Marsha P. Johnson Memorial Sausage-cauliflower Special!

Ingredients 

Kosher salt
12 ounces Angel hair pasta.
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
12 ounces sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
6 cloves garlic, minced or about 2 tbs full.
1 small head cauliflower, broken into small florets
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup grated Romano - Parmesan cheese shredded

Directions

Pre heat the oven to 400

 

Clean and cut up the cauliflower into small florets. Stir in 2 tbs of Olive Oil, you want each to be shiny as you spread them on a foil lined sheet for the oven. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Let roast for 25 to 30 minutes. Yes you want the edges to start to turn brown. That is not burning, that is “caramelization” that makes this an unexpected treat.

For the minced Garlic, slave has said this before, but just in case You were not paying attention and dreaming about something else, we will go over it again. Rap the clove with the side of your knife. Don't smash it. This loosens the skin. Then cut the ends off and cut it lengthwise. If there is a line of green, take it out with point of the knife, it will give your food a very bitter taste. Then go ahead and mince it up. Since garlic cloves grow in different sizes, you can't always go by the number of cloves you need. Instead look at the end product: you need about 2 tbls of minced (cut up into tiny pieces) garlic.

 

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble the sausage into the skillet and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and stirring in the minced garlic. You want this to cook for at least 8 minutes. When that is done, mix in the shredded cheese. Reduce the heat to keep warm.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and any salt if you prefer. Cook for about 4 minutes, Angel Hair pasta cooks quickly!

Drain the pasta and place on a platter.

Mix the roasted cauliflower into the sausage cheese mixture and dish over the top.

Garnish with the chopped green onions.

Marsha P. Johnson (June 27, 1944 – July 6, 1992) 

Marsha P. Johnson WAS probably the best known Drag Queen in New York City in the 60's, 70's and 80's! Not only a top performer with a whole lot of sass, she worked tirelessly for the homeless “fringe” of the gay world: the street kids!

Together with another “street saint” Sylvia Rivera, they formed Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries: (STAR).

She was also the "mother" that everyone could go to and managed S.T.A.R. House along with Sylvia. This was a shelter, some food, and clothing to support the young homeless drag queens and trans women living on the Lower East Side of New York City.

Her biggest fight was with the “authorities”. Their constant demands for “fees”, kick backs, and harassment. Marsha had to fight things that in today's climate might be seen as “reasonable”: things like occupantcy permits, basic plumbing codes, etc. She was more focused on survival: a shelter from the cold and rain, protection from the winds and the thugs (which often included police officers) who would vent frustrations by “beating up a fag”. They used city rules and codes: she was focused on keeping them alive!

A judge once ask her what the “P” stood for, Her answer became her trademark: “Pay it no mind!”.

While celebrating her birthday on June 27th 1969, at the bar named “The Stonewall Inn”, the place was raided! It was a Friday night, raids were always done on a weekday night, (so the bar could recover quickly for the weekend after paying off the police.) While these raids often would ruin the lives of any who were arrested they became part of the daily life.

Nobody knew what caused the status quo to snap, but it did that night! According to legend, Marsha lost her temper and yelled: “I Got My Rights”! She threw the shotglass that was in her hand against the mirror behind the bar.

(Remember at that time you could not look at a same sex friend directly while sitting at a bar – You had to look at them through the mirror behind the bar. Otherwise if the police saw you, you would be arrested for lewd and lascivious behavior!) They often used an anti-masquerading law from the 1800's to target the transvestites. According to codes, having a known homosexual on the premises created a “dangerous condition” and the business had to be closed down for the protection of the public. Liquor licenses could not be issued to a bar for it was against the law to serve alcohol to a native American Indian or a known homosexual. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Well that became what was called the “Shotglass heard round the world”. Just about the same time a drag king named Storme was glaring too defiantly at one of the cops who was not going to take that “attitude” so he hauled off and hit the little faggot! Well Storme slugged him back, hard! Probably shocked the shit out of the poor cop. Fags didn't know how to fight, they were too weak and not “real men”.

According to reports, pandemonium broke loose. A crowd began to gather outside: what was going on? This was not supposed to be happening. As drag queens were being shoved out the door, one of them called out to the growing mass: “Do Something!”. They did! Taunts at first, then pennies were thrown: “stupid coppers”.

Than night and for the next six nights a war was waged! And LGBT's all over New York pulled together: everywhere they started to became a “people”, a “tribe” if you will. Anti-war protesters had run from the police, civil rights protesters had run from the police. This night the police ran from the lowest of the low! At one point the officers had to barricade themselves in the bar and held the few remaining patrons as hostages. According to detectives who were there, the radio calls were quickly silenced. Their communications were blocked. Police scanners were used by the TV news reporters to find stories. New York City was not going to let this be splashed across the evening news!

Outside the crowd was growing exponentially! Such was the unleashed anger, someone ripped a parking meter right out of the concrete! They started to use that as a battering ram to get back into the bar and free their friends.

Over the next week the police got their revenge for being embarrassed like that. Just about every gay bar in town was smashed up! The LGBT's in turn burned every police car they could find. The whole time Mayor Lindsey was holding a tight clamp down on all news reporting! This was to ruin his chances to run for president. He was pissed! Most of the fighters were bloody and bandaged: the millions of pieces of broken glass in the streets looked like diamonds! Nothing was ever the same!

Marsha P. Johnson was an instant celebrity and used it to gather support and money for her home for the homeless. While it is a stretch to call either her or Sylvia Rivera any kind of “saint”, they both earned their place in the hearts of thousands of the neediest, the lowest of the low.

In 1992, after a pride march, the body of Marsha P Johnson was found floating off of the West Village Piers. Police quickly called it a suicide and only after a large public campaign agreed to investigate it as a possible hate type crime. Marsha was unique, a true individual that deserves to be remembered.

So slave honors her and Sylvia with this unique dish. Marsha, we WILL Pay it a Mind! We Still Love 'ya!

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes by Dan White http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM via @amazon