Two Fat Ladies.

                                             My lovely foodie friend Gill and I

I quess you're either a foodie or not! I have found that my most resounding friendships are with people who share my passion for cooking and sharing food. My friend Gill is a perfect example, her kitchen is the hub of her house and whenever I visit we spend hours sat at her kitchen table langourously eating and drinking.

The love of food inspired Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright to travel around the UK on a vintage motorcycle and sidecar in their quest to rediscover the delights of traditional home cooking. 'Two Fat Ladies' was born! Both ladies were great British eccentrics, Clarissa was totally non-pc and very outspoken, she always fought for what she believed in and most episodes of two fat ladies ended with Jennifer smoking a cigarette and drinking an alcoholic drink!

The two fat ladies were cooks, not chefs and they rejected the elaborations of haute cuisine, controversially they would use ingredients such as clotted cream, lard and fatty meats. Their entertaining culinary travels were televised from 1996-1999, Jennifer died after filming the fourth series and sadly Clarissa has now too passed away.

When a friend and I started 'Two Mad Cows' (my former food blog,) it was largely inspired by two fat ladies. I loved Clarissa and Jennifer's eccentric behaviour, particularly when Jennifer would have a cigarette whilst something was cooking in the oven! They thumbed their noses at conventionality but what they did in the kitchen was extremely erudite! Quite often my partner Glenn would refer to our food blog as 'two fat cows' oblivious to the fact he was getting his 'fat' 'cows' 'ladies' and 'mad' confused, which didn't go down too well with my co-blogger.

I would like to think the two fat ladies might like my blog as it is about unpretentious cooking laced with fun and the odd outburst in true Clarissa style!

And so, further to yesterday's post we now have our second helping of gammon ham. I must quickly say that some dishes photograph better than others, there is no way I can make a boiling gammon ham aesthetically pleasing! Todays 'hotch potch' dish isn't a pretty haute cuisine meal, it is what it is, a hearty, extremely delicious meal and I urge you to try it.

Leftover pie

Recipe
Serves 4
4 small handfuls of shredded cooked meat (in this recipe gammon)
500g pre cooked vegetables (leftover from yesterday's roast)
1 pint of gravy
500g potatoes

Preheat oven180c/gas mark 4
Peel and chop potatoes, put them into a pan of boiling water for 15 minutes, drain and mash, add a pinch of salt and pepper and a knob of butter
Put the shredded gammon into an ovenproof dish

Scatter leftover vegetables on top (I had some sliced potatoes left from yesterday and added them too)

If you don't have any leftover vegetables rapidly boil some veg for 5 minutes and add

Pour gravy over

                              Maybe not visually attractive but very flavoursome!

Top with mashed potatoes and cook for 30 to 40 minutes

Serve onto warm plates

                           Serve with a good old helping of baked beans--delicious!

'I am oriented to country matters; you are born and eventually you die.'
-Clarissa Dickson Wright

Love Donna xxxx