Phred > wrote:

> Question: What marinade would you recommend to make really tasty
> chicken pieces?

I've been making this marinade for grilled chicken a lot lately.
It's simple and very tasty. I've never really had good luck with
chicken marinades - they just never did much for me. This one has
some substance to it and no draining necessary.

This kinda mimics the marinade found on the pre-seasoned meats you
see at the carniciera, but I never found any of those that I really
liked. Don't leave out the allspice. You can also add some lemon
or lime juice to this for a citrus'y effect. Doesn't need much.

2TB Achiote paste (the slightly seasoned kind)
1TB Garlic - Granulated(*)
1TB Onion - Granulated(*)
1TB Whole allspice
1ts Whole cumin
1ts Mexican oregano
1/3 cup Oil (anything except Penzoil)
1/2 cup Water
Salt to taste (2 teaspoons?)

Crumble the achiote paste well. Grind cumin and allspice into a
*fine* powder. Mix everything together, smashing up the achiote
globules.

I've let the chicken marinate for 3 hours for breast cutlets and up
to 2 days for whole bone-in pieces. Long marinating is not that
necessary as this stuff really sticks to the meat when it's cooked,
so the flavor doesn't need to penetrate that much. I haven't tried
it on pork, but I'd suspect it's just as good, or even better.

(*) Yes, I use dried onion/garlic for this. Just make sure you
have a fresh supply. I buy my *granulated* (never "powdered") onion
and garlic once a month for about $.35-$.40/bag from the bulk spice
section. Fresh onion and garlic do not work as well in this
recipe.

-sw