I love cuisine from all over the world, so I decided to share some recipes I picked up on my travels. Some are famous, some not so much. They are all tasty and beloved in the place they are from. However, before we set off to discover the world through food, let’s start a little closer to home. My home country that is.
England is a melting pot of cultures and cuisine and there are many regional dishes. England excels at sausages, stews, casseroles and roasts but also loves to borrow from world cuisine. Chicken tikka masala has even been voted the nation’s favourite dish, although I would probably chose fish and chips.
This recipe is simple, filling and perfect for dinner on a work night when you don’t have a lot of time. What is it? Toad in the Hole.
Sounds disgusting!
If you’ve never heard of toad in the hole before, you are probably thinking this sounds disgusting or wondering if toad tastes like chicken.
Be assured no toads or holes are harmed in the making of this dish. In fact there is not an amphibian in sight. The ingredients are somewhat more mundane, comprising of sausages cooked in a batter pudding or Yorkshire pudding as it is commonly known.
Batter get started
Terrible pun definitely intended. The batter is the key to a good toad in the the hole. If your batter doesn’t rise properly you will have a greasy pancake rather than a delicious pudding.
I wasn’t always good at making puddings but with perseverance and instruction from the Yorkshire pudding experts in the family, I now have success 9 times out of 10 and can even cook them on the BBQ in the summer!
Ingredients
For a tin of approximately 10 inches by 7 inches
- 200 ml of flour
- 200ml milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 4-6 Sausages
- oil suitable for high temp cooking e.g. avocado oil, sunflower oil ( lard or dripping can also be used)
Tips
- While you can use the batter as soon as it is made, letting it stand for a period of time makes for a better pudding. It allows the mixture to warm to room temperature and start fermenting slightly which aids it to rise in the oven. Any flour “bubbles” that didn’t get mixed into the batter also tend to break up.
- Once the batter is made, avoid stirring again until just before you are going to use it.
- The temperature of the ingredients is important. While you don’t need to brown the sausages, having them hot when you add them to the batter, helps the pudding to rise.
- Under heated oil is one thing that will stop your puddings from rising. The batter should sizzle and start to cook at the edges as you start to pour it in the pan. If it doesn’t, your oil wasn’t hot enough.
Method
- Use a jug that can take at least 500ml.
- Measure the ingredients by adding them to the jug one at a time to the correct volume. Flour to 200ml, milk to 400ml, eggs and salt added last.
- Beat mixture thoroughly until mixed and no flour lumps are seen.
- Cover jug with a plate or clean cloth and leave on the counter top for 30 mins to 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425F or 220C
- Lightly oil your oven tin.
- Lightly brown sausages in a pan. They do not need to be fully cooked, they will finish cooking in the oven. This recipe works best when all the ingredients are warm before combining.
- Heat oiled pan in oven for 5-10 mins or until oil starts to smoke.
- Working quickly, remove pan from oven, pour in batter and then add sausages, spacing them evenly along the bottom of the pan.
- Return to the oven as quickly as possible.
- Cook for 25 – 30 mins until the pudding is risen and dark golden brown on top.
- Serve with gravy and vegetables of choice. I recommend onion gravy and peas.
Pudding with everything
The batter above can also be used to make Yorkshire Puddings to go with roast beef or other roast meat. Make a large pudding in a tin like the one for toad in the hole or use a tart/shallow muffin tin to make individual puddings. The mixture above will make 24 individual puddings. If you have the mixture, you only need 1 egg. Leftover puddings can be reheated or frozen and reheated. I like to eat them cold drizzled with golden syrup.
This batter also makes good “English” pancakes – they are thicker and less buttery than a crepe but not the fluffy mountain of an American pancake.
I hope you enjoyed this first stage of the tour. Next time we go to France.
Please wear a mask, practice social distancing and always be creative.
We are having toad in the hole for dinner tonight with mashed potatoes, vegetables and gravy ! Yum.