Wishbone on Valentine’s Day

Over the weekend I found myself at one of those chicken-speciality stores.. maybe it was Wishbone? I know it wasn’t Lenard’s. Yes it was Wishbone Poultry at Westfield. Why don’t Wishbone have their own website by the way? Tsk, tsk! So I was wondering if I should buy a roast chicken (ready cooked) for sandwich meat during the week. As a family we like cooked chickens from Woolworths but recently I discovered how to make a perfect, seasoned roast chook – which my family like better than Woolies-bought chooky’s & I concur!

Nyehhh, I wasn’t sure if I was in the mood for roasting anything. As I surveyed the chicken in all of its forms I came across some fried chicken sausage samples, cut into ‘coins’. At around $13 a kilo (about double what you pay for ordinary sausages), it’s nice to know in advance what they all taste like. I figured the samples would be cold, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and try 4 coins (ie. four flavours). I was surprised at how good they actually were.. and remember I was eating them cold! And no I wasn’t starving either. The best of the bunch was a mild ‘fruity curry’ chicken sausage so I decided to buy six at $9.99 a kilo ($2 off for another week). They’re as long as a regular bbq sausage but a bit thicker (being around 130 grams each).

I count Weight Watchers ProPoints these days and quite frankly one generous sausage is just about all one could afford in any given meal (if you’re trying to lose weight).. or two if you’ve eaten light all day. Because we don’t have them regularly I really wanted to enjoy them as ‘something different’ and I already knew they tasted good. At work today my mind occasionally wandered over to the sausages and I was picking my brain about how to serve them. Thoughts of a casserole or curry crossed my mind. Later at home I decided that since the sausages are a ‘highlight’ unto themselves, I would let them stand on their own. And since I’m endeavouring to eat a decent amount of fruit and vegetables each day, I knew there were a number of vegies at home, planned-for, purchased and now threatening to wilt and spoil at any hour. Solution: Meat and veg. As I write this, I have chunks of pumpkin roasting in the oven with a homemade cumin-chilli salt sprinkled on top. Alongside the pumpkinites I have bigger-than-Texas wedges (medium-sized potatoes, skin left on & quartered) also adorned with a special sprinkle that includes the above salt & some dried rosemary, black sesame seeds, dried bell peppers (so says the packet) & a pinch of some Argentinian steak seasoning that I bought in Tasmania over a year ago and was ‘Use by February 2011′ – (it’s in the bin now).

Next I’ll braise some shredded cabbage in some spices using my I’m-loving-it-new-electric-wok, then add a small amount of light coconut milk.. and all of this will be served with the snags. Vegetable & comfort food & ‘try something new’ quota met.

P.S. Why am I not dining out on Valentine’s day (something I always like to do)? Long story.. but it includes the fact that I worked today and the husband went to work while I was at work and he won’t be home until just before 10pm. Never mind, we do have Michael Buble tickets for next week and a pre-show dinner first at a French restaurant. Bonne Saint Valentin!