12.05.2011

The Two Fat Ladies and Spatchcocked Game Hens


Are you all familiar with The Two Fat Ladies? They starred in a BBC cooking program in the late 90's. Their names were Clarissa Dickson Wright (on the right in the photo below) and Jennifer Paterson. The show ran for 4 seasons and several channels picked it up. I think it's now showing on the Cooking Channel.


Here's how
someone online described them:
They promoted the use of lard. They looked like men in drag. They were old and badly dressed. They were a bit like bag ladies but with more jewelry. One of them smoked and drank and wore bright red nail varnish and diamond rings as she plunged her fingers into all manner of food. (The other was a recovering alcoholic.) Almost surreally they drove a vintage Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle and sidecar wearing  goggles and old leather bike jackets.
Yes I know, amusing, and spot on, as the British say. Obviously (using lard, for example), their show disregarded health issues. And the animal activists weren't pleased either as these two fat ladies loved meat and game and had no patience with vegetarians. Frankly, I found their show totally entertaining, delivered in their posh accents. 
There's no denying they both led fascinating lives. You should Google them, just to read about their backgrounds. Here and Here. Fascinating stuff, really. 

Jennifer passed away in 1999 from lung cancer. She did enjoy imbibing and kept smoking and drinking right up to the end; a friend of hers phoned her at the hospital to ask how she was and Jennifer nonchalantly replied:  "I'm dying dear." 

Clarissa, who was twenty years younger than Jennifer, is still going strong and still on the wagon.

During the series, Clarissa made a Mustard/butter Spatchcock Chicken in one show and I could never quite get it out of my mind. She mentioned it was her mother's recipe. They didn't "do" recipes, (although I think a cookbook based on this show was published somewhere along the way) never measured anything that I remember, so I replayed the episode and jotted down ingredients. It's pretty simple to spatchcock a chicken or game hens. If you've never done it, here's a video.





I used two Cornish game hens, didn't use quite so much butter (which melts to the bottom of the pan anyway and merely leaves a nice mustard flavor to the chicken), didn't dot butter on top of the bread, but I did sprinkle some fresh herbs on top so it tasted more like stuffing. This recipe was regarded as a bad influence on the British diet. No doubt it's a bad influence on the rest if us too, so I figured I better post this before January when we'll probably all be on a diet!  

Deviled Spatchcocked Game hens



Ingredients:

1 stick soft butter
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
dash Tabasco
3 Tablespoons dry mustard
3 cups bread crumbs, crusts removed
2 game hens, spatchcocked

Method:

Spread the mustard butter on the chicken, thickly. Top with the soft bread crumbs.
Dot with butter. Bake 375 for 40 minutes.



47 comments:

  1. I loved to watch those ladies and hadn't realized one of them had died. I'll have to try to find the re-runs of their shows. Had to chuckle at the description someone wrote up about them. Love this mustard recipe for the cornish hens. It's been years since I've cooked them.

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  2. The chicken must be very tasty covered with breadcrumbs and butter.

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  3. Replies
    1. Me. Too. I watch it on my Itouch when I need a good reciepe

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    2. Me too. I even watch them on my Itouch

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  4. That dish looks tasty! I remember them. My grandparents used to watch The Two Fat Ladies on tv...

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  5. I remember those ladies and I coveted that motorcycle and side car!! Your rendition of their spatchcocked chicken looks delicious. I have two Cornish hens in the freezer (right beside the duck) and am thinking about recipes for them.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  6. Your chicken is beautiful. I so enjoyed these two ladies. They were so entertaining, it just made you want to cook.

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  7. I enjoyed the Two Fat Ladies, they were a riot! I just started using the spatchcock technique and I love it. Have to try this recipe next, your chicken looks fantastic!

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  8. I watched their show all the time, they were so entertaining.

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  9. I have definitely heard of these ladies but their show never came to the Canadian Food Network. Spatchcock chicken cooks in half the time so is definitely a winner!

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  10. The two fat ladies weren't to my taste, but your (their) recipe looks delicious...those crusty breadcrumbs and the beautiful golden color, it's making me so hungry!

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  11. Two Fat Ladies was the first cooking show that I watched with any regularity and I always found them strangely interesting. Real characters to be sure. I admit I don't think I ever tried one of their recipes. It was their antics I was interested in. Their riding around on the motorcycle and side car still makes me laugh.

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  12. I do remember the fat ladies very well (I am that old) but recall watching them happily and never cooking from them. However that mustard butter slathered on those hens just changed my mind!

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  13. I don't know them, but the dish looks delicious,Barbara!

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  14. Love this classic recipe!

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  15. I love watching their show! My mom absolutely loved it when it was first out and I catch it on The Cooking Channel now. Great recipe. Stop by The Pink Home if you get a chance and check out some of my new designs. :)

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  16. I used to enjoy them years ago! Very funny ladies very entertaining! This chicken sounds heavenly especially with all the butter, bread and mustard! would eat it to the last morsel happily!

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  17. They were quite a revelation when they burst onto screens here! Quite unlike other cooking shows! :D And hehe the description is very funny :)

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  18. J'aime beaucoup.
    See soon.

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  19. Hi Barbara,

    We used to love watching the Two Fat Ladies, and still watch reruns when they are on. We were sorry when Jennifer passed away.
    I used to be amazed at all the cream and butter they used in their cooking.
    Thanks for sharing this recipe, the mustard butter will keep the chicken moist.

    Happy week
    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  20. I do remember the Two Fat Ladies...I never watched it but, I knew folks who absolutely loved it.

    Your chicken rocks!

    Velva

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  21. I've never watched these two ladies but they sound like such a hoot! :-) I love quirky, delightful individuals like this. :-)

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  22. I loved that show. They were so funny and unabashed in their use of super high fat ingredients, great fun!
    Your chicken looks juicy and delicious.
    *kisses* HH

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  23. I have one of their cookbooks but I don't think I have ever cooked from it! Clarissa D-W is quite the character. In her memoir she talks about sleeping with a member of parliament behind the Speakers Chair in the House.

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  24. I've heard of this show, though I've never seen it, and it sounds like a trip.

    Similarly, I've heard of spatchcocked chicken but have never made or eaten it!

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  25. I cannot get enough of the two fat ladies. I've loved them for years. Still watch them every saturday on cooking channel, although I liked them on PBS better, just because that's where they belonged you know?

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  26. I loved those ladies. They were the best of Britain in so many ways... hugely eccentric but massively entertaining. Clarissa is still wowing them on TV... visiting castles and playing with ancient kitchens and recipes (right up my alley). I love her style and her joie de vivre. They were both unapologetic about their looks and their lifestyles and that was supremely refreshing. I must say, this recipe is a killer and although not terribly pc, sometimes girls just need to blow off some steam and damn the calories~

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  27. great tribute! i need to learn more about these two gals. love this dish!

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  28. This is a very festive dish Beth! I love birds and these hens look terrific!

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  29. Sorry Barbara, I was commenting to Beth at Muses and Meringues before you and it seems that I repeated her name. I apologize for that!

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  30. I loved that show! What a trip down memory land you have taken me on! Though from and in Britain, the kitchens they cooked in and how they cooked mirrored my grandmother to a T! I have never heard the word spatchcock - just watched the video. Butterfly I would understand, but really glad I watched as it is easy to do.
    The should rerun the series. I would definitely watch it again!
    :)
    V

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  31. Barbara ~ I caught a few of their shows 'back in the day' and LOVED THEM - HYSTERICAL!!! but those two could cook like nobody's business . . . thanks for the trip down memory lane . . . your Cornish hens look fabulous too!

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  32. Such a fun post. I've never spatchcock a chicken but the video makes it sound pretty easy. I hope I stumble on an episode of The Two Fat Ladies some time while I'm channel surfing.

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  33. I loved that show! They could cover a little game bird with bacon like no one else. This mustard butter sounds delicious, and the crispy bread on top is a great idea. Looks fantastic.

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  34. i'm unfamiliar with these gals, but they sound like a couple of folks i'd find amusing! speaking of amusement, i've always loved the word 'spatchcock.' what fun and deliciousness!

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  35. I very vaguely remember watching an episode somewhere of these ladies...but I remember they were captivating and extremely entertaining! Thanks for the reminders on what a great show they had. The game hens look fantastic!

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  36. I loved watching The Two Fat Ladies...all personality! I have been meaning to look them up where I can see the shows again. I think I remember seeing them make this dish before! A good reminder for me!

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  37. I'm already on a diet since Thanksgiving but this does look delicious for when the holidays are gone and so is extra weight ;) Love the mustard in this recipe.

    I never got to see The Two Fat Ladies but they must have been a hoot together.

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  38. Love their show, so glad you posted this!

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  39. Perfect time to post this recipe for sure, the two fat ladies were awesome.

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  40. I have been on a diet since Thanksgiving Barbara and have the pie hips off ready to put on the cookie and carmel popcorn hips for Christmas!!!
    This recipe looks and sounds so good. As do all the recipes you share. I loved watching these two girl's show. It made me laugh and salivate all at the same time. I can remember my mom never use anything but lard in our cooking growing up. I would hate to know what my cholesterol levels were when I was eight.
    hugs from here...

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  41. I love the 2 fat ladies a lot! I love how they entertain me all the way in their programmes & in their books!

    But I hardly cook like that at home!
    Good for you & for us & other americans that you introduced them to the bloggers!

    These ladies rock & this recipe is no exception in their repertoire!

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  42. We adored the Two Fat Ladies and were really sad when Jennifer died. I can completely imagine her telling the friend "I'm dying dear." So classic Jennifer. They did publish several cookbooks. We have the one called The Two Fat Ladies Ride Again.

    They were friends of fat and caloric excess that's for sure. But it was so marvelous to watch them motorbike over to some exotic or remote part of Britain and whip the menfolk into shape with their fun cooking. I remember this one episode where they made a beef Wellington for a huge party of firemen. Classic.

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  43. Ohhh, yummy! That looks like comfort food. And thanks for the lesson on spatchcocking!

    I've heard of the Two Fat Ladies but never really watched them. I didn't realize one of them had died. That's sad.

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  44. You have very nice blog, foods look so delicious, I am hungry..

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