Monday, May 4, 2009

Cookin' with Marsha

This is my cute Mom. Right now she looks a little different from this picture. We are celebrating because her hair is finally starting to grow back. She has about a 1/2 inch of hair all over her hear and she looks great!!!

Each year when we go to Hawaii, our favorite place to shop is on the Marine base because you can get AMAZING deals on great clothes. We always come away with some USMC (U.S. Marine Corps) t-shirt or sweat shirt or something. Well, my cute-short haired- Mom was walking around last week with her USMC sweat shirt on and was wig-less. :) Yea Mom! She looked the picture perfect Marine with her short hair and actually had people ask her in awe if she was in the Marines! I need to get a picture of her and post it. You'd be amazed how cute she looks!

Anyway, now to the reason for my post. This is my Mom ( did I already mention that she's cute??) in her kitchen. Her favorite place to be. She is the most amazing cook and loves every second of it. She had her own catering company for years. Unfortunately Julie and I didn't inherit her skill or passion for cooking. (We did inherit the desire to EAT all the yummy things Mom makes but spent most of our growing up years washing all the dishes she messed up!!) She once spent 3 days making a new recipe for dinner. No kidding!! So, Mom gets weekly phone calls from us when some part of our meal is failing or a recipe needs explaining. Usually she is in hysterics as she answers our lame questions. We love her for being our culinary encyclopedia. :) BUT, when we are able to wow her with one of our own recipes, it is a true feeling of euphoria.

Julie ( a.k.a. Wonder woman) wowed us all with an awesome meal. I'm sharing the recipe below. It is a definite keeper. Enjoy!!



Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

4 lbs pork roast
5 (8-oz) cans tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic
3 cups brown sugar
4 tsp. cumin
4 cups Dr. Pepper
4 TBSP molasses
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Cook in crock pot on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Shred meat an hour or two before finished and then let finish cooking in sauce. Use this meat in burritos, salads, sandwiches--- whatever!

We did pork salads. We got the flour tortillas at Costco that you cook yourself. Put cooked tortilla on a plate. Pile plenty of lettuce next, then the sweet pork, black beans, lime rice, shredded cheese, tomatoes and Cilantro-Ranch Salad Dressing. The recipe for the lime rice and the dressing is below:


Lime Rice

2 Tbsp. Butter
1 1/4 Cup uncooked rice
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
3/4 tsp salt
1 large lime
2 TBSP chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp cumin

In a skillet, melt butter with rice, add liquid and other ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes. (Or if you have a rice cooker, dump it all in the cooker and adjust the liquid according to your cooker's instructions),

Cilantro -Ranch Salad Dressing

1 1/3 cups sour cream
3/4 cups mayonnaise
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
4 TBSP Salsa Verde
2 cloves garlic
1/8 tsp Tabasco
1 lime, juiced

Mix together in food processor or blender


YUM!

6 comments:

Camille said...

Dr. Pepper in the pork? WOW! That sounds like a delicious meal! I just had Mexican food but would go for this asap.

I concur your Mom is cute! Especially in this picture. You and your Mom seem to have the best relationship. That's awesome. You are a fun, great Mom too!!

Nathaniel & Jenny said...

Yum!! Thanks for sharing with us. Any recipe that comes from that comes from you, your mom or Julie will be a winner. You girls are amazing! We love you!!

J+S said...

Jen, your mom is beautiful! I hope she is feeling better every day.

I'm excited to try this lime rice recipe. I tried one other one and it didn't quite turn out the same as Cafe Rio's yummy rice.

I've heard your mom is quite the gourmet cook, so if you have other recipes, I'd love 'em!

Salcido said...

Definitely all over the Cafe Rio recipe. LOVE IT! Thanks for sharing it.

Anonymous said...

hey what up jen

mccall

momo said...

You made me cry sweet Jen! I couldn't be prouder of you and Julie and the wonderful moms AND cooks you are!!!!!! All my love ALWAYS xo