This recipe has many ingredients, but it isn’t difficult to make. You can marinate the chicken overnight and make the sauce several hours ahead and chill. The colors are beautiful (fun for entertaining), the chicken is tender, and the flavor is worth a little extra effort.

12 chicken thighs with bone (4 1/2 lb.)
6 large cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp. kosher or sea salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 recipe Achiote-Infused Olive Oil (below) or 1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup bitter orange juice (or 2 Tbsp. orange juice and 2 Tbsp. lime juice)
1/4 cup lager beer
1 large red sweet pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
1/2 of a green sweet pepper, coarsely chopped (Maricel prefers 5 tiny cachuca peppers or 1 cubanella pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped, instead, if available)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 jalapeño pepper, stems removed, halved and seeded, if desired
3/4 tsp. kosher or sea salt
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
Banana leaves (optional)

1. Skin chicken thighs, if desired. Place chicken thighs in a large resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish. With a mortar and pestle or small food processor mash the 6 large cloves garlic, ginger, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon ground cumin to a paste; place in a small bowl. Stir in the Achiote-Infused Olive Oil or olive oil, orange juice, and beer. Pour over chicken thighs; seal bag and turn to coat. Chill 2 hours or overnight, turning bag occasionally.

2. For sauce, in a food processor combine red sweet pepper, onion, green pepper or cachuca peppers, cilantro, vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, 4 cloves garlic, jalapeño, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon cumin. Cover and pulse with several on/off turns until finely chopped (should still have small pieces of pepper).

3. Drain chicken, reserving marinade. For a charcoal grill, arrange medium-hot coals around a drip pan. Test for medium heat above the pan. Place chicken, bone side down, on grill rack over the drip pan. Cover and grill for 50 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (180°), brushing with marinade twice during the first 30 minutes of grilling. (For a gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Adjust for indirect cooking. Grill as above.)*

4. Serve chicken thighs on banana leaves, if desired, with sauce spooned around the chicken. Makes 6 servings.

Achiote-Infused Olive Oil: Place 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil in a small saucepan; add 1 heaping tablespoon achiote (annatto) seeds. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat; cool 1 hour. Strain, discarding seeds. The achiote colors the oil (and the chicken) with a lovely rust-gold color.

*Broiling Instructions: After draining chicken, place on the unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 5 inches from heat for 25 to 35 minutes or until no longer pink (180°), turning once halfway through cooking and brushing with reserved marinade twice during the first half of cooking time. Serve as above.

Per serving: 387 cal., 23 g fat (2 g sat. fat), 0 mg chol., 658 mg sodium, 6 g carbo., 1 g fiber, 37 g pro.