Shrimp Diablo with Mexican Rice and Homemade Refried Beans

I am not in Florida anymore. I can't just drive down to El Jalesco #5 (I love saying the name) and order my favorite mexican meals for less than $15 and then proceed to to stuff myself on chips and salsa. You don't know what you're missing New Zealand! No, that stuff you get at Mexicali does not count. As a side note, the last time I went to Mexicali in Auckland for a quick bite, I counted 5 tortilla chips on my plate. Five. Cinco. Not cool, Mexicali. Not cool. So what do I do when I crave me a mexican fiesta? I cook some of course!

Shrimp Diablo roughly translates to 'happiness'. Ok fine, it translates to 'devil shrimp'. But it is pretty close to happiness. It is super spicy. The kind that makes you sweat. The kind that makes tears flow freely from the eyes of grown men. If you are not too hot on spicy food (see what I did there?), I'd suggest checking out other recipes on this blog.This one is not for you my friend. There is no shame in admitting it.

If you are still here, you will be richly rewarded. I cooked everything at home, including the refried beans so this post has three recipes. What a bonanza! You do have to multitask a bit so give yourself about an hour or maybe an hour and a half - you know...to avoid kitchen fires. 

Shrimp Diablo

Yield - Serves 4

Total Time - 30 Minutes

Ingredients

1 LB Shrimp
1 small Onion
6 cloves Garlic
3 Roasted Red Bell Peppers
2 Chipotle Chilies in Adobo Sauce
1 Tablespoon Cumin Powder
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
1 Tablespoon Cooking Oil
Cracked Pepper
Salt, to taste

Method

Rub some salt, pepper and half the cumin powder on to the shrimp and leave it aside.

Puree the roasted red bell peppers ( I always have a jar on hand) and mince the chipotle chili in adobo sauce.

Heat oil in a skillet and add the diced onion and minced garlic. 

Add the rest of the cumin, paprika, oregano and chili powder (optional). Stir it around for a minute

Add the shrimp and cook it for a couple of minutes.

Now add the chipotle chili in adobo sauce and pureed roasted bell peppers. Both of these give a lovely smokey flavor to the dish. Cook this till the shrimp turns pink. Shrimp cooks very quickly, just a few minutes.

Here's a quick tip - You can freeze the leftover chipotle chilies in a small zip lock snack bag. Unless you are seriously hardcore or have misplaced your pain receptors you will most likely not use it all up in one go. And it is very easy to mince this up once frozen - just give it a rough chop.

Oh would you look at that? Shrimp Diablo is done! 

Now on to the refried beans. You know we're multitasking here right? I wouldn't wait till the shrimp was done to start cooking the beans! 

Homemade Refried Beans

Yield - Serves 4
Total time - 45 Minutes + Overnight Soak

Ingredients

2 Cups Pinto Beans

5 Cups Water

1 Onion

5 cloves Garlic

1 Tablespoon Cumin Powder

1 Teaspoon dried Oregano

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Salt

Pepper

1 Tablespoon Cooking Oil

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Method

The night before, soak the pinto beans in plenty of water. Add half a teaspoon of baking soda.

When ready to cook, heat up oil in a pressure cooker. (You can do this in a pan if you don't have a pressure cooker but it will take longer to cook. Do yourself a favor and buy a pressure cooker.) Add the onions and garlic and cook till they are translucent.

Add the cumin powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook this for another couple of minutes.

Add the pinto beans and stir it together and cook for a minute or two. 

Add 5 cups of water.

Pressure cook for about 15 minutes. If not using a pressure cooker, cover and cook for about half an hour.

Once cooked, blitz this in a blender.

Bring it back to the pan/ cooker pot and add the olive oil. Adjust the seasoning. 

Refried beans done!

Now lastly, the Mexican rice.

Mexican Rice

Yield - Serves 4Time - 30 Minutes

Ingredients

2 Cups of Long Grain Rice

1 small Onion

4 cloves Garlic

1 whole peeled canned tomato with juice

1 Teaspoon Cumin

1/2 Teaspoon Oregano

1 Tablespoon Oil

Salt

Pepper

Method

Soak the rice in plenty of water for about 5 minutes and remove all the starch. Strain.

Heat oil in a pot. Add the onion and minced garlic.

Add the tomato along with the juice.

Add the salt, pepper, oregano and cumin powder and cook it for about 4-5 minutes.

Add the rice and stir it through.

Add 4 cups of water and bring it to a rapid boil.

Reduce the heat and cover and cook for another 15 minutes, or till the water is soaked up and rice is cooked.

Fluff the rice with a fork.

Assemble! Dish out the rice, refried beans and Shrimp Diablo in a bowl. Serve with lime wedges. (Don't skimp on the lime okay? It makes all the difference.) Garnish with cilantro. Scoop  a dollop of sour cream. Or a dollop of guacamole. Go crazy! Want a recipe for the best darned Guacamole recipe? Click here!

Enjoy your Mexican fiesta!

8 comments LABELS: Latin, Seafood