Cafe Rio copycat recipe

 Meat:

2 pounds pork (I use pork tenderloin) 3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can diced green chilies
3/4 (10oz) can red enchilada sauce 1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.
Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.
In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.
Put shredded pork and sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!
NOTES:
*I prefer to cook my pork on low until it shreds easily 6-8 hours. Cooking the pork more slowly tends to work better for the tenderloin. In the original recipe the blogger says that she uses boneless pork rib meat, I use the other because I can usually get it on sale for a good price. If you use a tenderloin, it will become easy to shred, be patient. I have tried to rush it before and it was tough to shred, still cooked through and yummy, but didn't look as good as when I wait for it to start falling apart:)
 


SALADS
DRESSINGS
Mix all ingredients together in the blender. That's it!
cafe rio ranch
 


1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK) 1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (we like it SPICY so we kept the seeds in it, if you like it mild, just remove the seeds)