Monday, May 19, 2008

Cafe Rio Barbacoa Pork Salad

This is for Kristi, who is living way too far away from the nearest Cafe Rio. It's pretty darn close to the original. You have to start cooking the meat the night before, but if you make enough, you can freeze it and pull it out to reheat and serve any time you like. We serve it with hot rice, too, so factor in time to have that prepared, too. And enjoy.

Source: Park 5th Ward Relief Society

The dressing:

1 pkg. Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch packet
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. mayonaise
2 tomatillos
1 clove minced garlic
1/3 bunch cilantro
1/2 tsp. lime juice
1 small jalepeno pepper

Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Stick in the fridge to chill.

The meat:
Pork (I used a bone-in pork shoulder because it's economical, but also a little disgusting to me because it has some skin and some bones. Use whatever pork you want.)
Coke (a couple cans to a liter bottle, depending how much you want to use)
1 bottle of honey barbeque sauce

Put the pork in a crockpot. Pour the whole bottle of barbeque sauce over the pork, and then pour in the Coke until the meat is covered. I used a couple of cans, but it depends on how much meat you're cooking. Let it cook overnight or until the meat falls apart. Then pull out the meat and shred it.

To serve:
You can do this however you want. We put a tortilla in a biggish bowl. Put in the shredded meat, some hot rice, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, black beans, crunchy tortilla strips. Then pour on the dressing. MMMmmm! You can also put another sprig of cilantro on top for garnish if you want to.

5 comments:

Kristi said...

It's true being away from Cafe Rio is very very sad!! I am excited to try this recipe! I have been making a version of Cafe Rio pork and salad dressing but it is funny because the ingredients aren't the same--- I am going to try yours and see how they taste different, YUM.

The pork (or chicken) we usually do is just 1 Cup brown sugar and 1 cup salsa with the meat in a crock pot. Weird huh? Okay, I am going to try and then report :)

Kristi said...

Oh and any idea where I can get my hands on the little crispy tortilla chip strip things they put on top of the salad??

Shauna said...

I saw some in Harmon's when I made it. But they weren't identical. They were fatter. But they were in the chip aisle. Check there. Now I'm going to have to try your version and see how they compare, too.

G said...

Mmm... I sure miss Cafe Rio. I'll have to try this! I love summer salads!!!

Sarah said...

We tried this and it was really good! We added a little salsa to the pork in the crockpot too and used diet coke 'cause that's all we had and it turned out fine. We made tacos out of the pork and rice and beans added some cheese and some salsa verde that we made. Excellent!