June 20th, 2013 - Thursday - Achiote Paste

June 20th, 2013 - Thursday - Achiote Paste

While making Carnitas I found a recipe that included Achiote Paste. I looked on Amazon and found some, but didn't want to wait for it to get here.  So instead I went with my daughter to a few local Mexican Markets, and found some Achiote Seeds (Annatto Seeds) as well as a block of the paste.  When I got home I decided to make my own paste.  Here is the recipe, inspired by the Modernist Cuisine at Home book.

Achiote Paste
1/4 Cut of Annattoo Seeds
3 teaspoons of Ground Annatto (Achiote) Powder.
2 Dried New Mexico Peppers, stemmed and mostly seeded (I left a lot of seeds in)
1 Tablespoon of Black Peppercorns
1/2 Tablespoon of Cirander Seeds
1 Teaspoon of Cumin Seeds
1/2 Tablespoon of Dried Oregano
1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice
8 Whole Cloves
1/2 cup of orange juice
2/3 cup of white wine vinegar
1/4 cup of lemon juice

NOTE: The recipe I used also includes 3 tablespoons of chopped garlic and 1 teaspoon of tequila.  Both of which I didn't use this time.

Put all the dried stuff in a coffee grinder and grind to a powder.  Add to a blender, add the liquids, and blend.  There you go! Makes a lot more than you need in the Carnitas recipe, so save it in the fridge. I have no idea if it freezes.