The Bush Administration has long had difficulty in terrorism, assembling the worst record of losses of an modern Administration. Now, in the Liberty City case of six defendants accused of plotting to try to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, they are going to try a THIRD time to get a jury to believe them. This is not a matter of the law of terrorism but the law of averages. Despite the strikingly similar reaction of the prior two juries, the Justice Department just hopes that it can still find people who will not question the unconvincing case against these individuals.
The case against Narseal Batiste, Patrick Abraham, Burson Augustine, Rotschild Augustine, Naudimar Herrera and Stanley G. Phanor started with the same signature of the Bush Justice Department — sweeping headlines and claims of a major terrorism coup. The government had informants who actually administered an oath to support Al Qaeda and heard promises to wage a war against the United States. The problem is that they did not actually take an material steps toward that goal and more importantly they seemed much more interested in ripping us the informant of $50,000. No guns, explosives, and weapons were ever found.
The government zeroed in on a bizarre little group with an equally bizarre leader. Narseal Batiste led the group called the Moorish Science Temple that combines Judaism, Christianity and Islam and does not recognize the authority of the U.S. government.
The government taped and put the group under surveillance for hundreds of hours. Their two paid informants seemed at points to be staging scenes for a jury such as the swearing in ceremony.
In the first trial, a seventh man was outright acquitted, Lyglenson Lemorin. Both juries deadlocked on the case. For the New York Times story, click here.
COOL!
You guys will have a blast – especially if you do some or all outside on the grillllll (yes, you can) with roasted veggies.
Sorry I didn’t see this earlier.
I retyped the recipes for you – lots of typos 😉
Try prosciutto with sauce, mozzarella, and caramelized onions.
And if you like clams, maybe a white pizza with 18-24 little necks shucked, chopped, in liquor, fresh grated parmesan, garlic, oregano, parlsey, salt, and pepper.
Bon Appetito
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2 pizza rounds
Cornmeal for sprinkling
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 pinches kosher salt
2 pinches black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 cup Fig Jam
4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled into pea-sized pieces
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
1 scallion, thinly sliced lengthwise for garnish
One hour prior to cooking, place a backing stone in the oven and preheat it to 500 degrees.
Roll out 1 pizza dough as thinly as possible. Place it on a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover the surface with 1 teaspoon oil, 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 pinch each salt and pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary. Be sure to leave an outer lip of 1 inch all the way around.
Evenly dot 1/4 cup Fig Jam and 2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese on the pizza. Top with half prosciutto.
Shake the paddle lightly and slide the pizza onto the baking stone. Bake until browned, about 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a firm surface and cut into slices.
Serve immediately, garnished with half the sliced scallion.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
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Caramelized Onions:
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 vegetable or canola oil
3 pounds Spanish onions, thinly sliced
Place a large skillet over medium heat and when it is hot, add the butter and oil. Add the onions and stir. It is important to let hthe onions sweat before the sugar starts to caramelize. Cook until perfectly brown (not light but not too dark) about 40 minutes.
Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to two (2) days.
Pizza Dough: Makes Four, 8″ – 10″ pizzas (each serves 1-2 persons)
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3 1/2 cups *all-purpose flour, plus add’l for rolling (*unbleached)
2 teaspoons (1/4 ounce) fresh yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 2/3 cups lukewarm water
Place the whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour yeast, salt and sugar in a mixer fitted with a dough hood. While the mixer is running, gradually add the oil and water, Knead on low speed un til the dough is firm and smooth, about 10 minutes. Divide the dough into four balls, about 7 1/2 ounces each. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place two balls on a sheet and cover with a damp towel. Let them rise in a warm spot until they have doubed in bulk about 2 hours.
To roll out the dough: Dab your fingers in flour and place one ball on a generously floured work surface and press down in the center with the tips of your fingers, spreading the dough with your hand. when the dough has doubled in width, use a floured rolling pin and roll out until it is very thin, link a flat bread. The outer border should be a little thicker than the inner circle. Pick the dough up with a spatula or the back of a knife, allowing to fold almost like an umbrella and transfer it to a paddle. Do not worry that the pizza is not round, you are looking for an 8-10 inch shape, a cross between and oval and a rectangle. If your get a hole, simply pinch the edges back together. Repeat with the remaining balls and proceed with any of the following recipes…
Basic Tomato Sauce:
1 Tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1 tablesopon dried Greek oregano
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
One 28-ounce can whole tomatoes in juice
1 cup chicken broth or water
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 – 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoons black pepper
Place a large sauce pan over medium heat and, when if it hot, add the oil. Add the garlic and cook until lightly toasted, about two to 3 minutes. Add the wine to deglaze the pan and cook until reduced by about a third, about 5 minutes.
Add the oregano, tomatoes, and chicken broth and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Lower the heat to Low and cook until the mixture starts to come together as a sauce, about 45 minutes. Add the basil, salt, and pepper.
Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to three days.
Patty C:
I accept the challenge with glee.
JT
I am beginning to think that I somehow got transferred to the Food Network site!
Patty C:
I may be “dashing” because of this damn trial schedule where I gear up and get the case continued out from underneath me–twice. It gives me time to write since I am sort of all dressed up with nowhere to go! I’ll take my pizza deep dish (extra cheese and rosemary)also, but if I am in Chicago, I am eating at the Chicago Chop House on Ontario with the rest of my gumba (though I am not Sicilian) brothers downstairs.
Oh, but it is oh so delicioso, JT…
Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, for any weekend,
as (Acting) Top Chef with all your 4 Chefettes-in-training at the Virginia Test Kitchen is to try out these recipes and your imaginations:
Note: Most of the basics are available, fresh, in stores or if you choose to make most from scratch, you can much in advance and even freeze some things.
2 pizza rounds
Cornmeal for sprinkling
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 pinches kosher salt
2 pinches black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 cup Fig Jam
4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled into pea-sized pieces
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
1 scallion, thinly sliced lengthwise for garnish
One hour prior to cooking, place a backing stone in the oven and preheat it to 500 degrees.
Roll out 1 pizza dough as thinly as possible. Place it on a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover the surface with 1 teaspoon oil, 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 pinch each salt and pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary. Be sure to leave an outer lip of 1 inch all the way around.
Evenly dot 1/4 cup Fig Jam and 2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese on the pizza. Top with half prosciutto.
Shake the paddle lightly and slide the pizza onto the baking stone. Bake until browned, about 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a firm surface and cut into slices.
Serve immediately, garnished with half the sliced scallion.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
*********************************
Caramelized Onions:
1 1/2 tablespoons unsaled butter
1/4 vegetab;e or canola oil
3 pounds Spanish onions, thinly sliced
Place a large skillet over medium heat and when it is hot, add the butter and oil. Add the onions and stir. It is important to let hthe onions sweat before the sugar starts to caramelize. Cook until perfectly brown (not light but not too dark) about 40 minutes.
Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to two (2) days.
Pizza Dough: Makes Four, 8″ – 10″ pizzas (each serving 1-2 persons)
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3 1/2 cups *all-purpose flour, plus add’l for rolling (*unbleached)
2 teaspoons (1/4 ounce) fresh yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 2/3 cups lukewarm water
Place the whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour yeast, salt and sugar in a mixer fitted with a dough hood. While the mixer is running, gradually add the oil and water, Knead on low speed un til the dough is firm and smooth, about 10 minutes.Divide the dough into four balls, about 7/1/2 ounces each. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place tow balls on a sheet and cover with a damp tower. Let them rise ina warm spot until they have doubed in sulk about 2 hours.
To roll out the dough: Dab your fingers in flour and place one ball on a generously floured work surface and press down in the center with the tips of your fingers, spreading the sough with your hand. when the dough has doubled in width, use a floured rolling pin and roll out until it is very thin, link a flat bread. The outer board should be a little thicker than the inner circle. Pick the dough up with a spatula or the back of a knife, allowing to fold almost like an umbrella and transfer it to a paddle. Do not worry that the pizza is not round, you are looking for an 8-10 inc shape, a cross between and oval and a rectangle. If your get a hole, simply pinch the edged back together. Repeat with the remaining balls and proceed with any of the following recipes.
Basic Tomato Sauce:
1 Tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup red wine
1 tablesopon dried Greek oregano
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
One 28-ounce can whole tomatoes in juice
1 cup chicken broth or water
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 – 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoons black pepper
Place a large sauce pan over medium heat and, when if it hot, add the oild. Add the garlic and cook until lightly toasted, about two to 3 minutes. Add the wine to deglaze the pane and cook until reduced by about a third, about 5 minutes.
Add the oregano, tomatoes, and Chicken Broth and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Lower the hear to low and cook until the mixture starts to come together as a sauce, about 45 minutes. Add the basil, salt, and pepper.
Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to three days.
Mespo, I completely agree, and your quote was dead-on. Unfortunately, I have no pizza to serve you. 🙂
Patty C:
I was with you until homemade fig jam on the pizza. Call me a traditionalist from Chicago, but fig jam? For the love of Mike, it is a pizza!
I agree, JT – Although I had seen it before from Bartlett’s, I clipped that quote for future reference on the blog.
JT, Mespo has been really dashing lately.
I think he deserves a round of recognition of some kind- be it applause, or cheese, a boule, beef, or something…
Maybe a pizza on the grill made with homemade dough and sauce, topped with prosciutto, gorgonzola cheese, carmelized onions, dotted with homemade fig jam, and sprinkled with fresh rosemary from the ‘garden’.
Mespo:
Indeed, the former foreman (a lawyer) noted the same problem and predicted this second result. Nice quote, by the way.
Jill:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
—C. S. Lewis:
I see this case as one of many ways the cheney-bush administration keeps pushing the law where it should not go. Thanks to a supine congress and highly accomodating supreme court, as they keep pushing they have been sucessful, not necessarily in any of their original cases, but in getting legal limits on their power removed.
These cases work as great PR and expands executive reach. What’s not to like?
JT:
No act in furtherance. Two deadlocked juries. Nothing incriminating after hours of surveillance –legal or otherwise. What we have is thought police, and bad faith prosecution to destroy rather than serve justice. What’s that definition of insanity by Einstein again?
Expensive attorneys are a gift from Allah.