Squirrel Carnitas

Ingredients (makes 8)

1 squirrel, skinned and cleaned
1 onion, thinly sliced
½ bulb of garlic
2 fresh chillies, finely chopped
1 tbs each ground cumin, ground coriander & smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Few springs thyme & oregano
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 lime, juiced
330ml bottle of light beer

Flour tortilla
275g plain flour
2 tbs oil (cold-pressed rapeseed or olive oil)
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder

Pico de gallo
2 tomatoes, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
1 green chilli, finely diced
1 lime, juiced

Bring a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a medium-high heat in a heavy based pan and brown the squirrel on all sides. Add the sliced onion and fry until soft, then add the spices, chillies, garlic and herbs. Fry for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, lime juice and beer. Stir well to incorporate all the flavours, add 250ml of water and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Leave to simmer for around 2 hours with the lid on until the meat is tender.

For the tortillas, mix all the ingredients with 200ml of warm water together in a bowl until they combine to forma rough dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for around 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and does not bounce back when pressed. Cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

Combine all the ingredients for the pico de gallo and season.

Once the squirrel meat is tender remove the meat from the bones: make sure any small bones are discarded. Return the meat to the sauce and reduce until the sauce thickens.

To cook the bread heat a dry frying pan to a high heat. Split the bread into 8 even sized dough balls and roll each ball out to around 2mm in thickness. Cook one at a time; once small bubbles appear, flip the bread and repeat until cooked through.

Serve with a wedge of lime and ice cold beer.