Achiote Paste Food

ACHIOTE PASTE

Steps:

• With a spice grinder, grind the annatto seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, allspice berries, and cloves to a fine powder.
• In a blender or food processor, mix the ground spices, habanero peppers, orange juice, vinegar, garlic, and salt. Blend until smooth. Mix in the lemon juice and tequila.

COCHINITA PIBIL

Steps:

• If you are making your own recado rojo, the achiote paste, grind the annatto seeds in a spice grinder. The seed are hard, to you will need to grind, sift into a bowl, then grind some more. When the seeds are ground into a powder, mix them with the vinegar and set aside. Incidentally, you can get powdered annatto, but unless it's bright red, don't buy it -- the flavor gets old and stale fast. Put the oregano, cumin seeds, peppercorns and allspice into the grinder and grind that into a powder. Add it to the bowl with the achiote. Move the spice mixture, the garlic and orange juice to a food processor or blender and process until you get a thick paste. This will keep in the fridge for months.
• Get a heavy, lidded pot that will hold the meat snugly. You can either keep the meat on the bone if it will fit into the pot (javelina shoulders do), or cut it into pieces that will fit. If for some reason you are using hind legs, you will want to cut the meat across the grain into hunks about 2 to 3 inches across. If you don't do this, you will have very long strands of meat when you are ready to eat it, which isn't so nice. Mix the achiote paste with the lard, salt and enough bitter orange juice to make a sauce like a very thick BBQ sauce. Put the meat into the pot and pour the sauce over it. Massage the sauce into the meat as best you can (maybe wear gloves, as the annatto stains unless you wash your hands the second you're done), and, if you have time, Set everything into the fridge for up to a day. You don't have to do this, but a long marinade is traditional, and helpful if you cook at high-ish temperatures.
• When you are ready to cook, take the meat out of the fridge and sprinkle the epazote and avocado leaves over it. Cover the pot and put it into a 250°F oven. If you do this, the meat will take between 6 and 8 hours to cook, but will be of better texture. If you are in a bit more of a hurry, set the oven to 300°F and the meat should be ready in 3 to 4 hours.
• When the meat is ready to fall off the bone, shred it with two forks. With wild pigs or javelina, I like to add anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of lard to the mixture, to keep it from getting dry.
• Serve on tortillas with pickled red onions and some minced habaneros. Drizzle a little extra lime or bitter orange juice on it when you serve your tortillas.

MARINATED ACHIOTE CHICKEN RECIPE

Steps:

• Add the Guajillo peppers and water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer for five minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let it stand for 20 minutes.
• Remove the stems and seeds from the hydrated peppers. (Leave some seeds is you prefer more heat.) Add both the peppers and water they hydrated in, to a blender.
• Add the achiote paste, orange juice and garlic to the blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
• Add the skinless, bone-in chicken pieces to a large zip-lock bag and pour in the achiote marinade, which shouldn't be hot because of the addition of the orange juice. Move the chicken pieces around to be sure they're all well coated, remove the air from the bag and seal it. Then put this in another large zip-lock bag to ensure it doesn't leak. Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and ideally overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F and once the chicken is done marinating, add it, and all of the marinade to a large enough baking dish to hold the everything snugly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Bake in the preheated 375°F oven just until it's cooked through, about 45 minutes. Flip the pieces over about halfway through the cooking time and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once it's cooked through, flip the chicken over once more, sprinkle sightly with a bit more salt, and serve.

ACHIOTE PASTE

Steps:

• Put all ingredients into a spice grinder, and grind until you have a fine powder.
• Take the powder and put it into a bowl and add teaspoons of water at a time until you get a thick paste which binds together, in a putty like consistency.
• Separate into Tablespoon size portions and freeze individually.
• When you want to use it, mix the TB size portion with 10 cloves of garlic crushed, and 4 TB Seville orange juice and marinade pork or chicken overnight.
• Some might say to add tequila, but that is an Americanization of this Yucatecan specialty.
• *NOTE* You can find them at most Mexican grocers, and maybe even at your Lucky's or Safeway.
• Annato seeds are very, very hard, and are difficult to grind with a mortar and pestle, use the grinder or it won't make a paste.
• They DO, and WILL stain your grinder, and anything you happen to spill it on, be careful.
• You can double, or multiply this recipe as you wish, and I usually make enough for a year's worth.
• About 4x this recipe.
• It freezes very well, and will last the year in the freezer no problem.

YUCATáN CHICKEN WITH ACHIOTE

Steps:

• Cut the chicken into 1/2-inch-wide strips. In a large bowl, mix together the orange juice, oregano, garlic, chile, achiote paste, salt, pepper, allspice, and olive oil to make the marinade. Add the chicken strips to the mixture and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• To cook the chicken, remove the strips from the marinade and drain off any excess liquid. In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the chicken strips, turning once or twice, until thoroughly cooked (cut one to test), about 9 minutes total.
• Remove from the heat, squeeze fresh lime juice over the strips, and serve immediately or keep warm in the pan until ready to serve.
• To serve, lay the tortillas side by side, open face and overlapping on a platter. Divide the filling equally between the tortillas and top with salsa and pickled onions. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco: lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some filling, top with salsa and pickled onions, fold, and eat right away.

ACHIOTE (ANNATTO) PASTE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Grind the annatto, coriander seeds, oregano, cumin seeds, peppercorns, and cloves in a spice mill or with a mortar and pestle.
• Place the ground spices with the salt, garlic, and bitter orange juice in a blender and process until it is smooth.
• Store your achiote paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Use as instructed in your recipe.

ACHIOTE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, over medium-low heat melt the butter. Cook the onions until soft and translucent, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in the garlic and tomato and Achiote paste and cook an additional 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chicken stock, salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring and skimming frequently, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vinegar and cook at end for 2 to 3 minutes. Puree in a blender or food processor. Store in refrigerator 2 to 3 days.

ACHIOTE PASTE

Steps:

• Combine the annatto seeds, cumin seeds, oregano, allspice berries, and salt in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Grind to a powder-like consistency. In a small bowl, mix the powder with the garlic and lime juice. Store in an airtight container, in the refrigerator.
• Use for Cochinita Pibil or any grilled seafood.

ACHIOTE PASTE SUBSTITUTE

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together until smooth.