Kurt, King of Kurtopia's, Achiote Chicken [Pictures]

LTH,

Memorial Day is the official start of Barbecue Season and, in celebration, I offer one of my favorite marinades for chicken. Kurt, King of Kurtopia's, Achiote Chicken Marinade. Kurt is a BBQ man of some note and this recipe works, not only, well on the smoker but is quite delicious slowly grilled.

There is a bit of prep work with Kurt's Achiote Chicken marinade. First you toast 3-4 types of peppers, I typically use a mix of mix of ancho, chipotle, pasilla, and/or guajullo.

Pasilla



Then you grind.


Marinate refrigerated, at least, overnight.


Smoke or grill, I use a WSM in direct mode (no waterpan) with wood chunks.


A few sips of the beverage of your choice and, before you know it, chicken is starting to look almost edible.


Kurt, King of Kurtopia's Achiote Chicken in all it's delicious glory.


The perfect accompaniment to King's Achiote Chicken is Red Rice, which is the King's recipe as well.

Kurt, King of Kurtopia's, Red Rice


Charred bits on rice are pieces of jalapeno and onion that stuck to the grill.


Thanks again to Kurt, King of Kurtopia, for a truly delicious recipe.

Enjoy,
Gary

Note: Though I've made Kurt's recipe any number of times pictures happen to be from 03.

Kurt, King of Kurtopia's, Achiote Chicken Marinade
Posted with Kurt, King of Kurtopia's, permission

1 bunch green onions, sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
4 jalapeno peppers, de-seeded and sliced*
3 1/2 oz block of achiote paste
3 limes, juiced
3 lemons, juiced
2 oranges, juiced
1 grapefruit, juiced
4 cloves garlic, sliced*
1 can beer**
1/2 cup canola oil***
3 tablespoons cumin, ground
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons ancho or New Mexican chiles, ground (I used both kinds)

I think that's about it. Just mix it up well and marinade your chicken in it, whole, halved, quartered, or eight cut. Up to

48 hours is best, but shorter times work well too.

This recipe is very versatile, as long as you have the achiote paste and the citrus, I think anything goes.

Kurt Lucas
==

Gary's Note:

I have made Kurt, King of Kurtopia's recipe numerous times, never the same way twice.

* I typically double the amount of garlic and jalapeno
** I forgot the beer one time and thought the citrus flavor was a bit brighter, so I usually leave out the beer
*** I substitute olive oil
**** I toast and grind whole dried Mexican peppers, typically a mix of ancho, chipotle, pasilla, and/or guajullo.

Kurt, King of Kurtopia's, Red Rice
Posted with Kurt, King of Kurtopia's, permission

6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 onion, minced
3 jalapeno, minced
2-cups long grain rice
2-Tbl Mixed Mexican peppers, powder.*
Olive Oil

Saute garlic, onion and jalapeno until fragrant.
Add rice, mix to coat all grains with olive oil.
Salt and pepper to taste

Add ground Mexican pepper, stir to incorporate.
Add water, simmer covered for 15-minutes.
Let sit and additional 10-minutes.

Serve with a toping of cilantro and chopped green onion. (Scallion)

* I use ancho, pasilla and guajullo, pequin, and/or whatever I have on hand. I toast the whole peppers, in a dry pan, snip off the stems, deseed and then grind to powder in a coffee grinder.

Gary's Note:

- I occasionally add toasted ground cumin seed with the ground peppers.
- I occasionally add chopped scallion with the garlic, onion and jalapeno.
- I occasionally add chopped pimento olives.

Wow....does this make me famous? Thanks for posting the recipes Gary. I will admit, they are good!

Kurt
King of Kurtopia

This looks like a perfect recipe for an upcoming summer barbeque... my only question is, how much chicken does the recipe call for? Even just a ballpark figure would be very helpful...

Thanks

Looks great. I'll add achiote to my next order from Penzeys.

zgti1 wrote:Looks great. I'll add achiote to my next order from Penzeys.

No need to make a special purchase. It is available at Latino supermarkets and some mainstream ones as well.

El yucateco is a well-known brand.

I made this yesterday for the Fourth, and to also break in the new grill.

This dish ROCKED, and everyone raved.

Thanks for this, this is definitely going into the summer grilling repertoire!

Sometimes I really hate living in Madison.

I currently have all of the ingredients as required in my kitchen - minus the achiote paste. I spent several hours last night hunting for it with zero success. (Which is eerily similar to my hunt for Walkerswood jerk marinade earlier this week. Hrm...) I'm not sure the ingredients will all last until I'm able to obtain the paste via mail order.

I'm going to do some running around in the morning to a couple spots where some friends thought they might've seen a Mexican market. (You don't see many of them in Madison.)

If I still have zero success, should I bother attempting without the achiote?

As you're searching for achiote, note that it can sometimes be called annato, but it's the same thing (although they may be ground differently).

nr706 wrote:As you're searching for achiote, note that it can sometimes be called annato, but it's the same thing (although they may be ground differently).

Yes, annatto (annato) paste or achiote paste, may also be called recado rojo. Here is a link to MexGrocer for another view.

Most any Mexican grocery will carry the paste, though in a pinch here is an Annatto Paste Recipe from The Spice House from annatto seeds, which should be available in the spice aisle of any big box grocery.

If you can only find annatto seeds and are time pressed or lack ingredients for making annatto paste you can make annatto oil which will color and (slightly) flavor the chicken. Use 2-tablespoons annatto oil as substitute for annatto paste, though I highly recommend using annatto paste. I should also add if you can simply not find annatto paste or annatto seeds go ahead without, it will still be extraordinarily tasty chicken.

Good luck, Kurt, King of Kurtopia's, Achiote Chicken is a real treat.

Annatto Oil

1 cup vegetable or olive oil
1/2 cup annatto seeds

Simmer over med heat while stirring for 5 minutes, oil will turn a rich brick color.
Let cool, strain, discard seeds.

Store covered in refrigerator

Enjoy,
Gary

Woodman's might very well have it, if you don't find a Mexican market.

-Ed

Success!

Googling for "Mexican Market" in Madison using google maps yielded less than stellar results. But a simple google search with some boolean operators yielded a link to a the Isthmus's own blog, where I found a listing for a Mexican market that was posted in 2006. Tempting fate, I made the drive out - and the place had changed hands, but it was still open.

The guy behind the counter seemed to wonder why I needed 10 boxes of paste (it was only $1.25 per box!) but he didn't ask why.

In case anyone in Madison needs achiote paste, it can be found at El Regionale Market at 1417 Northport Drive. (Right where Northport crosses Troy - just past the Mallard's field.)

Now if only the next day would pass quickly....



PS - Ed, Woodman's was in fact the second place I checked. Sadly they didn't have the achiote paste.

Pete--anytime you need anything *really* hardcore Mexican, there's a market + carneceria + tacqueria in Fort that's simply out of hand. It's in an old Safeway or something like that, and has everything. Plus, the taquitos in the resto are just outrageously good.

Geo

Carnicerias Guanajuato‎ -
809 S Main St, Fort Atkinson, WI‎ -
(920) 568-1524

Awesome, thanks Geo. That might be worth hitting up for a day trip just on it's own merits.

Yeah, everytime I go back to Whitewater we make a pilgrimage up there. The carnitas taquitos are sublime. Plus, Mexican Coca-cola.

Geo

I prepared a humble grill situation in some "reclaimed" common space on my building's grounds.



I put the meat on and began hovering over it like a nervous mother. I don't usually grill on such a small grill, so I wasn't sure how things would happen.



There wasn't much to see during this part. I just tried to keep the chicken from charring too much and drying out.



It ended up looking like that. Forgive my messy countertop, I was hard at work at trashing my kitchen all weekend long.

Again, I didn't take any shots of the plated project. Whoops.

I served this chicken over red rice, as well.

You live in Madison, I live in Madison, why wasn't I invited over for chicken?

Your chicken, and GWiv's looks great.

El Regionale Market is the only place I have found in Madison where you can get skirt steak. I have purchased them there a few times and they are always good. The produce there is usually not great looking, I'm guessing they don't get deliveries that often. Although I have found good, cheap limes there a couple of times.

Carnicerias Guanajuato‎ is located where an old family grocery store called DeWitt's used to be. Ever since they closed up there has been some sort of mexican grocer in there. Some of them were not as nice as the current operation. Carnicerias Guanajuato‎ is a great mexican market.

Pete,

It is extremely hard to cook on such a small grill. It looks like you did a great job.

Louis

A friendly PM from Gwiv reminded me of something missing from my post - how'd it taste!?!?

In a word: incredible. I'd never made use of achiote paste before and I feel shortchanged for that. The combination of the citrus (which isn't as overpowering as I'd have expected - just an acidic bright note in the flavor really) with the various sliced and ground peppers and the paste is utterly fantastic. This is one of those recipes that I'll be making to bring to barbecues this summer just to wow my friends. It's that good.

The little Smokey Joe was a concession settled upon due to it being Father's Day and my usual "friends with the yard that host the barbecues" being tied up with their own families. It was better than cooking the chicken in the oven, but I can't wait to have my full-size Kettle back. I'm counting the days until my move, whereupon I'll have a proper yard for my full-size kettle and my WSM.

brandon_w - I could have used your advice on Friday night! Now, can you find me Walkerswood jerk marinade in town? Expect a PM before the next chicken bash.

Pete wrote:A friendly PM from Gwiv reminded me of something missing from my post - how'd it taste!?!?

Pete,

I wondered if leaving out how it tasted was a purposeful oversight and you did not like the way it tasted. Very happy to hear you liked the Achoite Chicken. I'd also agree with lougord99, it's difficult to cook on a small smokey jo and it appears you did a nice job.

Enjoy,
Gary

Pete wrote: I'm counting the days until my move, whereupon I'll have a proper yard for my full-size kettle and my WSM.

brandon_w - I could have used your advice on Friday night! Now, can you find me Walkerswood jerk marinade in town? Expect a PM before the next chicken bash.

Walkerswood doesn't ring a bell. Have you checked the "Little Jamaica" district on Willy Street? Not sure if they have any retail shops for Jamaican stuff, but you could also check the co-op when you are down there.

I also rent, but I do have a Chargrill that I am able to use. It "will work for food", haha, that's terrible.

Pete wrote:Sometimes I really hate living in Madison.

I currently have all of the ingredients as required in my kitchen - minus the achiote paste. I spent several hours last night hunting for it with zero success. (Which is eerily similar to my hunt for Walkerswood jerk marinade earlier this week. Hrm...) I'm not sure the ingredients will all last until I'm able to obtain the paste via mail order.

I'm going to do some running around in the morning to a couple spots where some friends thought they might've seen a Mexican market. (You don't see many of them in Madison.)

If I still have zero success, should I bother attempting without the achiote?

Willy St. co-op, Whole foods and most of the grocery stores in the hippie district should have Walkerswood paste, smoked jerked pork was something I made on the regular while living in Madison and I always used Walkerswood so I know its around somewhere.

Also there was a Mexican market on Washington ave. (I think) that was also in my regular rotation for skirt steak. Before I had found it, I would have to drive to Sauk City, WI (nice scenic drive and home of the original Culver's, which is torn down) for my skirt steak. The name escapes me, but it is on the main strip with the rest of the shops and bars. Theres a bar there called "the press-box" and from the outside there is a large diorama of a press box, you'll know your close when you see that.

Da Beef wrote:Willy St. co-op, Whole foods and most of the grocery stores in the hippie district should have Walkerswood paste, smoked jerked pork was something I made on the regular while living in Madison and I always used Walkerswood so I know its around somewhere.

The Co-Op, Woodman's, Whole Foods, and two Copp's locations didn't as of last Tuesday, Jamerica was out of stock. Apparently the weird little Jamaican Arts and Crafts store on Atwood sells it but the hours of operation appear to be somewhat random. I've never seen the place open.

There is another Mexican grocery store in Monona:

Super Tienda Latina
6005 Monona Dr.
Monona
608-221-2203

You *might* try Yue-Wah on Park for the jerk paste. They have some non-Asian hot stuff there, look in the room with the cooler, off to the right when you enter.

Geo

Pete wrote:

Da Beef wrote:Willy St. co-op, Whole foods and most of the grocery stores in the hippie district should have Walkerswood paste, smoked jerked pork was something I made on the regular while living in Madison and I always used Walkerswood so I know its around somewhere.

The Co-Op, Woodman's, Whole Foods, and two Copp's locations didn't as of last Tuesday, Jamerica was out of stock. Apparently the weird little Jamaican Arts and Crafts store on Atwood sells it but the hours of operation appear to be somewhat random. I've never seen the place open.

I messed up. Its been a minute since I was out there for college so I confused two places. The best place to shop in my opinion in Madison was always the Jennifer street market right next to the ice cream factory there (what I was confusing for Willy St co-op). Thats where I got the paste and all my meats/deli meats and alot of already cooked meals for dinner from the meat dept. Be sure to check out their amazing beer selection as well. Really a great spot and better than the rest. Def. worth checking out, I loved this place when I was there.

2038 Jennifer St.
Madison, Wisconsin, 53704
United States
phone: (608) 244-6646

Da Beef wrote:I messed up. Its been a minute since I was out there for college so I confused two places. The best place to shop in my opinion in Madison was always the Jennifer street market right next to the ice cream factory there (what I was confusing for Willy St co-op). Thats where I got the paste and all my meats/deli meats and alot of already cooked meals for dinner from the meat dept. Be sure to check out their amazing beer selection as well. Really a great spot and better than the rest. Def. worth checking out, I loved this place when I was there.

2038 Jennifer St.
Madison, Wisconsin, 53704
United States
phone: (608) 244-6646

Oh, I'm somewhat within walking distance of the Jenifer St. Market. I've got a bit of a love/hate relationship with the place though. I'm frustrated by any retailer who refuses to accept debit cards at this point in time - instead opting to make me use an ATM and then giving me a $1 discount to offset their own fee, but doing nothing for my bank's fee. As a result I don't go there unless I happen to have cash (withdrawn from my own bank, fee-free) on me.

I'll probably break down and try them too. I'm almost starting to wonder if there's a shortage of Walkerswood products. Their webpage mentions that they've closed their own online store until the end of June. Could their possibly just be a shortage of the product everywhere?

I made this dish tonight and it was absolutely outstanding. 1 question. I had annato seeds which I ground to a powder in the spice grinder. My understanding is that annato and achiote are essentially interchangable terms for the same thing. However, I do not understand the term paste here. Is achiote paste different ( with additional ingredients ? ) than annato powder.

lougord99 wrote:I made this dish tonight and it was absolutely outstanding. 1 question. I had annato seeds which I ground to a powder in the spice grinder. My understanding is that annato and achiote are essentially interchangable terms for the same thing. However, I do not understand the term paste here. Is achiote paste different ( with additional ingredients ? ) than annato powder.

One of Gary's posts earlier in the thread contains a link to a recipe for "annato paste" from The Spice House. According to their recipe the paste contains annato seeds, veggie/olive oil, lime juice, oregano, garlic, salt and cumin. (Click the link for the actual measurements/directions.)

Just from working with the packed achiote paste that I managed to purchase, this stuff smells like it's packing a truckload of flavor. I haven't had the occasion to work with raw annato, though.

I spent this weekend out at my parent's house where my WSM is currently residing. (They offer free storage in exchange for me cooking with it when I visit.)

I used the opportunity to give the Kurtopia Chicken a proper two-day soak in the marinade and then a direct cook over hickory on the WSM.



The end result was chicken with a flavor that was even better than the amazing results of last time. The slight char, the mild smoke bouquet and the wondrous taste of the marinade served to combine into a whole that was significantly greater than the sum of it's parts.

Here's the finished product. (The light was better over the sink in my parent's kitchen. Note the beagle who was hoping to snag anything that might fall - her hopes ended in disappointment.)



Kurtopia Chicken is rapidly becoming something of a reliable constant at my barbecues. It's just that good. It's slightly labor intensive but the end result is very much worth the effort.

I picked up some achiote paste last week when I got some skirt steaks. I might have to try this out this weekend.