Crawfish Empanadas and Spanish Rice

Yesterday, I started craving crawfish really badly.  Then, I leafed through the paper and saw a recipe from a local restaurant for crawfish enchiladas.   Since I needed to go to the store anyway, I decided I'd make them tonight.. Unfortunately, after returning from the store, I discovered a second column of ingredients that I had not noticed in the article.  While musing over what to do with the crawfish, I had this flash of inspiration; crawfish empanadas!  I've wanted  to make empanadas for a while now and I knew I had a recipe for dough bookmarked.  I decided I'd try my hand at "spanish rice" while I was at it.  

The empanadas were a bit disappointing, way too dry.  They would be better with a sauce, since I couldn't make the crawfish mixture too saucey for fear of the dough getting soggy and exploding.  Next time I'll create some sort of sauce, but I'll probably use a different dough as well.  

The rice on the other hand was FANTASTIC!  It was exactly how I like it.  Hubby even agreed that it was better than anything at a restaurant.  I found a recipe online and somewhat followed it.  


Spanish Rice

• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 2 cups long grain white rice
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies, mostly drained
• 3 oz tomato paste
• 1 tbsp cumin
• salt and red pepper to taste
• a dash of seasoned salt or chacheres

In a medium sized pot, heat olive oil.  Stir in rice and cook for a few minutes, until the rice begins to look translucent and smell nutty. 

Stir in broth and water, then add the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until rice is tender, stirring occasionally.  

Remove from heat, cover, and let sit a few minutes before serving.