There's no place like home. It may be true that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but returning to a world rendered lush by endless spring rains, to lilacs in bloom, chipmunks underfoot and jubilant birdsong, turned this into an especially sweet homecoming. Jet lag notwithstanding. G, the world's most stoic man, is in considerable pain, not even able to be up on crutches much yet. He's eager to begin rehab and, in the meantime, being from the food-is-love school of cooking, I'm trying to distract him with a steady flow of treats from my kitchen. At first, after a month in Southeast Asia, big green salads were quite the novelty. But the guy loves squid—something I've rarely cooked with—so I decided to attempt the ne plus ultra rendering of this sea creature. Even the very squeamish tend to forget all about about gooey tentacles when presented with a plate of hot, crispy, melt-in-your-mouth fried calamari. With a blitz of sea salt and a spritz of lemon juice, what's not to like? And when I came across a recipe recently on Food52 from the venerable Mrs. Larkin, I decided to give it a go. Some friends were coming over for a visit, and I thought it would be just the thing to serve with a nice cold glass of local riesling.

I wasn't wrong. It was a big hit all around. It's a little scary at first, and a little messy, but trust me, you can do this. Once you get going, it all happens rather fast, and you need to scarf down those piping hot nuggets right away so, guess what? No photos. I might have been able to get G to snap a few but he was too busy stuffing his mouth (and putting his leg up). So you'll just have to imagine a big platter of golden, perfectly rendered fried rings and tentacles next to thin slices of fried lemon and a pile of fried parsley.

Do you have fear of deep frying? Get over it. And if it's calories you're worried about, fuggedaboutit. The moisture in the food actually repels the oil. As long as the oil is hot enough (around 350º) and the food is not in it for too long, the oil will be confined to the outer surface. Because of the gluten-free thing, I used rice flour instead of the all-purpose in this recipe. A combination of that and masa harina (or you can use fine cornmeal) created a very thin, lightly crispy coating that was nothing like that bready, shaggy stuff you often get in cheapo restaurants. Although frying the parlsey and lemon is optional, I think you should go for it. Both were delicious, but the parsley especially was a revelation. And aside from salt and lemon you don't really need any condiment, but I could see how some homemade mayonnaise or even some Tabasco could be quite nice.