Yummy recipes

These are for all of you Cafe Rio/Costa Vida pork/chicken salad lovers....plus a few extras. If you have never had one of these salads before, make either the pork or chicken and the rice and dressing. Serve with romaine lettuce, tortilla chip strips, queso blanco or feta, and black beans (I used canned beans and heat on caste iron with fresh garlic and onion) Or you can make them into burritos fairly easily.

My mom is the type that if she has something in a restaurant that she loves she goes home and figures out how to make it. So here goes some samples. What I love is that most of these are crock pot or stovetop so you don't have to heat up your house in the summer

CAFE RIO/COSTA VIDA
SWEET PORK
1 c. favorite salsa (I like pace the best)
1 c. brown sugar
3-4 lbs pork roast (bone in or out)
Put all in crock pot, cook and then shred (usually all day...if it looks dry just add equal amounts more of salsa/brown sugar. I have a more involved recipe using Adobo sauce and Coke, but this is just as good I think - make a comment if you want me to email you the more involved one

CAFE RIO CHICKEN
I am not a huge lover of the chicken so I can't really attest if this is a true likeness or not, but it is really good
1 sm bottle zesty italian dressing (I use Kraft)
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic-minced
4-5 lbs of chicken breast
Cooke all together in crock pot for approx 4 hrs, shred then cook another hour

GREEN LIME RANCH
3 fresh medium (golf ball size) tomatillos cut into quarters
juice of 1 lime
1 c fresh cilantro - i usually just use half the bunch in the dressing and half in the rice
5 stalks of green onion with ends
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/4 to 3/4 t salt
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c mayo
1/2 c sour cream
1 pkg dry ranch buttermilk dressing mix or 3 T of the bulk
1/4 t crushed cayenne pepper
1 jalepeno chopped
Put all ingredients in the blender and blend well. If you like it a little more mild, use less cayenne pepper and less of the jalepeno seeds. I usually only use 5-6 seeds & a tiny piece of the core. My mom uses the whole pepper seeds and all.

GREEN RICE
Juice of 1 lime
4 t chicken bullion
2-3 minced garlic cloves
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 can green chilies
2/4 t salt
1 medium onion, chopped
Chop above coarsely and then fry in 1 T butter or oil
Add 1 1/2 c rice and fry
Add 3 c water, bring to rapid boil, turn down as low as possible, cover and simmer.
According to my friends in our Spanish branch, the trick to separated mexican style rice is to not stir and to cook as low as possible. If you want stickier rice, stir occasionally and cook faster.

RECIPE COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO ABOVE: GREAT FOR SUNDAY DINNER
MUSHROOM STEAK
2-3 lbs of boneless pork meat or beef steak(i like sirloin for this)
1-2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1-2 T Worcestershire sauce
2-3 minced garlic cloves
Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook until tender. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice and all your Sunday dinner fixins

GREAT "COMMUNITY" DESSERT
PIZZOOKIE
Cookie dough of any kind, choco chip, toffee bits, white choco chip, oatmeal raisin, etc.
ice cream

Spread cookie dough over a large caste iron pan. Cook in oven until not quite done. Remove and immediately top with vanilla ice cream. Dribble caramel and fudge sauce over ice cream. Serve with lots of spoons.

HOMEMADE FUDGE
Coming soon....can't find the recipe right now...totally beats Mrs. Richardsons any day!