Pollo en achiote - 124

Here is something totally different from all of the other meals we've been making for the past 5+ months... but first, a little history.

Years ago, a friend of mine by the name of María Alba, returned to Colorado from Mérida, Yucatán where she had been visiting her family. Among the little gifts she brought back from me were several cakes of achiote paste. I had no idea what to do with it, or what it was, and may have added a little to a sauce or a marinade. I really can't remember.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I visited the local Mexican market to look for some items we needed on our shelf. Once again I came across the achiote paste in a little red and yellow box, so decided to buy some and then find out later what to do with it. That was easy because there is a little recipe (and I mean little - we had to use a magnifying glass to read it) on the back of the little box.

Achiote is Spanish (coming into the Spanish language from the Aztecs' nahuatl ) for the annatto pigment coloring similar to a brick red that is derived from the seed of the plant. It is used in many foods as well as in paints and cosmetics such as lipstick. The paste is made of the ground seeds mixed with other seasonings, including garlic, and a small amount of oil as a binder. To make a sauce or marinade from the achiote paste, you rehydrate it by adding lemon juice, water and a bit of salt.

Once we made our marinade, we followed the recipe on the back of the box and added a cut-up fryer. We cubed some raw potatoes, peeled and cut up some carrots, and quartered a whole onion. After marinating the chicken for over an hour, all of this went into a foil pouch which we steamed for another hour on the stove top in the same steamer we use for making tamales. When the meal was done, we opened the foil pouch and found some juicy, fragrant pieces of red chicken with cooked potatoes, onions and carrots surrounding it.

Achiote is not spicy, so Javier said that he missed having a little "kick" in his meal. As I ate the chicken and a few of the vegetables, I recalled having had this dish many times before while living in Mexico and never realizing what I was eating. Looking back, I probably thought that I was eating chicken seasoned with paprika! It was really good tonight because the chicken was so moist. The next time I cook this dish, I will add some whole jalapeños to the foil pouch just for Javier!