Achiote Adobo Marinade Recipes

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.

MEXICAN ANNATTO/ACHIOTE PASTE, ADOBO MEXICANO DE ACHIOTE MOLIDO

Steps:

• 1. First lightly toast in a dry frying pan Annatto seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns,and cloves. Do not scorch just lightly heat to bring out the flavors. Pour into a spice mill or coffee grinder and pulverize.
• 2. Next add the sour orange juice or combination orange juice and lime juice and vinegar into a blender add the oregano, salt, garlic, and jalapeno or serano chiles and blend until all the garlic and peppers are liquified. Add the ground spices and blend again until all is smooth.
• 3. Rub this marinade onto chicken, pork, fish or beef. Put into a large plastic freezer bag and let marinade overnight. Next day grill or bake or cook as you like. You can add a little or a lot of heat by adding a one or more jalapenos, or serrano peppers to the mixture when blending. Just remember by taking the seeds out from the peppers you will get the flavor but not so much heat. If you leave the seeds in then you will get much more heat. You can also opt to use only one chile pepper if you do not desire a lot of heat. Enjoy
• 4. I will post an actual picture of annatto /achiote seeds tomorrow.

ACHIOTE MARINADE

Steps:

• Whisk lime juice, garlic, achiote, oregano, cumin, brown sugar, adobo sauce, wine vinegar and oil until well blended.
• Add marinade to a ziplock bag with chicken, pork or beef; seal bag and turn to coat. Marinade for at least 3 hours or overnight for more flavor.
• Season meat with salt and pepper before cooking.

ACHIOTE MARINADE (RECADO)

Steps:

• Crush the salt into the garlic using a mortar and pestle until a paste forms.
• Add the annatto seeds, cumin, oregano, and black pepper and mix well.
• Pour in the vinegar and orange juice and stir well.
• Allow the marinade to sit for 5 minutes before using. You will notice that the marinade will become thicker after it sits for a few minutes.
• If you are not going to use it right away, transfer the marinade to an airtight container and refrigerate.
• INGREDIENTS
• Annato Seed
• This seed, which is also called achiote, gives off a musky and earthy flavor. It comes from the annatto tree and is used for both its flavor and red coloring. It is fine to use annatto powder, but the ground seeds are a much better option. The seeds are rather hard to crush by hand. If you do not have a spice grinder, use your blender to create the powder.
• TECHNIQUES
• Making a Garlic Paste
• When you crush salt into a peeled garlic clove, the garlic will let go of its moisture and turn into a paste. This technique somehow magically mellows out the pungent flavor of raw garlic.
• While you can create the paste using a knife (continue chopping a peeled garlic clove over a small mound of salt until you achieve a paste), a mortar and pestle is the easiest and best way to make the paste.
• ADVANCE PREPARATION
• This marinade can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
• This marinade goes incredibly well with chicken, fish, and pork.