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Whippin’ It Up: Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa Salad with Tomatillo Dressing
2008 August 29, 12:03 am
Filed under: Domestically Dormant (?)

I can’t believe Whip It Up is over!  This little recipe challenge has done amazing things for my cookery/lack-of-cookery skills.  I actually feel comfortable in the kitchen with all the pans and gadgets and things.  I have been saving the best of my summer domesticity for last, partly because I wanted to feel a little more comfortable in the kitchen before attempting to make Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa Salad from scratch…and partly because I didn’t actually find the recipe (hiding in the bottom of my pile of recipes) until recently.  For those of you who know the goodness, nay, the divinity of Cafe Rio, you are about to enter .  Mecca.  Please remove your shoes and give your toesies a good scrub before proceeding.  For those of you who do not subscribe to the Cafe Rio religion, you are in for a TREAT!  There are not many words in the English language (or possibly even the English AND Spanish languages combined, although I am nowhere close to even conversational in Spanish) that can accurately describe the epicurean nirvana that is Cafe Rio.  So I’m not even going to try.  All I can say is that regardless of your cookery skills, and despite the seemingly never-ending wait for the pork to get done (18 hours in a crock-pot, your nostrils will be tantalized for HOURS!), this is so worth it.  On Sunday I threw a little dinner party, and if you are questioning the edibility of these recipes, please contact Vanessa and Cole, or Aaron and Amy for their opinions.  (Hint, in their opinion(s), this was a-MAY-zing!). 

My Cafe Rio night consists of several different recipes, all super-easy, although I did have a very Handsome Sous Chef at my disposal.  (Is it against Policy to sneak  the Sous Chef a kiss?  Hope not!)  After the break will be recipes for Pork Barbacoa (sweet and spicy shredded pork) and the Creamy Tomatillo dressing, as well as a quick guestimation of my Pico de Gallo recipe.  Also required for a true Cafe Rio salad is Cilantro Rice, which I posted about here.  To build your salad, you start with a flour tortilla, add a smidge handful of cheese, a spoonful or two of black beans, a spoonful or two of rice, as much pork as you think you can get away with, pile on shredded romaine lettuce, a couple of spoonfuls of pico, some guacamole if you have it, the tomatillo dressing and then homemade tortilla strips (which I forgot to take pictures of…sorry).  This high-piled concoction will change your life.  Seriously.

See?  Don’t you feel changed?  Don’t you believe me?  A-MAY-ZING!  Before I get into the details of the cookery, here are the nitty gritties:

  • Total Prep-Time:  18 hours, technically.  But most of that is just waiting for the pork to cook.  I’d say active cook time for the entire meal was perhaps an hour, maybe 1 hour 15 mins.  Lots of this meal (dressing, pico) can be made before-hand and kept in the fridge until it’s time to eat. 
  • Was the recipe easy to follow: Extremely easy.  It’s mostly chop, dump and marinate.  Easy-peasy.
  • Are the ingredients easy to find: It took me a bit of searching in the Mexican Food section to find Chipotle Chilies in Adobo Sauce, and also a bit of googling to figure out what, exactly, a tomatillo looked like.  But I found everything at my grocery store.
  • Do you need special equipment: Large-ish crock pot and a blender.  A food processor would make quick work of the pico, although I chopped mine by hand.
  • Does the end result taste delicious:  Oh. My. Freaking. Laws.  YES!  Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.  This was the best meal I have ever made, hands down, no questions.  And there were enough leftovers for my neighbors, and my room-mate, and a couple of meals for me.  This makes a ton of food, but it will be eaten quickly.  Try it, taste it, and you’ll understand why.  Fan-tabulous!
  • Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa

    5-6 lb. pork roast

    21 oz. Dr. Pepper (or Coke, do NOT use diet soda)
    1 cup brown sugar
    3/4 cup white sugar
    1 clove garlic, minced
    7 oz. can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
    6-ish oz. red taco sauce (I used hot)
    1 tsp dry mustard
    1 tsp cumin
    1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

    Place roast in crock-pot, cover half-way with water and cook on low for 12 hours.  (I started my Pork Adventure at midnight and everything worked out perfectly for Sunday dinner at 6:00 pm.)  After 12 hours, drain pork (retain liquid if you want sauce for burritos, simply mix with a can of verde enchilada sauce and away you go).

    Mix remaining ingredients until sugar dissolves.  I didn’t keep the actual chilies, I dumped the can into a bowl and added enough Dr. Pepper to get all the sauce off of the chilies, then I tossed them.  I also rinsed out the can with Dr. Pepper for more adobo goodness.  My version had a fairly good kick to it, but if you LOVE hotness, then blend everything + 2 or 3 chilies in the blender.  (Also, the adobo sauce tends to stain plastic, using a glass or metal mixing bowl will make your clean-up of adobo sauce considerably less frustrating).

    Add Dr. Pepper mixture to the roast and cook on low an additional 4 hours.

    Take out roast and shred, add back into sauce and cook for 2 more hours.  At this point the meat was so tender it practically shredded itself.

     *****        *****        *****        *****       *****

    Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dressing

    Do not skip this part, the dressing is my favorite part of the salad!  Creamy and spicy and zesty, it is absolute heaven.  I actually use leftover dressing for a tomatillo-cilantro salsa, this stuff makes regular, everyday corn-chips taste like exotic, savory treats.  (Because we all know, corn is not exotic on it’s own.)  If it can transform corn chips, just IMAGINE what it will do for your salad!  Besides, it takes 3 minutes to put together.

    1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
    3 tomatillos (remove papery skin), rough chop
    1 cup mayo
    1 cup buttermilk
    1 cup (or more) cilantro, rough chop
    3 cloves garlic
    1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
    2 tsp green Tabasco sauce
    juice from 1 lime

    Dump everything in a blender and blend until smooth.  Refrigerate in air-tight container (or your entire fridge will smell like garlic and cilantro).

     *****        *****        *****        *****       *****

    Easy Pico-de-Gallo

    3 tomatoes, diced
    1/2 bunch of cilantro, minced
    1/2 sweet onion, minced
    1 section of green pepper, minced
    3-4 cloves garlic, minced
    about 1/3-1/2 cup vinegar (use your best judgement)
    salt and pepper

    Mix it up really well and refrigerate.  I put my pico in a Tupperware and shook it up really well right before serving to re-mix.

    *****        *****        *****        *****       *****

    Now, invite some people over and get cooking!  Do you remember how to put together the salad? 

    • Tortilla – you can make your own, mine came from a package.
    • Cheese -it is a good idea to warm these two up so the cheese is a little melty.
    • Beans – black or pinto (mine came straight out of the can, warmed in the microwave with a little garlic powder and green Tabasco sauce).
    • Rice – don’t be stingy now!
    • Pork - I am actually salivating while writing this post…
    • Lettuce – Shredded Romaine, you want small enough pieces to get a little of everything on your fork
    • Pico de Gallo – I like extra pico, so I give myself an extra scoop.
    • Tortilla Strips – slice a corn tortilla into strips, brush with olive oil and salt and pepper and bake on a foil-covered sheet for 15-20 minutes at 350-ish.
    • Creamy Tomatillo Dressing – I like to keep mine on the side so my lettuce doesn’t get too slobbery.
    • This is really best served with a cold Dr. Pepper with a few slices of lime squeezed into it, but if that seems like Dr. Pepper overload, your beverage of choice will probably be fine.

    Enjoy a little ginormous taste of the Utah original, Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa Salad.


    22 Comments so far
    Leave a comment

    That looks absolutely delicious…I need to get myself a crock-pot :-)

    Comment by Emily

    this looks so incredibly tasty. and bookmarked :)

    Comment by katelin

    hey heidi! I found your blog through vanessa’s blog and i love it! Yum! That salad looks delicious! Hope you are doing well!=)
    Miss Ya!
    Ennlee

    Comment by ennlee

    Again, this looks delicious! All of your recipes sound so tasty!

    Comment by Erin

    [...] Heidikins took a page out of the book of one of her favorite restaurants with Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa Salad. [...]

    Pingback by Definitely RA | The Final Whip It Up Wrap-Up

    This came at the perfect time. I just ate at Cafe Rio the other night & while I love the food I hate the atmosphere. I never have enough personal space there. I wonder how long tomatillo sauce lasts or if it can be frozen. I guess I can just drink it.

    Comment by Sarakastic

    That looks so good…thanks for the inspiration!!!

    Comment by Trish Ryan

    It’s so pretty too! What a great summer dish.

    Comment by Larissa

    hey i hope you are having fun in hawaii. does this dressing taste like cafe rio, i am always worried about that!

    Comment by Lacey

    WOW! That does look good. I am usually not a fan of anything Cafe Rio. You may have converted me!
    Aloha!

    Comment by Lex

    I’m trying this tonight! Can’t wait…

    Comment by jenn

    [...] Pork Barbacoa Salad with Tomatillo Dressing Jump to Comments (This post originally published here as part of the Whip It Up [...]

    Pingback by Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa Salad with Tomatillo Dressing « heidikins cooks

    [...] public links >> guacamole Whippin’ It Up: Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa Salad with Tomatillo Dressing Saved by jacklau on Thu 09-10-2008 Guacamole and Cheerios Saved by JPvanArnhem on Sat 04-10-2008 [...]

    Pingback by Recent Links Tagged With "guacamole" - JabberTags

    [...] now that we may be serving this Sunday at our monthly sibling dinner. The recipe can be found at heidikins.com. I’ll let you know how it turns out. For now, I’m a little worried, because I’m [...]

    Pingback by Eli’s Blog » Blog Archiv » Cafe Rio Barbacoa

    [...] on Nov.12, 2008, under Daily events In a previous post, I mentioned that I was going to try out a recipe for Cafe Rio’s pork babecoa. It’s awesome stuff, it’s like Kentucky Fried Chicken [...]

    Pingback by Cafe Rio barbecoa, ham & cheese soup - Eli’s Blog

    I am so glad I found this! My family loves Cafe Rio; but we are a military family. Now that we are here in Texas we havent found any Fresh Mex places to go. Now I can make it at home. I now dont feel as homesick or hungry. Thank You!!!

    Comment by Katherine

    [...] and I promise to post the recipe(s) on Friday for my final Whip It Up cooking adventure. Updated: Link Here) At any rate, with all this Mexican food, I wanted a dessert that would be small-ish, but [...]

    Pingback by Key Lime Pie-cakes « heidikins cooks

    Thanks for the detailed instructions!

    A couple of points to add though.

    1. The tortillas used by Cafe Rio are sweeter than those you can buy in the store. Not sure why, but it does make a difference when you roll the tortilla up to get all of the leftover goodness.

    2. The reason the tortillas are already in the tinfoil pan when you get the salad is that they sprinkle cheese on the tortilla and run it through the broiler so that the cheese melts and browns on the tortilla. Helps the tortilla keep its shape and is rather tasty.

    Comment by Chris Hansen

    How many does this recipe serve?

    Comment by Marilyn

    Amazing!! Almost better than Cafe Rio!! The entire family loved it. Thank you

    Comment by Princass

    Looks SO yummy! Thanks for sharing.

    Comment by Krisi

    Hey girlfriend, next you’ve gotta try homemade tortillas!
    Oh, are they good!

    Comment by Cher




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