You’d think that with the sheer volume of bridges I’ve burned in my time, I’d find apologising and reconnecting with my past friends to be a less awkward affair. But damn, the first ten minutes of my date with Ann Curry sure were fucking hard to live through.

But Ann and I are both fighters, we persevered and, dare I say it, will have a stronger friendship because of it.

For those that don’t know the T, Ann was abruptly fired from the Today show in 2012, setting off a scandal at NBC involving her and my dear friend Matt Lauer. Flash forward seven months and Matt Lauer gave me away at my wedding and organised a live performance of Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield ON A RIVAL NETWORK’S TALK SHOW … AND then ten months later popped a cherry on the sitch by making me world famous again!

While I never took sides in the still-simmering feud, it certainly seemed that way to Ann and we haven’t seen each other in just over five years. Oh – I should mention that I was in NY days before she was sacked and she assumed I was involved. Which I firmly, irrevocably deny.

Anyway … on the fifth anniversary of her emotional final broadcast, I reached out – as I do every year – to see if she was ok, and she finally, graciously took my call. It lasted hours, we both cried and eventually, against all odds, she agreed to come back to me.

Take a look at me now!

Despite having an extended telephonic therapy session, it took us a little while to get back into the rhythm of our friendship and for her to see how genuinely sorry I was her perception that I was involved. Which, I repeat, I was not.

Thankfully she saw her favourite dish waiting on the table and knew that our friendship was worth everything to me. We hugged, we laughed, we plotted a comeback talk-show and absolutely destroyed a bowl of my Ann Curried Sausages.

 

 

While these babies don’t make a classy dish, by any stretch of the imagination … it is shamefully delicious and pretty hard to go past during winter. Delicately poached sausages, juicy sultanas, curry powder … it’s probably best if you don’t think about what you’re eating. Just enjoy!

 

 

Ann Curried Sausages
Serves: 4.

Ingredients
750g thick beef sausages
olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 red capsicum, sliced
2 tbsp curry powder
1 cup beef stock
400g can diced tomatoes
½ cup peas
½ cup sultanas
rice, yoghurt and coriander, to serve and the latter to attempt to make it look, dare I say, fancy

Method
Bring a pot of water to the boil over high heat, add the sausages and bring to the boil for a few minutes, or until cooked through. Drain and thickly slice.

Heat a lug of oil in a large pan over medium heat and cook the onion and capsicum for a couple of minutes. Add the curry powder and cook a further minute, or until fragrant. When you can’t stand the anticipation any longer, add the sausage and stir to coat before stirring through the stock and tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, for about ten minutes, or until the sauce has thickened up. Add the peas and sultanas and cook for a couple of minutes, or until the peas are cooked through and the sultanas plumped.

Serve on a bed of rice, with some natural yoghurt … and coriander leaves, if you’re fancy. Then devour, because you know you love it, as awful as it sounds!

 

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