plate 33: USA

Quite aptly, it came to be "the land of the free" this week via democratic processes. I put it to the people: forget Liberal or Labor, Greens or Shooters; the real question was America or Mexico. The people voted, I listened to what they had to say and I kept my promise that I would offer them what really mattered to them: an all-American dream meal.

Apart from giving us Maccas and other hideous fast food places too awful to mention, many American classics are scarcely found here. Some people might say there's good reason for the under-representation of crappy, greasy, fatty foods, but when it's in the form of mac and cheese, I'm wanting to know why. Yes this stuff is greasy, yes it's fatty, but it's awesome and an easy way to feed 12 people. I have to agree with this cute little picture - you can really tell the mac and the cheese love each other. Their chemistry is pure magic. I heart mac and cheese. I heart it very much. I also found out that Americans love it so much they even have a Crayola crayon colour named after it!

Supplied by our American sweetheart, friend Amy J, the recipe was fantastic. It had to be good because I was cooking for none other than Miss Natty Chan and 10 of her friends for her weekend birthday bonanza. The mac and cheese was on the cover of an old American Family Circle magazine and thanks to its three cheeses - cheddar, parmesan and gruyere - it was super rich and very delicious. We made it last as long as we could, having one tray for lunch and the other for dinner. Reminiscing about its stringy cheesy golden-ness and crunchy topping is making me all fuzzy on the inside.

While I was pretty keen to make ribs for American week, I went for something a bit more crowd friendly - chilli dogs. Apparently Texas, Michigan and New York fight about who invented it, but one thing everyone can agree on is how gooood they taste. It's just a hot dog in a bun topped with chilli sauce, right? Wrong! What I didn't know was that the chilli sauce also includes meat. Ooooh yeah. The sausages themselves and the idea of the humble hot dog can't be claimed by Americans though - it was German immigrants who introduced the sausage-in-a-bun concept to New Yorkers in the late 19th century. They were a hit and, as they say, the rest is history.

I tripled the recipe, so having to cut up a kilo and a half of onions and a kilo and a half of capsicum was no easy feat, but I managed without shedding too many a tear. The sauce was pretty tasty. It's mince cooked with onions, garlic, capsicum, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and chilli powder. Then all you do is barbecue the sausages, shove it in the bun, top with a generous spoonful of the chunky sauce and sprinkle over some, OK lots, of cheddar. Deeeelicious, even though slightly tricky to get your mouth around. The flavour was great and gave a lovely little tingle of chilli around the lips.

I have to say thanks this week, too, to the lovely Jen who made good ol' Southern cornbread to go with lunch. It was divine. Hot from the oven and spread with butter that melted into it, this was incredible. Sweet but savoury, cakey, bready and even a bit scone-like, it was beautiful. We couldn't stop eating it - just one more bit, and another little bit, OK I SWEAR this is going to be my last bit.