bars

*If you haven't already done it, haul your platypus over to this post for my little cookbook freebie*

 This first one is a beautiful and easy recipe I found at One Perfect Bite.  To me it was sort of like roast beef kicked up a notch with a bit of an Asian flair. Oh well, it's yummy. That's all that matters.

I loved it served over rice with a side of peas in those steamer bags you just zap in the microwave for a few minutes.  Dinner is served!

Ingredients:
4 to 5 pounds beef short ribs
1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and tender green
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine (I used rice vinegar)
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce or sriracha
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger
2 teaspoons frsh minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Directions:
1) Spray interior of a 5 5o 6 quart crock-pot liner with nonstick spray. Place ribs in crock-pot.
2) Combine scallions, soy sauce, wine, chili garlic sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour over ribs. Cook on LOW until ribs are fork tender, about 6 to 7 hours.
3) Remove ribs to a platter. Tent with foil. Pour cooking liquid into a 1 quart saucepan. Skim off fat. Stir in sesame oil. Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1/4 cup water. Add to liquid and bring to a boil, cooking until sauce thickens. Spoon glaze over ribs. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Yield: 6 servings

And now these Nanaimo bars.  

I've decided these are a Canadian plot to put every American into sugar stupor so they can cross the border and nationalize our health care.

 that's just a joke, don't get all political on me :)

 I have to admit I screwed up and covered the top with unsweetened chocolate, and realized it at the exact moment when I poured the last drop of it on top.  At first I thought it was ruined, but it turns out it wasn't so bad since that filling layer is SO incredibly sweet, it completely made up for it.

The boy decided to just fork the whole thing to eat it, silly kid.

Here's the recipe I found at Sinful Southern Sweets

 Base:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup white sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup toasted coconut

Custard:
1/4 cup butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder or instant vanilla pudding
3 tablespoons milk
Topping:
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon butter

  Mix 1/2 cup butter or margarine, white sugar, cocoa, egg and vanilla in a heavy sauce pan or double boiler. Stir over low heat until mixture is slightly thickened.
Combine graham crackers, coconut and add to the melted mixture. Mix well and press into buttered 9 inch square cake pan.
Cream 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla custard powder and milk. Beat until creamy and spread over base.
Refrigerate till hardened.
Melt semi-sweet chocolate with 1 tablespoon butter and smooth over custard icing. Refrigerate. When firm, cut into square bars.
 

Apricot Chicken

This recipe also comes from the cookbook included in my fantabulously cool giveaway that is still going on through Thursday night.  Click now and enter if you haven't already!

Don't worry, you're not going blind. That's one fuzzy picture.  I was pretty hungry, and ready to dive in.  Couldn't be bothered with "proper lighting" and all that jazz.

This recipe is just about as easy as it gets, and it's done in the crockpot. But I'm sure it could be oven baked if you'd rather.

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

12 oz jar apricot preserves

8 oz catalina dressing

1 package onion soup mix ( I would recommend only using 1/2 the package, I found it a little overpowering)

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in crock pot that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray.

Mix next three ingredients together and pour over chicken.  

Cook on high heat about 4  hours until chicken is done all the way through.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Tonight's dinner was lacking in photographic-ness, but made up for it in ease and yumminess.

I first saw this idea at Home Sweet Home, and thought "why didn't I think of that?"  Just throw however many boneless chicken breasts you want into the crock pot, (I used 6), add half a bottle of hot wing sauce.  I only had Frank's Red Hot, so I toned it down by adding a little ketchup and a bit of butter.

Leave in the crock pot on low about 7-8 hours, and dinner is ready. I suppose you could serve them whole or shredded.  Whatever makes you happy.  The chicken comes out completely moist and tender, and was really yummy with pickles, red onion, and ranch dressing.

Speaking of Disney, we got to go see Disney on Ice last night!  (well, the voices in my head were speaking of Disney, as usual)

The cool part was it was totally free courtesy of a giveaway I won at The Good Deal Gal.  Which is a really cool website...Rachael scours the universe to find all sorts of deals, discounts, and coupons, and shares all her info with us!

I think the family had a really nice time, even held the boy child's attention.  We had really great seats too, I was expecting the nosebleed section, but we were on the 7th row.  

Cool collage thing made at Photovisi.

Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches

Do Italians really eat roast beef sandwiches like these? I really doubt it. I just chose to call it that because it's got Italian dressing in it. Clever, I know.

I saw several recipes (all in one day) of some sort of roast cooked with pepperoncini's in a crock pot with various other ingredients, then shredded up for sandwiches. I thought it sounded super and decided to try it myself. Instead of using the whole peppers like I had seen, I got sliced since my husband said he didn't really want stems in his sandwiches. Smart man!

Since I'm a fan of keeping it simple this only consists of 3 ingredients. The roast (it was a smallish one, just shy of 3 lbs I think), Italian dressing mix (about half the package), and about half the jar of pepperoncini's and half the juice. (I don't remember how big that jar is and I'm feeling too lazy to go look)

I put it in the crock pot at 9am on low, and by 5, it was more than ready.

I think we all enjoyed this (with swiss cheese on a toasted bun) and would definitely try it again.

I may be feeling like this little cold penguin on Saturday.

While most folks don't wish to see another flake of snow anytime in the near future(if all those facebook updates are any indication), we are purposely driving north this weekend to try to find some. It's for the children, ya know.

We hope to find some (small) hills to slide down, and a warm place to have some hot cocoa.

Wish us luck!