Cafe Rio-ish Recipes

If someone were to write a book about Utah’s culinary history, I’m guessing there would be a whole chapter devoted to Café Rio. I can’t think of another restaurant that caused quite as big of a stir in the Salt Lake valley as this Southwestern eatery. And, judging from the array of knock-off recipes for Rio’s famous creamy tomatillo dressing or shredded chicken filling the pages of recipe blogs and local cookbooks, imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery.

Below is my take on homemade Cafe Rio. This meal is perfect for serving at a large gathering or party because everything is simple to make and can be prepared in advance, plus you lay out the components and let guests assemble everything themselves so that you don’t have to deal with catering to the needs of picky eaters and the like.

I serve the following recipes with these accompaniments:

Tortillas (preferably the cook-and-serve kind)
Salsa or pico de gallo
Shredded romaine lettuce
Grated cheddar cheese
Sliced avocado or fresh guacamole
Black beans
Sour cream

Café Rio-style Pork

This pork doesn’t have the syrupy texture of Café Rio’s, but the flavor is really similar. I’ve had other recipes made with soda and all kinds of random ingredients, but I still like this simple one the best.

2 pound pork roast (I use tenderloin)
1 cup pace picante sauce or similar salsa (something runny, tomato based, and relatively free of chunks)
1 cup brown sugar

1) Mix brown sugar and salsa together and pour over roast.
2) Cook meat in a well-greased crockpot on low for ~5 hours, or until pork shreds easily*
3) Shred meat with two forks and mix with the rest of the sauce.

*The original recipe I was given says to cover the roast and bake at 350 degrees for 3 hours, but I’ve never tried this method so I can’t vouch for it.

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

My approach to this recipe is pretty loose. Sometimes I use a whole bunch of cilantro, sometimes 3 tomatillos, etc. I just taste as I go and adjust to my liking- I suggest you do the same.

1 pkg Hidden Valley buttermilk ranch dressing mix*
1 cup Buttermilk
~3/4 cilantro bunch, chopped (I use the leaves only)
½-1 small jalapeno, seeds removed
1 cup mayonnaise (I use this homemade version)
1 tsp. lime juice
2 tomatillos
¼ tsp. minced garlic**

1) Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor
2) Refrigerate for at least one hour

*This stuff is expensive and contains MSG and other nasty chemicals, so I’ve been meaning to replace it with the dried herbs from this homemade ranch (minus the dill). If you try it, let me know how it goes.
** Most of these imitation dressings go way too heavy on the garlic. I’ve had a few where all I could taste was the garlic flavor and not the tomatillos. The original recipe I had called for one whole clove, and it was absolutely disgusting the first time I made it. So if I have one word of advice it’s this: go easy on the garlic! You can always add some more later if you feel it needs it, but remember that garlic gets more pungent as it sits so give the dressing some time in the fridge before you add more.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

If you want to make this closer to Cafe Rio's, try adding a small can of diced green chiles.

4 T butter
2 ½ cups white rice
4 ½ cups chicken broth (I sometimes use half broth, half water)
1 ½ tsp. salt
4 T lime juice
4 T chopped cilantro (I usually add more- I heart cilantro)
½ tsp. cumin

Combine all ingredients in a rice cooker and cook on normal setting OR
Combine all ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, then cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer until rice is done.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

The old adage “the whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead” might be a bit extreme, but we all know that whole grains are better for us than the processed white stuff. I actually prefer wheat or multigrain bread to white in most cases (can’t say I’m too crazy about whole wheat pizza crust or whole wheat English muffins, though), and I am absolutely over the moon for whole wheat pancakes. To me they seem to have so much more flavor and depth than their plain white counterparts. And there is something about cooking them that makes me feel like I’m on Little House on the Prairie. I’m weird, I know.

I made these for dinner last night and my white bread junkie of a husband actually liked them. We ate ours with some pure maple syrup (in my case) or strawberry jam (Mike’s preference). I’m sure they would be delicious topped with some fresh fruit or a chunky fruit syrup as well. I think I’m going to try adding some blueberries to the batter as soon as they are in season again.

I found this recipe in my beloved Ivory Favorites cookbook. If you don’t have one, get your hiney down to Make-A-Wish foundation and buy one. I have yet to cook something out of this book that I didn’t completely love, and that’s no exaggeration.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
½ tsp. salt

1) Combine all ingredients and beat with a wisk until combined (careful not to overmix, though. A few lumps are okay).
2) Heat a nonstick griddle or pan on medium heat (350-375 degrees on an electric griddle).
3) When the pan is hot, drop the desired amount of batter onto it and cook until edges look done and the middle is no longer bubbling (about a minute for a ¼ cup of batter).
4) Flip the pancake and cook for a minute or two longer, or until the pancake is no longer doughy in the middle.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I’ve found mushrooms to be a polarizing food. People either love them or hate them enough to insist on calling them a fungus every chance they get (hi, husband!). I bet you can guess which camp I fall into. If not, let me just tell you that I drooled all over my keyboard when I found this recipe.

Some folks prefer their mushroom caps stuffed with fancy ingredients like crab or sausage, but I have found that I like them best when they are filled with, well, more mushrooms. The recipe listed below is a very basic filling of chopped mushrooms bound together with a savory cheese mixture. Simple, festive, and delicious. Make them for your next fancy dinner (just make sure you’re not entertaining mushroom haters).

Stuffed Mushrooms

16 oz. whole white button mushrooms
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ teaspoon oregano powder
½ clove garlic, finely minced
¼ cup grated parmesan (the stuff in the green can)
2 ½ tablespoons milk

1) Wipe any visible dirt from mushrooms with a towel (or if you are a clean freak you can rinse them with cold water- just be sure to dry them afterwards).
2) Separate stems from mushroom caps
3) Chop stems into small pieces
4) Combine cream cheese, oregano powder, garlic, parmesan, and milk until you have a smooth, homogenous mixture.
5) Stir in mushroom stem pieces
6) Using a teaspoon, spoon filling into each mushroom cap.
7) Sprinkle with a little more parmesan, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. These suckers need to be eaten while they are still warm, so either serve them straight out of the oven or keep in a heated dish.

Pecan-Topped Yams

Of all the foods that regularly show up on the Thanksgiving table, yams are probably the least likely to make an appearance on any other day of the year. The turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. usually come around again at Christmastime or on an equally special occasion, but yams? They seem to be reserved exclusively for the end-of-autumn feast.

So if these orange beauties are showing up on your Thanksgiving menu this year, it’s best to make them memorable. If you usually serve yams topped with marshmallows or candied in syrup, I beg you to give this method a try instead. The end result is still sweet, but with a greater complexity of flavor and a bit of earthiness to it.

This recipe comes from the Ivory Favorites cookbook, and has been served at my family’s Thanksgiving dinner for years. This dish is ideal for Thanksgiving because it can be assembled a day ahead, then popped into the oven an hour or so before dinner (these need to be served warm, but not piping hot). These yams are very rich, and, in my experience, the amount listed below will easily feed up to 12 people.

Pecan-Topped Yams

4 cups cooked and mashed yams*
½ cup melted butter
¼ cup-1 cup sugar**
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pecan topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans

1) Combine yams with melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
2) Mix well, then pour into a greased 9”x 13” glass dish.
3) Combine brown sugar and flour; mix well.
4) Stir in melted butter and nuts
5) Crumble nut mixture over the top of the yams
6) Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, or until set.

*I cook the yams by cutting them into thirds and steaming them in a pot of hot water with a steamer basket until they are fork tender (usually takes about an hour).
** I know this is a wide range, but the amount of sugar you use depends on how sweet your yams are and how tooth-aching you want the finished product to be. I always add the other ingredients first, then taste and see how much sugar to add. I usually never use more than a half cup even though the recipe calls for a full one.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Next week is Thanksgiving, which means that autumn is officially drawing to a close. What better way to see it out than by baking some aromatic pumpkin bread? I guess you really could make pumpkin bread at any time of year, but to me it's very much a "fall" thing.

I don't like my pumpkin bread particularly spicy, so I cut down on the original quantities of nutmeg and cinnamon called for in this recipe. If you like yours to have more spice to it up the quantities a little, and maybe even get crazy and add some allspice or ground cloves.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

2 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
16 oz. cooked or canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 c. oil
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2/3 c. water
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I usually use more- just add to your liking)

1) Mix dry ingredients together (first 7 ingredients on the list)
2) Mix wet ingredients (pumpkin, water, oil, eggs) separately then stir into the dry ingredients.
3) Stir in chocolate chips
4) Pour batter into two greased 9x5 loaf pans (I used one 8x4 pan and about 5 mini loaf pans- not sure of their exact dimensions)
5) Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes (less time if you're using smaller pans- my mini ones took about a half hour), or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

You know how some things are just not worth the trouble of making from scratch because the store-bought variety is both better and cheaper? I am here to tell you that Ranch dressing is one thing that most definitely does not fall into this category. The homemade version blows Hidden Valley out of the water, plus it is a cinch to make.

I have to credit my older sister for finding this recipe, which can be found in its entirety here, but since I'm nice I will type it out for you all neat and simple like.

In the summer I might try making this with fresh herbs, but it's absolutely delicious with the dried stuff, most of which is probably located on that spice rack you got as a wedding gift.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

1 cup mayo
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. of each of the following:
onion salt
garlic salt (or fresh minced garlic)
parsley, fresh or dried
chopped chives, fresh or dried
dill, fresh or dried
pepper

1) Mix mayo and buttermilk in a bowl
2) Stir in remaining ingredients
3) Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Potato Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce

I can’t remember the first time I tried gnocchi. I only know that for years now these little potato dumplings are what I order whenever I go to an Italian restaurant. For the record, I still think the ones at Confetti’s are the best I’ve had in Salt Lake.

Like souffles or puff pastry, gnocchi tend to have a certain scare factor associated with cooking them at home. Every cookbook in the world will warn you of the extensive time involved, as well as the potential risks: put in too much flour and the gnocchi are heavy, don’t add enough and they disintegrate, handle the dough too much and you’re also in trouble. While these statements are not unfounded, it’s not like the process is rocket science. Here’s what I have found to be true in my limited gnocchi-making experience:

The Bad News:
-You’ll need to buy a potato ricer to make these suckers. A lot of recipes will simply call for mashed potato, but to get gnocchi that are light and fluffy you’ll want to use a potato ricer.
-Gnocchi are not a quick meal. I once decided to make them on a Monday night after work and nearly ended up in tears.
-Making the dough is not an exact science, and depends a lot on feel, trial and error, etc. If you’re uncomfortable cooking without precise measurements, this might be a little stressful for you.
-Don’t plan on serving gnocchi to a crowd. You have to cook them in small batches, so they aren’t ideal for parties larger than 6 people.

The Good News:
-Unless you want to employ your potato ricer for other meals, you can buy a crappy 5 dollar model like the one I have. It ain’t the greatest, but it gets the job done.
-Although these sound all fancy and foreign, the ingredients needed to make gnocchi are dirt cheap and you probably have them on hand.
-Like other pasta, gnocchi are versatile. You can serve them simply with sauce, use them in soup, saute with some vegetables, etc.
-Gnocchi can be kept frozen for up to a month. So although it takes a couple of hours to make the original product, you can freeze them and have a quick dinner later on.

Now that you have the rundown, here is a very basic gnocchi recipe. I made these on Sunday and committed the cardinal sin of adding too much flour so my gnocchi were a bit heavy, but I have adjusted the recipe so you (hopefully) don’t make the same mistake.

(image courtesy of city-data.com)

Gnocchi

2 pounds russet potatoes
1 ½- 2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch nutmeg
1 egg, beaten

1) Bake the potatoes at 400 degrees for about one hour, or until fork tender.
2) Let the potatoes cool for a few minutes, then peel the potatoes and pass through a potato ricer or food mill (you want the potatoes to be cool enough to handle, but still hot).
3) While the potatoes are still warm, add the beaten egg, salt, and nutmeg.
4) Add the flour, starting with one cup, and lightly knead the dough with your fingertips.
5) Keep adding flour until the dough isn’t sticking to your hands, but still has a bit of sticky softness to it. Knead lightly until you have a homogenous dough, then separate it into 6 pieces.
6) On a lightly floured surface, gently roll each piece into a ¾ inch thick rope.
7) Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces.
8) Roll each piece over the tines of a fork to get that classic ridged gnocchi shape (this takes some practice. If you don’t want to deal with it you can just poke a hole in them with the tip of your finger- the idea is to make the gnocchi a little rough so that sauce will adhere to them).
9) Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil.
10) Drop gnocchi in about ten or so at a time, depending on the size of your pot (you don’t want them on top of each other)
11) When gnocchi float to the top of the water (this will take about 3 or 4 minutes), wait another 30 seconds or so and remove them with a slotted spoon.
12) Serve immediately or keep in a heated serving bowl.

Serve with your favorite pasta sauce and grated parmesan cheese. (Recipe for one of my favorite sauces below).

To freeze: place gnocchi on a parchment-lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer until they are firm (about an hour or so), then place in a ziploc bag.

Tomato Cream Sauce
I made this sauce to go with the gnocchi I served on Sunday, and man alive was it good. This is a fairly chunky tomato sauce, but if you like yours smooth then just puree the tomatoes or use all tomato sauce instead of canned tomatoes. I kinda just threw it together with the stuff I had on hand but I’ve tried to backtrack and come up with some exact measurements, instructions, etc. Here goes:

42 oz. canned diced tomatoes, drained.
14 oz. tomato sauce
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp. salt*
1 tsp. dried basil*
~8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 cup cream

1) Heat olive oil in a deep skillet or saucepan over medium heat.
2) Add garlic and saute for a minute or so
3) Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, and salt (at this point I broke up the tomato chunks a little with the tip of my spatula so they weren’t quite so big).
4) Simmer uncovered on low heat for about an hour, or until the mixture is reduced to your liking
5) Add fresh basil and simmer 5 more minutes
6) Add cream and simmer for ten minutes more.

*These are the measurements I’m most unsure of. I always just sprinkle in seasonings and taste the sauce throughout the cooking progress to see if the amounts need adjusting. I suggest you do the same.