orange juice | MmGood

First I have to apologize for not posting so much this past week as Thanksgiving pushed me over the edge and we had so many leftovers that cooking was out of my mind. That being said, I can’t believe I’m sharing this chicken recipe with you all…yep it’s true and so there I said it!!! There are certain recipes I like to keep as my own and I always thought this was one of those recipes but I made it again tonight and thought I just had to share it as I absolutely love this chicken dish!!!

Going to culinary school was a great experience for me, it introduced me to spices that I may never had learned about or ever tried. Achiote paste, which is influenced from Mexico, is one of those spices I had never heard of or been exposed to. We were introduced to the spice and used it for a grilled shrimp dish which was just amazing and after my first bite, I was sold and just knew I wanted to try as many recipes as I could with it.

When my kids told me they like to eat everything but chicken because chicken is boring I thought I’d remind them that chicken doesn’t have to be boring. This recipe is very easy and it comes across to be a very elegant chicken dish that everyone will think you slaved over. The achiote spice adds a unique flavor that will leave your guests guessing…and isn’t that really what’s it’s all about? lol

You basically make a marinade that gets pureed in a blender or food processor.

The marinade gets poured over the chicken and refrigerated for 3-4 hours. My chicken was really thick so I cut it in half lengthwise to thin them out. I used 4 breasts and did not follow by weight.

After the 4 hours you remove the chicken from the fridge and using a frying pan, you heat some oil in a pan, saute your marinaded chicken. Here is my before and after…doesn’t look delicious?

Remove the chicken from the pan, add some orange juice, scrap off your bits on the bottom of the pan add your mascarpone cheese, cook for a few minutes…add your chicken back to the pan…and you’re done!

I put some cilantro on top to finish it off. I’m sorry about the plating as I had a whole meal planned but I burnt the green beans and squash.

Achiote Chicken with a Mascarpone Orange Sauce

Ingredients

4 tablespoons Achiote paste
2 tablespoons Honey
2 tablespoons Red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Grated orange zest
4 whole Garlic cloves
2 teaspoons Cumin seeds
1 pound Chicken breasts (I cut mine in half length wise)
2 tablespoons Olive oil
Salt to taste
2 cups Orange juice
8 ounces Mascarpone cheese
Cilantro, chopped

Directions

Put your achiote paste, honey, red wine vinegar, orange zest, garlic cloves and cumin seeds in a blender or food processor and blend until a loose paste forms.
Place chicken in a baking dish. Spread marinade over your chicken and make sure to coat your chicken to coat it well. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt. Add chicken to skillet, cook until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Add 1 cup orange juice to your pan. Cover, reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes (remember my chicken breasts were very thin so you may need more time based on the thickness of chicken).
Remove your chicken and add 1 cup of orange juice to your pan, boil until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Add your mascarpone cheese, let it boil for 2-3 minutes and add your chicken back. Let it simmer for 4-6 minutes.
Spoon sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with cilantro.

http://www.MmGood.com/achiote-chicken-with-a-mascarpone-orange-sauce/

Recipe belongs to Patty @MmGood.com, please contact me to use for personal use

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