Someone's in the Kitchen With Dinah.... and it's Jamie Oliver!

That's right... Jamie Oliver came to dinner last Sunday! This time last week, I was waking up, freaking out, and getting hives on my face and neck, (oh nerves!) and wondering how we were going to change our menu to accommodate the unfortunate, all-day rain...

The original plan was to head to Astoria Live Poultry on 33rd Street, just north of Ditmars, meet Jamie for the first time (on camera) and select a live lamb. Then we were going to send Jamie off to Ali at Kebab Café with the brains, balls and organs, bring the butchered lamb back to my joint, tie it to our *new* grill/spit operation, and turn, turn, turn slooooowly for five hours over an open flame...

Jamie was going to drop by our place when the lamb was almost done, talk to us while we cooked, and then eat dinner with us. The guest list was smaller, since the camera crew needed room to move around, but everyone attending was quite enthusiastic.

The rain made us scrap our original plan (kind of hard to roast a lamb when you can't keep a fire lit) so, on the fly, we decided to do lamb 3 ways:

Roast the legs with herbs, pomegranate molasses and anchovies, (right out of our cookbook!)



Braise the shanks and shoulders with white wine, cumin and saffron...


and then batter coat and deep fry the loin chops and rib chops with rosemary, lemon and garlic (right out of Sara Jenkins' and Mindy Fox's new book Olives and Oranges.)


I forgot how scary/exciting it is to cook something on camera that you have never made before! I spend a lot of time making things for the first time, but it is an entirely different story when it is going to be immortalized for all time!

There was Escarole Salad with Roasted Pears, Pomegranate Seeds and Candied Bacon,


Rice Pilaf with Dried Cherries and Fennel Seeds,


Super Bad- Ass Garlicky Yogurt,

We also made our standby, Gurhan's Eggplant Salad, in the broiler and on the stove this time instead of on the grill.

and to mop it all up, Baked Apples with Honey Nutmeg Ice Cream and Boozy Raisins.


A well balanced meal! Plus, something about lamb and bacon on the same menu seems dirty and yet sooooo right...

Anyway, cheers to Zora for looking for/thinking of the "chicken-fried lamb chops" as we called them. They were gooood...

I am happy to report that Jamie is EXCELLENT. A very kind, generous and funny guy-- who cusses MORE than I do! I hope he will come to dinner again sometime, when the cameras aren't rolling...

The dinner was taped for a documentary with the working title "Jamie's American Dream" and it will be aired on Channel 4 in the UK in the Spring or Summer of 2009.

Don't worry... we will keep you updated...