I have to say that this was one of the best things I've made all year. I was browsing through a book by chef Aquiles Chavez on Mexican fish and seafood cooking. It's a nice book on things that have been covered elsewhere many times. Except for one dish: Calamares rellenos de chicharron prensado y salsa de chile de arbol.

Chicharrones prensados can be made at home but maybe you're lucky like me and your Mexican butcher has them on hand. I took many shortcuts with this and the chicharon prensado was just the first. If the concept is too daunting, use carnitas.

I used frozen calamari. The package I had contained only tubes but you could easily add the tentacles and cook them along with the stuffed tubes. I also had a guajillo chile sauce on hand.

Take about half a pound of chicharron presnsado and chop it up as best you can. Saute an onion and a few garlic cloves in olive oil until soft. Add some canned plum tomatoes and the chicharrones. Stir until the the chicharrones become soft, about 5 minutes.

Stuff the calamari tubes with the mixture (easier said than done, but not impossible!) and cook them for 5 minutes in the hot chile sauce.