Cooking Cheap

From “A Cook’s Tour Of Mexico”, Nancy Zaslavsky. My notes after the base recipe. Obviously the amounts might need to change.

Serves 8 (or more)

2 Chickens, 2.5 to 4 pounds each, quartered and skin removed if desired
6 Heaping tablespoons “Recado Rojo” or achiote paste.
2 tsp salt
1/2 Cup Seville orange juice or mixed lime and orange juice
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 large or 3 Small banana leaves with ribs removed
2 white onions, sliced
3 tomatoes, sliced
3 large epazote sprigs
1 habenero chile or 6 serrano chiles.

1. Put the chicken in a large bowl. Combine the recado (actiote) , salt, juice and oil and spread the mixture over the entire chicken

2. Line a large baking pan (with a lid) or dutch oven with banana leaves. Place the chicken pieces over banana leaves, in one layer. If your pot is not big enough, use two layers and separate the layers with additional banana leaves.

3 Spread the onions and tomatoes over the chicken. Scatter the epazote on top. Nestle a whole habenero chile in the center of the pot, to be removed at the end of cooking. Place additional banana leaves over the epazote and tuck the leaves around the chicken to seal in all the flavors.

4. Cover the top tightly and put in a 350F oven and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours (90 minutes). Remove the chicken from the pot, then remove and discard the banana leaves. Serve each person one chicken quarter.

Me again. That was the original recipe. I’ve done with it with one chicken or even just bone in chicken breasts, no banana leaves and no epazote. Use foil instead of the leaves. Use the fresh chile of your choice, you don’t eat the chiles, they get thrown away (as do the onions and tomatoes if you choose). I think you need fresh tomatoes and I would use white onion but it probably works with what you can get or are willing to get.

You’ll have to use both orange and lime juice if you don’t have the sour Seville oranges. That’s important, IMO. The paste will stain anything it touches, so think ahead. It’s also the best baked chicken you’ve had. You can use some low brow strange cuts of pork [chops?] instead of the chicken. Tasty.