"Bajio Sweet Pork Salad" Copy Cat

I made this salad last week and it was DELICIOSO! I found these recipes online. The one for the sweet pork was from our local ABC 4 news who had one of the big wigs from Bajio on their show to present, so I thought it would be a pretty good recipe and it sure was!

So the layers in a salad you would get at Bajio (or Cafe Rio) include:

1- Tortilla (I used the uncooked 'tortilla land' brand you can find at Costco or most grocery stores by the milk, butter, etc. for sure at Walmart, smiths, maceys)

2- Sweet Rice (recipe below)

3- Black Beans (I just opened a can of seasoned black beans)

4- Corn

5- Sweet Pork (recipe below)
6- Chopped romain lettuce

7- Cheese

8- Any additional toppings you like: sour cream, guacamole, pico, salsa, etc

9- Tortilla strips (instructions below)

10- Creamy Tomatillo Ranch (recipe here)

And that is one dreamy meal.. and those you are serving it to will think you are the BEST!

Recipe for:

Sweet Pork

pork

3 lbs pork roast 

2 quarts water 

4 cups sliced white onions

1/4 cup salt

1 cup sugar

Marinade

Simmer together the following ingredients for 1 hour

4 cups enchilada sauce

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups soda water or coke/dr pepper

1 Tbs taco seasoning to taste

1 small cans pineapple juice (I added this to original recipe to try to reduce the spiciness of the taco seasoning because I had overdone it with almost 3 Tbs, my sis-in-law Birgitta recommended the pineapple juice and it was sooooo good that I'm always going to use it)

Cook pork in crock pot until tender enough to shred (about 8 hours). 

Drain pork and shred with fork, keeping pork in original cooking pot

Pour hot marinade over shredded pork

keep warm

Recipe for:

Sweet Rice

1 Tbs oil

1/2 of a white onion, chopped (add more or less to your taste)

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro chopped

1 1/3 c. white rice

3 c. chicken broth

1/4  c. white sugar
heaping 1/2 tsp salt (1/2 tsp salt per cup of rice)

Put a little oil in bottom of pan

Saute chopped onion until translucent

On the side, combine the chicken broth and sugar, letting sugar dissolve (get this ready before you add the cilantro so it's ready to pour)

Add rice, cooking it until it is brown (be careful not to burn)

Add chopped cilantro (no big stems) to your onions and rice and saute 30 seconds more or so

Pour in broth with sugar, add salt, combine, and bring to boil

Cover and let cook on low/med low until rice is done, about 20-25 min

Fluff with fork before serving.

Tortilla Strips

Use tortillas of your choice (white corn, yellow, corn, flour)

Cut into thin strips

In large skillet, heat vegetable oil and fry up your strips, adding plenty of salt for deliciousness. Fry until light to golden brown.

Enjoy! You will be stu-uffed.

Heather Please Post....

....the pork recipe! Please! Thanks again for dinner. That pork salad was the best! It seriously tasted like Bajio!

B

Cynthia Davies Whole Wheat Bread

Cynthia Davies Whole Wheat Bread:
5 1/2 cup hot tap water
11 cups whole wheat flour (I used 14)
3 T SAf instant yeast
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 T salt (did I say I followed it exactly? I put in 2 T)
1/2 cup gluten flour (you can get it a health food store or Walton Wheat)
Turn over on to 200. Pour water into mixer and add 3 cup whole wheat flour and yeast. Mix well. Add 3 more cups flour. oil, honey and salt. Mix well. Add gluten and the rest of the flour while mixer is mixing. Add flour only until dough pulls away from the bowl, cleaning sides . Knead 10 minutes in the mixer.

Turn oven off. Divide dough into four parts and shape into loaves on a lightly oiled surface. Put dough in sprayed pans and raise in the over about 20-25 minutes. When loaves are almost raised, leave them in the oven and turn it on to
350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes. (My oven is hot and so I cook it on a lower temperature for 40 minutes.

Butterfinger Brownies

This is awesome. Very easy... We had them on Father's Day.

Ingredients:
Your favorite brownie mix
6 mini butterfinger bars or 2 full size bars
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Directions: Prepare the brownie mix as directed. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spray pan and pour batter in 9x13 pan. In a ziplock bag, put your butterfinger bars in. Take out your frustrations, and beat it with a rolling pin to crush them. :) Then sprinkle on the top of the brownie batter. Bake as directed on the box.. And wha-la, you have yummy butterfinger brownies!

Black Bean Salad

I got this recipe from Enrichment night. It's pretty tasty and perfect for summer BBQ's!

3 Cans Black beans, rinsed & drained
2 Cans Corn, drained
1 ¼ Cups cooked white Rice
3 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
½ Cup Red Onion, chopped
¼ Cup Green Onion, chopped
1 Cup Italian Dressing
1 Can chopped Green Chilies
1 Bunch Cilantro, chopped
1 tsp. Salt
1 TBL. Cumin
2 TBL. Lemon or Lime Juice
¼ Cup Red Wine Vinegar

Combine all ingredients and chill.

Red Lobster’s Garlic Cheese Biscuits

I found this recipe on Your Home Based Mom and make these ALL the time. They are so quick and easy to make.


Red Lobster’s Garlic Cheese Biscuits
copycat recipe
2 c. Bisquick
2/3 c. milk
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. butter
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. oregano/parsley -optional

Mix Bisquick and cheese; add milk. Spoon on an ungreased cookie sheet (makes about 12). Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Brush with melted butter, garlic powder and oregano.

Tomato Corn Chowder a'la Magelby's

By now you might have figured out I don't really cook, I just assemble.

I had a bowl Tomato Corn Chowder from Magelby's one day and was enchanted. I needed more. So, in desperation, I "assembled" this. It worked!

One can of Progresso Hearty Tomato Soup
One can creamed corn
A few shakes of Mongolian Fire Oil (look in the grocery stores asian section, it's pretty common)
Enough cream, half n half, or evaporated (canned) milk to make it nice and creamy. Usually 3/4-ish cup.

Heat. Eat.

This is a great food storage and camping dish because the ingredients have forever shelf lifes (if you use canned milk.) Add as much Fire Oil as you want. We put it on the table for people who like spice.

Cafe Rio Dressing

I've had a request for my lazy chef Cafe Rio Replica.

Start with a good Ranch Dressing. Hidden Valley in a bottle is NOT good ranch dressing. Hidden Valley you make from a packet is pretty good. Costco sells a big bottle of ranch back near the produce (refrigerated) that is very good.

Add Salsa Verde (the green stuff), Lime juice and cilantro to taste. I use a blender so the fresh cilantro gets chippity chopped.

And there you have it. Never had any complaints.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

People either love these or hate them. The dough is extremely soft. Work with it cold, Roll them quite thick, DO NOT over bake, and store airtight. They are my favorite.

1/4 c butter
1/4 c shortening
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c sour cream
2 2/3 c flour
1 tsp B Powder
1/2 tsp B soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg (the secret ingedient)

Sift together all dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix all other ingredients except sour cream. Alternate adding dry ingredients and sour cream until all is blended. Wrap in plastic and chill. Roll and shape. Bake at 425* for 8-10 minutes. They should not be brown, at all.

Soft and fluffy. We call them heroin cookies. ;-)

White Velvet Sugar Cookies

By Melanie

OK.. after my last post, I actually applied myself and found this sugar cookie recipe on my friend Melanie's recipe blog (which has a link on my sidebar now.. cuz I'm tellin' ya this girl's got it goin on)

Anyhoo... below is a link to her sugar cookie recipe that looks absolutely perfect, and I'm excited to try it! I hope she doesn't mind that I borrowed it :)

White Velvet Sugar Cookies by Melanie