Cafe Rio!

Many of us here in D3 have spent some time living in the Beehive State. A love of many a Desereter is Cafe Rio (now with 17 locations within Utah and a few in Arizona and Nevada). My sister so loves Cafe Rio that she recreates several of their fresh and flavorful fares each year for her birthday. With a dear friend celebrating her birthday recently...I offered to try my hand at these famous recipes. After some Internet researching, personal tweaking, and several phone calls to my wonderful sister, here's what I came up with:

Cafe Rio Chicken:

8 oz Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (it really does have to be this brand and flavor)

chili powder

cumin

3 cloves garlic - minced

5 lbs chicken breasts

Put a layer of chicken in bottom of crock pot. Sprinkle with chili powder and cumin. (More spices = hotter). Repeat with each layer of chicken. Add garlic and dressing over top. Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.

Cafe Rio Pork:

5 lb pork roast

1 bottle taco sauce (8 oz) (I used mild)

1 clove garlic - minced

1 T cumin

1 tsp dried mustard

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 C brown sugar

20 oz Coke (not diet)

7 oz can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

Cook pork in Crockpot on low for 6 hours (cover roast 1/2 with water. When you add the other ingredients, take out some of the water, leaving only about 1/2" in the bottom.) Add other ingredients to pork and cook for another 4 hours. (Shred an hour or two before you serve)

Lime Rice:

In a saucepan, saute:

1 T butter

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic - minced

Add to a large pot, and bring to a boil the following:

3 cups water

4 tsp chicken bullion

1/4 bunch cilantro - chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 sm can diced green chilies

1/2 T lime juice

1/4 tsp pepper

1.5 C uncooked rice

Cook, covered, for 30 minutes or until rice is done.

Black Beans:

1 can black beans - drained and rinsed

1/3 C tomato juice

2 cloves garlic - minced

1 tsp cumin

2 T olive oil

2 T cilantro - chopped

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans and tomato juice. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dressing:

1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make per recipe)

2 tomatillos

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno

Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.

(Sorry I didn't get a pic before it got devoured!)

Other ingredients:

Tortillas

Red and green leaf lettuce, shredded

Grated cheese - cheddar (I also like Parmesan)

Sour cream

Cilantro - chopped

Pico de Gallo

Limes - quartered

Crunchy corn strips

Round foil cake pans - to serve

Serve in the following order: (This is how I do it anyway... in a round foil cake pan)

Tortilla

Cheese

Shredded chicken or pork

Black beans

Lime Rice

Lettuce

Cilantro

Crunchy corn strips

Sour cream

Dressing

Pico de Gallo

Grated Parmesan cheese

Squeeze lime over all of it

Pastel de Tres Leches:

1.5 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 unsalted butter

1 cup white sugar

5 eggs

1.5 tsp vanilla

1 C whole milk

1/2 of a 14 oz can Sweetened condensed milk

1/2 of a 12 oz can Evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan.

Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat well.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing well until blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. (As you can see, the above recipe is for a simple yellow cake...I'm sure a box cake would work just as well)

When cake has finished baking, pierce it with a fork all over and let it cool.

Combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, and condensed milk and pour over the top of the cooled cake. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Because of the milk in the cake, it is very important that you keep the cake refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve chilled. Serve with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. You can make your own whipped cream by beating 1 cup sugar and 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream.

You may no longer live (or never lived) in Utah, but now you can enjoy this Utah classic anytime. Make sure you invite lots of friends cause these recipes serve a lot of hungry folks!!