Chicken in Achiote

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Chatty Kathy

We became fans of Pollo Pibil in the Yucutan, it s a regional dish, served in home kitchens as well as the best restaurants.. For the most part Yucatecan food is not spicy at all, it is the salsas and accompaniments that go with everything that add the fire.

Well, it’s been a hot minute since I posted anything. Every time I make this recipe, I think I have it on my blog, then I seem to spend ages searching for it before I realize I haven’t got it recorded. Here goes!

1 or 2 dried guajillo peppers (depending on whether you like it spicy)
1/2 cup water
2 ounces achiote paste
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
1 orange, sliced thickly
juice of 1 lime
1 medium size white onion, sliced thick
3 small to medium-sized garlic cloves, NOT peeled
approximately 3 pounds chicken – either whole or cut up

In a dry skillet toast the guajillo peppers until they have softened, remove the stems and seeds and place in small bowl, cover with hot water and allow to rest while you prep the onion and garlic.

In the same dry skillet, toast the onion and garlic, turning often until they soften and become charred in spots.

Remove the peppers from the soaking liquid. Place all ingredients (except the chicken!) in a blender and blend until a smooth paste is formed. If you need to thin it out, use some of the pepper liquid.

This recipe is so versatile, today i smothered a whole chicken with it, and nestled the bird in banana leaves to do a slow oven roast. You will get a more charred chicken skin effect if you marinate the chicken overnight, and then roast the chicken uncovered. For quick cooking, marinade the chicken pieces and grill.

Ready to be blended up into an amazing vibrant sauce – heads up – that achiote paste stains!

Ready for the oven – I love to nestle orange and onion slices in there before I wrap the chicken in banana leaves. Meghan and I took a home cooking class in Merida, and it was a fabulous experience – will never forget being in a home kitchen preparing these regional dishes.

Oh goodness, the aroma when you unwrap this chicken is amazing. The chicken is so tender and shreds for the perfect taco.

Somehow, everyone dove in and I never got the photo of a perfect filled tortilla.

Steak & Rice bowl, Mexican style

Posted on July 25, 2021 by Chatty Kathy

Sliced steak, grilled vegetables, Mexican seasoned rice and a refreshing tomato cilantro garnish – top it all off with this Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette and you’ve got a winning dinner.

We love a good dinner bowl that packs a lot of flavour. This dressing kicks everything up a notch with the combination of sweet, smoky and spicy. I use it on everything, and tonight it did triple duty as a dressing to brush on vegetables before grilling, a marinade for the steak and then a drizzle over the completed dish.

1/2 cup avocado oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender and simply whizz it up until smooth and creamy.

RICE

In the same blender you used for the dressing, whiz up 1 tomato, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chicken stock and some minced cilantro stems. Supplement that with water to give you enough for your usual ratio of water/rice.

VEGETABLES

Season the vegetables with the dressing above and grill until just cooked and still slightly crisp.

STEAK

Brush the steaks with a little of the dressing above and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour – Grill to desired temperature. We like ours medium rare.

GARNISH

Quarter mini tomatoes and mince up cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and give it all a squeeze of lime.

Pile it all on top of the rice and drizzle the dressing over – I guarantee you will be making this on repeat. Go ahead and buy the good steak – you don’t need much to complete your dinner.

I think this would work equally well with any protein you chose to make – and at this time of year when the vegetables are coming in strong locally it would make an amazing vegetarian meal if you just added more of a variety of vegetables. I missed grilling onions tonight and I think that would have added a great punch of flavour.

The vinaigrette came from Love and Lemons, a great website with so many amazing recipes.

Carne Asada

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Chatty Kathy

Missing Mexico right about now, so these Carne Asada tacos were just perfect!

Carne Asada is one of those quintessential Mexican dishes …. pretty simple really, meat and a tortilla shell. Make it exceptional by adding pickled onions and a fresh pico de gallo, and I promise – everything will look bright and cheerful!

Ingredients

2 limes juiced
4 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 jalapeno minced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 pounds flank or skirt steak

Instructions

In a large resealable bag, combine lime juice, crushed garlic, orange juice, cilantro, salt, pepper, vegetable oil, jalapeno, and vinegar. Squeeze it around to mix it up.
Put the entire flank steak into the resealable bag. Seal it up tight. Make sure all the meat is exposed to the marinade, squishing the bag around to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Heat an outdoor grill to high heat.
Remove the flank steak from the marinade, and discard excess marinade. Cook on the grill for 7 to 10 minutes per side.
Once done, remove from heat and let rest 10 minutes. Slice against the grain, and serve.

We love to serve this with fresh, homemade flour tortillas (my flour tortilla game is way stronger than my corn tortilla game ….. so far)

You won’t believe it, but the rib eye steak was on sale, not the flank …. so that is what I used. It was incredible. All the citrus shows up in the marinade, and you can still taste it in the grilled steak, but it doesn’t overpower the meat.

Grilled to perfection, moist and juicy inside – this steak is the best bite. Just hope some gets to the table for the tortillas.

Just look at how moist that steak looks. Yum.

Place it all out on the table, and let the family make their own plates. Smiles all around!

The “stay at home chef” adapted this recipe from one of my favourite chefs – Rick Bayless. This is so easy to do at home and gives you the flavour you might expect from sitting in a Mexican cantina ….. not only that, it is easy!

Tacos al Pastor

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Chatty Kathy

When in Mexico, one of our favorite street foods is Tacos al Pastor. We can’t equal the flavour at home without an upright spit to grill it, but this is a close second!

A plate of pork, seasoned with Tacos al Pastor flavours and just waiting for fresh corn tortillas!

1-4 lbs pork “butt” or blade roast (just make sure it is a cheaper cut, well marbled)
1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped
2 ancho chiles
2 guajillo chiles
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1 Tbsp adobo sauce
5 clove garlic, peeled
A few sprigs of oregano (or 1 tbsp dried oregano)
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1 large onion, sliced
Slices of pineapple
4 – 6 carrots, peeled and kept whole

1. Put the ancho and guajillo chiles in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow the chiles to steep until they are rehydrated, about 30 minutes. Discard the seeds and stems and toss the chiles in a food processor along with the remaining ingredients, except onion.

2. Slice the roast into 3/4inch thick slices, but not all the way through.

3. I usually put on plastic gloves for this part – the marinade REALLY stains …Slather the marinade between each layer until all the meat is covered. Stack the onion and pineapple slices in between the slices of meat. Tie the roast back together. Cover it and allow it to marinade for at least 3 hours or overnight.

4. Preheat oven to 245 °C (475 °F). Put the roast on a row of carrots in the bottom of a roasting pan and add water to the bottom of the pan (this is to keep the drippings from smoking). You can use a meat rack if you want, but those carrots will be incredibly delicious if you use them for a roasting rack! Roast for 30 minutes at this temperature then turn down the heat to 160 °C (300 °F). Roast until the meat is very tender (about 3 hours).

5. After removing the meat from the oven, cover it with foil and let it rest for at least 20 minutes.

6. Pull or shred meat apart

Out of the oven, and ready to rest for 30 minutes or so before shredding.

Serve with:

fresh corn tortillas
minced white onion
roughly chopped cilantro

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Tag Archives: Mexican cooking