Toad in the hole recipe

Toad in the hole

I was first introduced to this delicious dish by Aunt Kate, my father’s cousin to whom he always called Aunt Kate as she was the one who cared for him after his mother passed away when he was young. She was right off the boat from Ireland and a lovely lady who knew how to cook true Irish, Scottish, Welch, and English dishes. I learned everything I know about cooking these types of dishes from her. I can remember giggling when she introduced me to Toad in a Hole. I was like are we going to cook a frog in a hole? She laughed and then explained that it was sausage in a Yorkshire Pudding batter. Yorkshire Pudding was also a new term that I hadn’t heard of before, but my father immediately chimed in and said both were delicious. Her simple recipe doesn't require many ingredients so it’s perfect for an anytime dinner.

The history of Toad in the Hole dates to the 18th century when the United Kingdom was going through a tough time and disadvantaged families were looking for ways to make their meat go further. What better way to do that than by floating your precious, juicy sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter to create a dish worthy of kings on a budget. The trick when cooking a toad in the hole is to resist opening the oven while it's cooking so you get perfect, crisp Yorkshire pudding batter – and the sausages are cooked all the way through. Serve with piping hot onion gravy.

 

Ingredients

1oz dripping or lard (I use bacon drippings)

1 packet of good-quality pork and herb sausages (Package usually has 5 sausages)

1/2-pint milk

4oz plain flour

2 medium eggs

Salt and pepper

 

For the gravy:

3 ounces of Bacon fat

1 red onion, chopped

1 beef stock, from a cube

2tbsp balsamic vinegar

1tsp corn flour, mixed with a little water

Directions:

Set the oven to a fairly hot 400 degrees F

Place the lard or bacon dripping in a small baking dish and place in the oven for 5 mins, or until melted. Add the sausages to the pan and turn to coat in the melted fat.

Bake on the top shelf for 20 minutes or until the sausages are an even golden color.

While the sausages are cooking, prepare the Yorkshire batter. Pour the milk into the bowl of the food processor add the flour, eggs, and seasoning, and mix until blended. Add the finely chopped sage at this stage. Chill the batter until it's needed.

When the sausages are browned, pour the batter over them quickly so as not to lose too much heat from the oven, and immediately return the baking dish to the oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the batter has risen and is golden in color and crisp. Serve immediately.

 

For the gravy:

Cook the red onion in bacon fat  

Once caramelized add the stock and balsamic vinegar to the cooked onions in the pan.

Bring to a boil then add the corn flour is mixed with a little water to thicken.

 

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts from Phoenix University in Business Management, then a degree. Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix University, then on to Walden University for her master’s in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft, and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, Gouche, and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 7 blogs that range from art to life coaching, to food, to writing, Gardening, and opinion or history pieces each week. 

British Fare, Potpourri of Frugality. Kilbride