Achiote Citrus Marinated chicken with tomatillo salsa

ive been working on this marinade in some form for a few years and I think I finally have it. I start by making Achiote oil:

half cup good EVOO and a tablespoon of Achiote paste (ground Anatto seed- can be found in Mexican grocery stores or on line)

warm the the achiote paste in the oil over med-high until it starts to sizzle a little. You do not want to go too high on the heat or the Achiote will get bitter. I let it sit in there, adjusting heat down as needed,  a few minutes then move it off the heat to cool in the pan. Once cooled, pour through a strainer to get most of the solids out (It's actually fine to leave them in for this marinade but you wouldn't want it in there if you were using it for other things). You should have a beautiful orangey-red very aromatic oil when you are done. 

To make the marinade, I actually make a vinaigrette of sorts as the base. So take your half cup of Achiote oil and add 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar, 1/4 cup of soy sauce or liquid aminos. Then add 6oz of canned pineapple juice (fresh will over tenderize the meat), and the juice of 1/2 lime. Blend on high until an emulsion is formed. 

I I like to marinate overnight with this one and it really seems to add flavor and color to the meat when you give it more time. Once marinated, grill or pan sear, throw it in some tortillas or on top of a salad and add the tomatillo salsa. 

Tomatillo  Salsa: 

1lb tomatillos
1 oz dried red peppers
4 cloves garlic

stem the peppers and toast them in a dry pan over med high heat until blistery and very fragrant (turn your vent on- the fumes will light you up if you get them in your eyes or sinuses). Once toasted move to a bowl and cover with boiling or very hot water for 30 min.

As your peppers are steeping, husk and wash tomatillos, cut in half and place under a hot broiler skin side up. Throw the 4 garlic cloves (with paper skin still on) in there with them. Once they are very blistered up remove from broiler and make sure to reserve any juices in the pan you use. Remove paper from garlic (garlic should be very soft- if not,
let it go until it is)  and throw all the tomatillos (including all the juices from the pan), garlic, and your now softened peppers (not the water they are in, just the peppers) in to a blender and blend until smooth. This is a fiery, smoky, tangy salsa that is good on everything. I make it every week (just used the last bit I had on this cook). 

Hope you guys enjoy. The marinade if really good. Been a long time coming but once I figured the vinaigrette technique using Achiote infused oil it all came together. 

Now for the mismash of out-of-order photos:

after marinating overnight:



Fresh off the egg:





Tacos!



Here are the dried red peppers I use for the salsa. Available at almost any grocery. You can experiment with Ancho (the first pic of the larger dark pepper below) if you like it a little milder or chipotles (not pictured) if you want a smoky kick. As long as you are using 1 oz of dried peppers per 1lb of tomatillos, you can experiment with the peppers all you want



Soy sauce is good but I like liquid aminos these days. Really does not matter 



Enjoy!

Tex