If you’ve ever tasted the ecstasy that is Cafe Rio and their sweet pork barbacoa salad, you’ll know why I crave this…all the time. I spent a considerable amount of time researching recipes, but I was surprised at the amount of variation (although they each claimed to be Cafe Rio’s recipe). The best I found was from barbarabakes.com So this is me, mixing, matching and concocting and may I just say…so good!
1 – 3 to 4 lb. pork shoulder roast
salt and pepper
1 can coke (I used the real Mexican coke, made with real sugar-no diet)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
juice of 1 lime
Place roast in crock pot, salt and pepper. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Pork should begin to shred at this point. Make your dressing.
1 packet buttermilk ranch dry mix
1 cup mayo
3-4 tomatillos
1-2 tbsp chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (awesome flavor, and these babies pack a punch)
1 can green chilies
1 clove garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro
juice of 1 lime
(add 1/2-1 cup milk if you want to thin it out)
Puree in blender or food processor until smooth.
Back to the pork, drain half of liquid from crock pot and add a spoonful or two of your dressing to the pork and remaining liquid. Incorporate it into the meat as you shred it. Put the lid back on and cook another 2 hours.
Assembly:
Melt some cheddar cheese onto a large flour tortilla. Top with black beans or pinto, rice (I didn’t do rice in mine, but barbarabakes.com has a great recipe for that), chopped Romane lettuce, sweet pork barbacoa, green onions, avocados if you got em’, and a dollop of the chipotle ranch dressing. Drool…eat… ecstasy!
* Did you know that spicy food is good for you? Yep, apparently this compound called capsaicin found in chilies can fight cancer and in some cases actually kill cancer cells. Eating spicy foods will also alleviate arthritis and psoriasis, chronic pain and a steady diet of this mouth burning goodness has been linked to a lessened risk of heart attacks and stroke. So burn those tonsils and sweat on, cause it doesn’t just taste good…it’s good for you too.
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