I use Achiote Paste in many dishes, such as when I make Yucatan Marinade for Yucatan Chicken Skewers, or in my Chipotle Puree and sometimes I add it to my Chipotles in Adobo Sauce. I have even added it to my Jamaican Jerk Sauce/Marinade. Pork is often seasoned with Achiote by rubbing the pork and wrapping it in a cornhusk or banana leaf before steam cooking the meat. It is a traditional ingredient used to make Ricado, a rub for suckling pig and other meats.

This is a classic recipe, not original to me, but often in many places.

Classic ingredients for Achiote Paste

• 5 tablespoons Achiote (annatto) Seeds
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
• 3 habanero peppers, seeded
  (remember my rule about gloves & goggles)
  
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 5 lemons- juiced (bottled juice works just fine)
• 1 teaspoon tequila (you can leave this out)

Directions for Mixing Achiote Paste

With a spice grinder, grind the annatto seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, allspice berries, and cloves to a fine powder.
In a blender or food processor, mix the ground spices, habanero peppers, orange juice, vinegar, garlic, and salt. Blend until smooth. Mix in the lemon juice and tequila.

Achiote Seed 

A rust colored seed that is harvested from the annatto shrub to produce the Achiote spice. Also known as annatto, achote, onnote, cocotte bija and bixa, it is native to Latin America, Spain, and East India, the Achiote seed is protected by a pod containing 30 to 50 red seeds. The triangular-shaped Achiote seeds are surrounded by a red pulp that is separated from the seeds and pod when they are harvested. The pulp is processed to produce a commercial dying agent while the seeds are dried and made into a rust colored paste that is often used for coloring foods such as rice, smoked fish, butter, or cheese. Edam and Muenster cheeses are commonly colored with the rusty-toned paste to enhance the appearance of the cheese. Also used as a spice for flavoring foods, Annatto seeds provide a sweet and somewhat peppery taste when added to various food dishes. Also used to add color to butter, cheese, popcorn, drinks, and breads among other products.

To prepare the Achiote, place the seeds into the liquid ingredients being prepared or add the seeds to hot water to obtain the color and flavor desired before using the mixture to color rice or as a stock to add flavors to other foods. In addition to foods, this seed and pulp are used to color candies, cosmetics and textiles. Achiote or Achote is the common name for the spice made from this seed in Mexico and Latin America, while in the Philippines the Annatto seed is known as Atsuwete or Acheute and it is also commonly known as Anatta, Annato or Annatto. To store, keep the seeds in an airtight container away from heat.

The main Achiote growers are Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Dominican Republic.

Note:
The information found in here was sourced from many differnt locations on the Internet. The pictures are from http://www.recipetips.com/, claiming copyright 2008 of everything on their site, however their site contains material from other orginal locations. I have included it here, because I had made a mistake in talking about Achiote Paste in my recipes for Yucatan Marinadewhich can used in my Yucatan Chicken Skewers and my homemade from scratch Chipotles in Adobo Sauce. Sorry about the confusion. I have included this for informational purposes, not to enfringe on anyone elses material.