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.

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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! 

Baby Back Ribs with Sweet Chili Sauce

This meal was inspired by Dancing With the Stars and Jaden's Steamy Kitchen.

DWTS, because I was looking for quick and easy meal to prepare before watching this year's premiere (cause I'm a dork), and Steamy Kitchen because that girl knows her ribs.

When I told my daughter what I was making she made that face, so I did half with barbeque sauce and half with the chili sauce. Both turned out great!  The were delicious and moist, and just literally fell off the bone!  And they definitely have the "easy food" seal of approval. 

 I'll never get that pan clean

Here's Jaden's recipe:

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Ingredients:

5 pounds baby back ribs
salt & pepper
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275F. On the underside of the rib, remove the thin membrane and discard. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

2. Place the ribs in a roasting pan, cover with double thickness of tin foil.

3. Roast for 4 hours or so. Discard foil. Use a wide, flat spatula to carefully lift the ribs onto a baking sheet. Spread the sweet chili sauce generously over the ribs.

4. Place oven rack near the top of the oven. Turn broiler on and broil the ribs for 3-5 minutes, or until the sweet chili sauce begins to caramelize. Make sure you don't burn the sauce, so keep a close eye on the ribs.
 

 

Fall On A Plate

Perhaps I should have said "autumn" on a plate.  It sounds as if I'm advising you to trip on dinnerware.  

But you should fall all over yourself to make this dinner...pronto!  It's delish! I knew when I first saw this at My Tasty Treasures I'd be wanting to try it.  Just be sure you have plenty of hungry people to share it with because it makes a lot and the left overs are a little mushy.  

Served up with a lovely roasted acorn squash, along with the temperatures finally dropping a bit, this meal let me know that autumn, or fall, is actually finally here.  

 Here's Donna's recipe:

Roast Kielbasa Supper 

 Ingredients 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

2 pounds baby red-skinned potatoes, halved or quartered, depending on how large they are
4 large onions, quartered with root end attached
2 pounds kielbasa, cut into 2-inch pieces( I recommend one inch pieces)
4 Gala or Honeycrisp apples, cut into wedges ( I used 3 and I recommend thin wedges.)
Honey

Directions 

Preheat oven to 425˚F.
In a large, shallow roasting pan, drizzle potatoes and onions with EVOO, salt and pepper. Roast 40 minutes.

Drizzle the apples with honey, EVOO, salt and pepper; toss and set aside

Add kielbasa 10 minutes into cooking time.

Add apples to potatoes and onions in the last 20 minutes of cooking time.

To serve, arrange kielbasa, apples, onions and potatoes on dinner plates and garnish with the pan juices.

Grilled Chops with Barefoot Wine's Sweet and Spicy Sauce

I was recently given the opportunity to try Barefoot Wine's new release Sweet Red.  (okay, not really recently, it was in August)

 I'm not what you'd call a wine aficionado, but I do love it in my cooking.  So I decided to try the recipe suggested by Barefoot Wines for sweet and spicy sauce on our chops the other night.

In a word...it was yummy.  Just like the name suggests, it's sweet and spicy.  Very bold.  My daughter was asking if I had anymore of "that sauce" a couple of days after that.  

Here's how to make it:

· 6 ounce can tomato paste
· 1 cup Barefoot Sweet Red
· 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
· ¾ teaspoon salt
· 1 ½ teaspoon garlic herb powder
· 1 tablespoon brown mustard
· ¼ cup molasses
· ½ teaspoon pepper
· 2 tablespoons brown sugar
· ½ teaspoon Hot Chili Sauce
 

I heated all the ingredients together on the stove top and simmered it for a few minutes.  

This is the pasta salad we had with it that I found at Food Network.

 It sounded good but I was underwhelmed.  I think my husband was a bit overwhelmed when it all got stuck in the garbage disposal and stopped up the sink.   

TY's Pork Medallions

It's official, Trish Yearwood is trying to kill me.  Eating all this pork and all this cake just can't be a good thing.  Wonder how she even sings if she eats as much of her cooking as I do, I can barely breath!  Hmm...maybe she has a little something called "self control".  I'll have to check into that.

Anyway, I usually don't get super excited about pork tenderloin.  But this recipe is pretty flavorful and really easy.  She directs you to marinade it overnight, but I found all day was sufficient.  Also one of the ingredients called for is "ginger sauce".  I perused the Asian aisle of several supermarkets and still don't know what that is.  I found a teriyaki sauce with triple ginger (it was made by kikkoman) so I just used that.  

Recipe: 

 1/2 cup teriyaki marinade

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/4 cup ginger sauce

1/4 cup orange juice

2 pork tenderloins, about 1 pound each

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red onion, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

1/4 cup V8 juice

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup orange marmalade

2 oranges

Mix the teriyaki marinade, vinegar, garlic, ginger sauce, and orange juice. Pour this mixture over the tenderloins in a roasting pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade and put them, along with the chopped onion, in the hot oil. Sear the meat on all sides. Return the pork and onion to the marinade in the roasting pan. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Mix the teriyaki sauce, V8 juice, honey, and orange marmalade. When 20 minutes are up, remove the pork from the oven, remove the foil, and with a very sharp knife cut deep slits into the meat. Pour the honey sauce into these slits and over the meat. Slice the unpeeled oranges into 1/4-inch crosswise pieces and arrange on the top and sides of the tenderloins. Return the meat to the oven and bake, uncovered, for an additional 15 minutes, or until the orange slices begin to curl. Remove the meat from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing into medallions. Transfer to a platter to serve.

 
The picture in her book had a nice deep caramely appearance, but mine looks a little anemic. It was tasty just the same.  And even though she's trying to kill me, I'm making her baked spaghetti tonight!

Alton Brown's Baby Backs & da Winner

I don't know if I mentioned, but I currently own a whole lotta baby backs right now.  Fourteen to be exact.  Some may call it weird, I call it being prepared.

And I've also mentioned my hubby has a tried and true rib marinade that is just perfect.  But when one has a surplus of ribs, it's time to experiment.

So I decided to give Alton Brown's recipe a try.

We always do our ribs on the grill, but these are braised in the oven after a dry rub is applied, and the ribs are sealed up in foil packet with some liquid.

My favorite part about this recipe is how they are placed under the broiler and the glaze gets all caramelized and wonderful.

Ingredients

• 2 whole slabs pork baby back ribs

Dry Rub:

• 8 tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon jalapeno seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Braising Liquid:

• 1 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Place each slab of baby back ribs on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, shiny side down. Sprinkle each side generously with the dry rub. Pat the dry rub into the meat. Refrigerate the ribs for a minimum of 1 hour. In a microwavable container, combine all ingredients for the braising liquid. Microwave on high for 1 minute.

Place the ribs on a baking sheet. Open one end of the foil on each slab and pour half of the braising liquid into each foil packet. Tilt the baking sheet in order to equally distribute the braising liquid. Braise the ribs in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.

Transfer the braising liquid into a medium saucepot. Bring the liquid to a simmer and reduce by half or until of a thick syrup consistency. Brush the glaze onto the ribs. Place under the broiler just until the glaze caramelizes lightly. Slice each slab into 2 rib bone portions. Place the remaining hot glaze into a bowl and toss the rib portions in the glaze.

recipe from food network

                        Also, announcing the winner of my cookbook giveaway, is Cristine, of Cooking with Cristine.  She answered that her favorite dish to take to a potluck is a trifle. So I'm wondering if she could come to my next work potluck :)

Stay tuned for more cookbook/cooking magazine giveaways to come!

Sunday Gravy

About a week ago, I asked y'all what dish I should make to celebrate my weight loss, and most of the replies indicated I should go with Julia Child's beef bourguignon.  But like a true muttonhead, I went with the Sunday Gravy. 

I'll save the bouguignon for when I own a decent dutch oven.  (hint  hint, birthday bunny)

I believe the first time I heard of Sunday gravy was from everyone's favorite perky little food temptress, Rachael Ray.  Hey, say whatcha want, she makes some yummy stuff.  I thought it was an odd name for a tomato sauce, but it grew on me.  

Then a few weeks ago, I saw Velva's wonderful Sunday sauce at her blog Tomatoes on the Vine, and knew it was something I wanted to try.  Any dish that incorporates 5 different kinds of meat earns my respect right away.  I did weenie out a bit and left out one of the meats.  I thought my family might send me to one of those rehab places for people with meat addictions if I included them all.  

So this sauce is not something you want to make on a day when you're rushed for time, as there are quite a few steps.  Forming and broiling the meatballs, browning the meats, breaking up the tomatoes, and a good two and half hours for simmering.  But if you've got a few hours to put together a memorable meal and few folks to share it with, I think this is something you might enjoy.

Here's the recipe...don't forget to look at the end for some of the things I did differently.

Ingredients:

For the Sauce:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

8 links mild Italian sausage

1 rack of spare ribs (about 3-1/2 lbs), cut between the bones into individual ribs

1 pound pork butt, cut into 4 pieces

1 large onion, diced

4 whole peeled shallots

4 whole peeled garlic cloves

3-28 ounces cans whole peeled tomatoes

20 fresh basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound of rigatoni pasta

For the meatballs:
3-4 slices firm textured white bread
8 ounces ground beef
8 ounces ground pork
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
2 eggs
2 ounces (about 2/3 cup) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions:
1.  Place 3 slices of bread in a bowl and pour enough warm water over them to moisten completely.  Let stand until softened.  Crumble beef and pork into a large mixing bowl, add onion and garlic.  Beat eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper in a small bowl and add to the meats.  Break up bread and add to the meats.  Working with your hands, knead the mixture lightly until evenly blended.  The mixture should be creamy and soft.  If not, soak and add remaining slice of bread.  Chill mixture until firm, about 1/2 hour.

2.  While meatballs are chilling, start tomato sauce: In a heavy, large (about 8-quarts) pot; heat olive oil over medium heat.  Working in batches without overcrowding the pot, brown spare ribs, sausages and pork butt well on all sides, removing as they brown. (Add small amounts of oil if necessary during browning.)  When all the meat is browned, add the onion, shallots and garlic to the pot.  Cook, stirring, until the shallots and onion are lightly browned, about 4 minutes.  Place tomatoes in a bowl and break up into small pieces with a whisk or your hands.  Add tomatoes, half the fresh basil, salt, dried basil, dried oregano, red pepper and black pepper to taste. Return meat to pot.  Bring to boil, lower the heat and simmer until sauce is thickened and ribs are tender, about 2 hours.

3.  While the sauce is simmering, preheat the broiler.  Using about 1/3 cup of the meat mixture for each, roll 8 meatballs with your hands, placing them on a broiler pan as you go.  Broil until well browned on top, about 4 minutes.  Turn them and brown the second side.  Add the meatballs to the sauce gently so you  don't break up the meatballs.

4.  To serve: cook rigatoni in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions.  Meanwhile, stir remaining basil into the sauce.  Drain pasta and return it to the pot.  Add enough of the sauce to lightly coat the pasta and transfer it to a large platter.  To serve family style, arrange the meats around the edge of the platter and top the pasta with more sauce.  Serve remaning sauce and grated cheese separately.

*The recipe didn't specify beef or pork spare ribs.  I went with beef, I think either would be fine

*After the meats had simmered for a while, I took the ribs out and let them cool for a few minutes, cut the meat off into bite size pieces then put the meat back into the sauce, and gave the bones to my small black dog.

*I left out the sausages, although I think they'd be super in there

*The recipe says "whole" shallots and garlic.  I think giving them a rough chop is a good idea.

Now about that "pasta", and I use that term loosely, that my sauce is sitting on.

I ran across a Michael Chiarello recipe for a pappardelle that didn't require a pasta making machine, you just roll it out.  Seemed simple enough.

It seemed to me the amount of eggs you add to the dough was completely overwhelming and impossible to work with.  I had to add about a cup of flour to make it workable, and then I really didn't get it rolled out thin enough, and it resembled dumplings a lot more than pasta.  It didn't really make enough to feed more than 2 or 3 people.  Having said that, I'm glad I gave it a try, and thought it was pretty good with the sauce.  Since it had a thicker consistency, it held up nicely to the hearty sauce. 

Coconut Cream Pie and My New BFF

When I think about coconut cream pie, it makes me think about church potlucks, with little old white-haired ladies all bringing their tried and true pies that they make completely from scratch without even glancing at a recipe. It also makes me think about meringue which I'm not particularly fond of, so I just left that part off.

This recipe came from AllRecipes and claims to be the quintessential coconut cream pie. It was pretty important to me that my pie be quintessential. Nonchalantly looking up words in dictionary for no apparent reason.

The only thing I did differently was make fresh whipped cream to put on it cause that's how I roll. Or maybe that's why I have rolls. Whatever.

On to my new BFF.

You may have heard me sing the praises of PW's spicy shredded pork, which I will of course always love. But I wanted something a bit easier today. PW's pork takes about 6 hours or so to cook, and you have to flip it over about every 1/2 hour or so.

So I went the crock pot route today, and I can say I wasn't disappointed.

I know he's not especially suave or handsome, but what he lacks in appearance he makes up for in flavor.

I like it served over rice with some of the juices.

Here are the how-to's from about.com: southern food.

I'll have to say because I'm a huge slacker I neglected a few steps. I didn't do the garlic rub thing. And I didn't do the last part that says to get rid of the excess juices and start with another brown sugar rub. And I totally forgot the cinnamon which is a shame cause I really wanted to try that.

• 1 boneless pork loin roast, 4 to 6 pounds
• 1 clove garlic, halved
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/3 cups brown sugar, divided
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

Wash pork roast, trim excess fat, pat dry, and rub with garlic halves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then prick the roast all over with a fork or skewer.

In a cup or bowl, combine 1 cup of the brown sugar, the mustard, and vinegar. Rub all over the roast.

Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours. Pour off the excess juices.

combine the remaining 1/3 cup brown sugar with cinnamon; Spread the mixture over the top of the roast. Cover and continue cooking on LOW for 1 hour longer.

Anyway, I thought for a little less hassle it was pretty darned tasty.

Easter Ribs

I posted these quite some time ago, but I don't think anyone was paying attention so here they are again for you. Because I really think it's that important.

Last time they were called "Labor Day Ribs". They're very versatile.

The hubby is always the one in charge of the ribs, and this is his marinade recipe. He uses baby backs, btw.

1 1/2 cup veg oil

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup vinegar

1/4 cup worcestershire

1/3 cup orange juice

2 tbsp. dry mustard

1 tbsp. coarsely ground black pepper

2 tsp. salt

He leaves the ribs in this concoction overnight, or at least all day, then throws them on the grill. I was only able to get the one pic because that's what huge pigs we are.

I also made some yummy carrots for Easter. Usually those two words: "yummy" and "carrots" don't really go together for me. (unless they're in cake form, of course) But I found this recipe at For the Love of Cooking (she has a lot of yummy looking recipes) and thought it sounded interesting.

Here's her recipe:

Roasted Carrots in a Balsamic Vinaigrette

4-5 large carrots, cleaned and peeled, cut into small sticks

2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp + 1 tsp of olive oil (divided)

1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard

1 small clove of garlic, minced

Sea salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Peel and cut carrots into sticks. Toss the carrot sticks in 1 teaspoon of olive oil then season with sea salt to taste. Place on a glass dish coated with olive oil cooking spray. Roast in the oven until golden brown, 20-25 minutes.While the carrots are cooking, combine the balsamic vinegar, remainder of the olive oil, Dijon and garlic in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly with a whisk. Once you remove the carrots from the oven, pour the vinaigrette directly in the roasting pan and stir, making sure to coat all carrots evenly.

Labor Day Ribs

My husband usually makes these for us, but he's been feeling sickly so I made them today. I think these are our daughter's absolute favorite. We start with a side of baby back ribs and marinate them overnight in this stuff: 1 1/2 cup veg oil 3/4 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup vinegar 1/4 cup worcestershire (ah, that's what I forgot!) 1/3 cup orange juice 2 tbsp. dry mustard 1 tbsp. coarsly ground black pepper 2 tsp. salt After marinating them all night and all day, I threw them out on the grill and tried not to burn them, and was actually successful for once.

Pioneer Woman's Spicy Shredded Pork

Just to let you know up front, I love the Pioneer Woman. She's my hero.

I've made lots of her recipes and they're all great. And I don't really mind professing my love for people I don't even know. I'm okay with that.

This pork was great...I might try a different combination of ingredients next time.

Here's her recipe.