My mexican fiesta!

So I'm pretty obsessed with Tomato rice.This place I love named "La Palapa" has the best red rice I've ever had and I never stop trying to find that recipe somewhere. Here's another attempt.

How Mine looks:

Tomato Rice:

INGREDIENTS – Serves 2
• 1 cup long grain rice, soaked in water for 10 minutes (I use Basmati Rice)
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Jalapeno chile (remove ribs and seeds if you can’t handle the heat)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced (or as per taste)
• 1 tbsp Tomato paste
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups vegetable stock (or water)
• salt to taste
• few sprigs of cilantro to serve
• juice of 1 small lime (optional)

Method

• Process the tomatoes and onion in a processor until pureed.
• It should give you about 1 cup worth of puree. Set aside.
• Meanwhile in a skillet, heat 1 tsp oil (you can use upto 1 tbsp). Add the drained rice to the oil and saute until rice is golden and translucent.
• Add garlic and jalapeno and cook for another 1 minute.
• Add the pureed tomatoes, 1 cup of vegetable stock along with tomato paste and salt. Depending on the rice quality you might need 1/2 or 1 cup more of water. I use totally 2 cups of 1 cup of Basmati rice to get that perfect cooked yet separate rice texture instead of mushy.
• Close with a tight fitting lid and cook for 10-15 minutes (stirring halfway), or until the rice is tender and cooked completely.
• Garnish with cilantro and squeeze lime juice (if using) You can otherwise serve lime wedges to be squeezed on individual plates as per taste.

Re-fried Pinto Beans:


Ingredients:

• 2 cups pinto beans
• 2/3 to 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 bulb of roasted garlic, approximately 6 or 7 cloves
• 2 - 3 tsp seasalt, depending on how much salt you like
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 finely chopped tomato, vine ripened or home grown
• 4 quart pot

Method:

• First pour your beans out on a table or cutting board. Sort through them and discard any rocks or shriveled beans. This shouldn't take but a couple of minutes to do.
• Put the beans in a colander and rinse them under cold water. Pour the beans into a pot.
• Add 8 cups of cold water and the bay leaf.
• Put the stove burner on high and cover partially with a lid. As soon as the beans start to boil, lower the heat a little but still continue to boil.
  
• Cook for 2 hours and keep adding water as it cooks away. Stir occasionally. Keep the water level at 2 inches above the beans.
• After two hours of cooking, the beans should be soft and darker brown in color. If not cook
  them another 20 to 30 minutes. Then add the oil, salt, tomato, and roasted garlic.
• You can slide the roasted garlic out of it's sleeve in the bulb, right into the beans.

• To get the best flavor, simmer your beans 1- 1 1/2 hour or as long as you can with all the spices and oil. The longer these pinto bean recipes simmer, the better they will taste.

• After 1 to 1 1/2 hours, it seems like all the beans want to do is stick to the pot. This is the point where you turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf, and mash them with a potato masher.

Ingredients

• 12 chicken thighs
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place flour in a shallow plate or bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Put the bread crumbs in another shallow plate or bowl and beat the eggs in another bowl.
3. Dredge the chicken piece by piece in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs, until all pieces are coated. Pour the oil into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add the chicken to the dish and sprinkle with paprika to taste. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then turn pieces over and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and drain on paper towels. Enjoy!