Yucatan Chicken Dinner Party with Mark and Mary

Being a single person, I admit that I like cooking for myself. I don’t have to worry about someone saying, “That’s too much of this!” or “Don’t put that in!”. I really enjoy the freedom of not hearing another voice. First, I have more voices in my head then Sybil and, second, I think if you think you can do much better, than I am really happy to relinquish the task. Instead I hear, “What are we going to do for dinner?” Yep, single….much better.

Although I do find, as a couple, you have a lot of dinner parties. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe because you get tired of looking at each other night after night over the same table. Who knows? Recently, I’ve found myself the happy recipient of being a guest at many delicious dinners as I have shared such as Shelley’s, David’s, Mark’s and Mary’s. Thus, in return, I decided to do the same for Mark and Mary making it a two-fer.

And…cough,cough… being the over-the-top control freak that I am (“Didn’t I say no wire hangers!” Oops, that was Joan Crawford.)…I love cooking food in themes. Hawaiian-themed with everything garnished with a pineapple. (Heh!) Southern themed. Italian-themed. For Mark, who did Moroccan, and Mary, who did barbeque, I opted for “Picnic Indoors”. It was a menu which consisted of Cucumber Slices with Garlic and Herb Goat Cheese Dip (see above), a simple but delicious Red Potato and Egg Salad sans the Hellman’s (mayo) (also above), BBQ Beans, and a lovely Roasted Yucatan Chicken (Roasted Achiote Chicken). Essentially, everything could be served at room temperature or cold. Making the temperature of the apartment come down by the time dinner came out. It was a very gay dinner. (Get it? Came out? Gay dinner?)

The Roasted Yucatan Chicken is one of my favorites on the roasted Chicken. Hailing from the Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, achiote paste is fairly easy to make or buy it at your local market. The paste made from the annatto seed is very hard so it’s best if you use a spice mill or grinder. (The seed is actually used often as a coloring agent from everything to cheese, to clothes so be careful how you handle it.) Once you coat your chicken in the paste, it will come out with a deep orange hue, something akin to a sunset. It gives the skin a deliciously mild heat and smokiness. You can use this on grilled fish and chicken or oven-steam in foil. Make a lot and you can freeze it for up to 3 months.

You Will Need:
1/4 cup annatto seeds. (Found in the ethnic section of your supermarket, somewhere by the soy sauce and jarred Gelfite fish)
1 teaspoon cumin or powder. (Make these easy on your self, the annatto seeds are tough enough.)
1 teaspoon oregano
1/ 4 tablespoon of allspice berries
Sea salt
4 garlic cloves, pressed
Juice of 3 limes

Let’s Make This Puppy:
Combine the annatto seeds, cumin seeds, oregano, allspice berries, and salt in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Grind to a powderlike consistency. In a small bowl, mix the powder with the garlic and lime juice. Store in an airtight container, in the refrigerator.

Use for Cochinita Pibil or any grilled seafood