Bye Bye Bin Laden

On the 10th anniversary of 9/11 I had my long anticipated "Osama-Bin-Laden-Is-Dead-New-York-New-York!!" party. In celebration of the death of a piece of shit and the unbelievable survival spirit of the unshakable New York State of Mind. And before you say it, before you even think it, politically incorrect can KISS my ASS.

In the words of my beloved Jon Stewart, political satirist and genius, on the day Bin Laden was finally annihilated:

"I suppose I should be expressing some ambivalence about the targeted killing of another human being...and yet...uh NO. Last night was a good night. And not just for New York or DC or America, but for HUMAN people."

That ugly scumsucking marianatrenchdwelling creature did not care who was in the Twin Towers or on the planes or in the Pentagon. He killed regardless of religion, race or nationality. Regardless of whether they had kids, parents or dogs. 

So for my party, I celebrated New York, cooked what I consider to be their dishes and hung up balloons in USA colors. And I thought a lot, a LOT, about what it would have been like for me if I were walking down Adderley Street, and a plane flew into a building in Cape Town. If I saw what normal average people like you and me saw, on what should have been a normal day, when their city was destroyed and people fell from the sky.

So for my party, I rejoiced, because I know this for sure: Wherever his filthy soul went when he died, it was met by all those people he murdered. And he will know every burn and every fear and every agony and every unspeakable pain they felt. I do hope he has a high tolerance for pain though. Because eventually he will also be met by their parents, their children, their friends and (God help him) their dogs... 

xx

J

CORN DOGS

20 x 5cm Hot Dogs (I got chicken ones because my guests don't eat pork. Whatever you buy try to get high quality - you want a crunch in the skin or don't bother)

70ml Maizena

70ml Flour

5ml Sugar

5ml Baking Powder

1 Egg

70ml Milk

Heat oil to medium. Mix all the ingredients together to form a paste and season. Spear hot dogs with toothpicks and roll in maizena to ensure the batter sticks. Fry until nicely browned. I served then with Tomato, Mustard and Chilli Sauce. 

CHICKEN PARMIGIANA

1/4 c Basil

3 Cloves garlic sliced

3 Anchovies

1 Chilli

2 x 400g tins Chopped Tomatoes

150g Breadcrumbs

1/4c Thyme

0.5c grated Parmesan

1 Lemon

100g Flour

2 Eggs

800g Veal/pork/chicken flattened to 2 cm

125g Buffalo mozzarella

Pick the leaves off the basil and put in water to keep fresh. Chop the stalks and fry for a few minutes with the olive oil, garlic & anchovies. Prick the chilli several times and add it to the pan. Fry for a minute then add the tomatoes. Boil, turn down heat, then simmer for 20 minutes. Season. (BTW this is my go-to recipe whenever I need a great tomato sauce).

Mix the breadcrumbs with the thyme, lemon zest & parmesan. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Dip the meat into the flour, then egg, then breadcrumb mixture. Heat a good lug of olive oil and fry until golden (but not cooked). Spread tomato sauce in a dish. Lay the escalopes on top. Tear mozzarella over it and dot with basil. Bake for 20 minutes at 200C. I served mine with mash. 

NEW YORK CHEESECAKE

350g Digestive biscuits

120g Melted butter

900g Low fat cream cheese

150g Caster sugar

5 Large eggs

125ml Lime juice

Zest of 1 lime

3 Large egg whites

110g Caster sugar

40g Coconut

Set oven to 160C and butter a cake tin. Put the biscuits in a P&P bag, picture Osama and smash it until fine. Mix with the melted butter. Squash it down into the cake tin then put it into the fridge while you do the rest.

Put the cream cheese in a food processor and give it a whizz. Add the sugar, eggs & lime juice. Pour into the biscuit base and bake for 50 minutes. It's gotta wobble so keep an eye and don't overdo. Remove from oven and let it rest outside for at least 15 minutes. Turn the oven up to 220C.

Whisk the egg whites for the meringue until you have soft peaks, then add the caster sugar bit by bit until it's thick and glossy. Fold in the coconut and spread onto the cheesecake. Bake for 5 minutes but DO NOT take your eye off it, meringue is a bastard, much like, uhm, oh yeah, Osama!!

Let the cheesecake cool down then grate on the lime zest and put it in the fridge for a few hours. 

PS - These recipes are from Jamie's America - no need to mess with perfection.