Friday, July 03, 2009

Lipstick On A Chicken

You know those precooked chicken sausages that hang out in the freezer section? The organic ones with 1990s-era flavor combinations like sundried tomato and porcini mushroom? Well, because our grocery options up here are limited, occasionally my wife goes a little crazy from the limitations of a couple of small stores and grabs at anything that we don't normally buy. And so it was that these things were in the fridge.

Because they're pre-cooked, and they have the cellulose casings, grilling them is a disaster; they end up as rubbery little logs with no moisture. Chopping them up into a pasta sauce is really the only thing they're good for (beyond just heating and eating on bread with mustard and kimchi while standing over the sink; they do the job, but only just).

So I figured that with some tinkering they might make a decent wonton filling. I had seen some skins in the freezer and the idea of both frying and hiding the sausage seemed to be win/win. I chopped them fine, adding copious ginger, garlic, preserved yuzu, nam pla, cilantro, and a little kimchi juice. Wrapped 'em up. Fryed 'em.





















It looks like a delicious little Magdalena Abakanowicz, doesn't it? I made the quick dipping sauce with soy, vinegar, sriracha, and a drib of agave, and served them on spicy baby greens (radish, mustard, mizuna). We also had sautéed crimini mushrooms with wine and garlic, and a heaping salad. And rosé. On the screened porch. The sun actually came out for a minute.

5 comments:

Zoomie said...

Leave it to you to make the proverbial silk purse out of a sow's ear (or is that chicken lips?).

Jen said...

Bet you did this post to honor Palin's resignation.

The wontons look good, though.

The Spiteful Chef said...

I love trite sausages. I'm not skirred to admit it, either. I've also become partial to the Morningstar Farms vegetarian Italian sausages, when cooked in a flavorful marinara. I swear, it's good.

Brooke said...

Frying and hiding the sausage is always a win/win.

I used to be addicted to the apple flavored chicken sausage. Nuked and eaten by itself. I'm a strange person.

peter said...

Zoomie: Hen's teeth?

Jen: You betcha!

Kristie: I used to eat those back when I was a vegetarian. They were passable, but I haven't had any since.

Brooke: Heh. Hide the sausage.