| Zuppa Toscana | Cafe Rio Pork | |
|
Prep time/ease of ingredients (15 pts) |
13
|
10
|
|
Likeliness of making it again (20 pts) |
0
|
18
|
|
Overall Flavor (50 pts) |
20
|
40
|
| Value $ (15 pts) |
13
|
13
|
Final Score:
Zuppa 46 Cafe Rio Pork 81
Rachel was at this game. Rachel, how did these two teams look tonight?
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| Zuppa Toscana |
This was a very surprising round to me! I thought these recipes would do much better.
Prep time – The Cafe Rio pork is a very easy “dump and go” recipe, which is great! The only ingredient problem we had was the El Pato Tomato Sauce. I remember seeing it at the store when we lived in Utah, but apparently it’s only available in the west. I went to 3 of our DC grocery stores searching for the sauce before I figured out the problem. We had to use a substitute because there was no time left to order a can from Amazon. The Zuppa Toscana requires some pre-cooking and chopping and only cooks for 4 hours so it’s not a “prepare before work” recipe, but not too strenuous.
Likeliness of making again – We would definitely make the pork again. While I don’t think it’s quite as good as Cafe Rio, it’s a good, tangy pulled pork recipe on its own. We will not make the Zuppa Toscana again.
Overall flavor – The Cafe Rio pork was sweet and moist with a subtle, spicy bite. I was pleased with how it turned out although I expected it to be a little sweeter to match Cafe Rio. The Zuppa Toscana was not very flavorful at all. The soup needed something more, maybe some vegetables to break up all the potatoes and sausage?
Value – The Cafe Rio pork recipe (3lbs of meat) cost $11 while the batch of Zuppa Toscana cost $13.50. However, the pork is not a stand alone meal so the true cost of the meal is a bit more than $11 once you factor everything in.
 |
| Cafe Rio Pork |
I’m sad to say this round was not a slam dunk, but we have had a lot of fun participating and I am happy to have added several new recipes to our “go-to dinner” file!
Sad that these two teams didn’t play their best! But one has to go on…so the pork moves on to the final 4.
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