Squid, Pork, Gin

Our friend Tom came around for dinner last night, as his wife Charlene was stuck in the States waiting for a flight back here to the UK. Anyhow, we've been going through the 'must-have' foods here as we wind down our time here and squid and pork made their rightful appearance on our menu yesterday.

Salt and Pepper Squid is a delight, and after a thorough cleaning of the deep fryer, it was ready to go again. Simple and delicious.

What can I say about pork belly that hasn't already been said? It's simply the best tasting, best texture, most forgiving piece of meat to roast. Plus you get the added bonus of the crisp crackling to crunch on. I put kind of a southwestern spice rub on it and it turned out crazy good.

Salt and Pepper Squid
400 g squid, baby, cleaned
85 g flour
1 tablespoon corn flour
½ teaspoon salt
200 milliliters mineral water, cold
5 teaspoons flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
groundnut oil , for deep-frying
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 green chilies, sliced thinly for garnish

Set aside the squid tentacles and slice the body pouches into rings. Pat the squid dry with kitchen paper.

Make the tempura batter. Combine the flour, corn flour, salt and mineral water in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Put the flour, salt and pepper in another bowl and mix well to combine.

Heat the groundnut oil in a deep-fryer or other deep, heavy pan to 180C/350F. A piece of bread dropped into the hot oil should sizzle vigorously. Dip the squid rings into the seasoned flour to coat all over and then shake off the excess. Deep-fry them in batches in the hot oil for 1-1 1/2 minutes until lightly golden and crisp. (Make sure you don't overcrowd the pan or the temperature of the oil will drop too low, making it all a soggy mess.) Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while you deep-fry the remaining squid rings.

Now draw the squid tentacles through the tempura batter and deep fry these until lightly golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.

Sprinkle the deep-fried squid rings and tentacles with a little coarse salt. Divide between warm plates and scatter over the sliced chili. Serve at once with lime wedges.

Kevin's Albuquerque Spice Rub

1 T cumin seeds, toasted
1 T ground coriander seed
1 large pinch salt
1 large pinch smoked salt
1 T white pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Mexican oregano
2 tsp chili powder

Combine all in a spice grinder and grind.

Roast Pork Belly with Butternut Squash Puree
2 kg pork belly, boneless, skin finely scored
20 g fine sea salt
spice rub (shown above)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Trim off and discard any excess fat from the underside of the belly. Wipe the skin thoroughly dry, then rub half the fine salt into the skin and in between the score lines. Set aside for about 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 160C (fan).

Wipe the moisture off of the pork skin and apply the spice rub liberally all over the meat and skin sides. Massage in well, then sprinkle with sea salt.

Place the roasting pan in the hottest part of the oven, then roast for 1 1/2 hours. Increase the temperature to 190C (fan) and roast a further 45 minutes to 1 hour until the crackling is crisp. Remove the pork from the oven and allow to rest in a warm place for about 15 minutes.

Remove the cracking and cut into thin strips, then carve the meat crossways into neat slices.

Butternut Squash Puree with Brown Butter and Maple Syrup

1 butternut squash, peeled
1 small potato, peeled
100 g unsalted butter
salt and white pepper
2 T maple syrup

Chop the squash and potato into pieces of equal size so that they cook evenly, then place them in a suitable pan with just enough water to cover. Add a pinch of salt, bring to the boil and simmer until very soft.

Drain in a colander and press gently to squeeze out the excess water. Pass the mix through a vegetable moulis and then a fine drum sieve. The puree base can be stored in the fridge at this point until required.

Heat the butter in a small pan over medium high heat. Let the butter foam then subside and it will start to go brown. Keep swirling the butter around until it has gone brown and is giving off a nice, nutty aroma. Remove from the heat.

Return the fine puree to a clean pan and slowly beat in the butter. Add the maple syrup and season with the salt and pepper.

Serve the puree straight away: if it is kept warm for too long the butter can split out of the mixture and spoil it.

Gin and Tonic Sorbet
150 ml Bombay Sapphire gin
500 ml tonic water
250 ml water
250 g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon and 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lemon and lime

Mix the water and sugar together in a small pan and over a low heat bring up to boil until the sugar dissolves. Allow the stock syrup to boil for 4 minutes, remove from heat and cool. Combine the tonic water, gin, lemon and lime zest and juice together and then add this to the cooled syrup mixture.

Churn in an ice cream machine until thick and slushy. Place into a container and freeze for at least 1 hour before serving