Toad in the Hole

First British Recipe!

Toad in the Hole

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups flour
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup Butter Milk (or another 1/2 Cups of milk)
• 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• 4 Sausages, 
• I used some homemade Polish style ones I made last week, but any mild Sausage will be delightful

Special Tools:

1. Stoneware baking dish, or another heavy-style bake ware dish. a light pan just wont do this recipe justice

Instructions:

1. Gently spray the stone ware with cooking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 425°F, with the bake ware also in the oven heating up. Nothing in it yet though!
3. In a large bowl combine the flour and the salt.
4. Make a well in the center of the bowl and set aside for a moment.
5. In another bowl gently whisk the eggs. Whisk in the milk and butter milk (or just milk, no harm done). 
6. Pour the egg mixture into the well of the first bowl, and whisk until the batter is pretty smooth. Like a nice pancake batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside for about 30 minutes to rest.
7. While the batter we just prepared sets for a bit, let's brown the sausages a bit on all sides in a skillet over medium heat. 
8. They do not need to be cooked through, but you want the casings to be browned a bit before proceeding.
9. Once sausages are browned and about halfway cooked through, remove the stonewaredish from the oven, 
10. Arrange sausages in the stone ware in a single layer. 
11. Pour the batter over the sausages and return everything to the warmed oven. 
12. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the batter has cooked, puffed and is turning a lovely golden brown.
13. Let sit about 2 minutes before cutting.
14. To serve, use a sharp knife to separate the batter from the edges of the pan, and then cut the loaf so everyone gets a sausage and some "bread".
15. Goes great with maple syrup on a lazy Sunday morning.

Enjoy!

Ps. March 5, 2014- I dreamed that I par-cooked some hashbrowns most of the way through until they were just starting to turn golden and get a crunch to them, and then put these on the bottom of the heated stoneware, then the sausages and then the batter. This might have been my first prophesy dream. 

Notes:

I made toad in the hole for the first time during a themed dinner party I was throwing, where the general theme was just "Northern Europe" so we had polish Sausages, and lamb, cornish game hen, Irish Boxty, Scottish Clapshot and a few more veggie dishes to try and keep it almost healthy. Everything turned out pretty good, I just don't like Turnip very much so the clapshot wasn't my favorite, and while the Boxty and Toad in the hole are more breakfast foods they were a pretty big hit. Toad in the hole being the clear top food of the night though.

I used a pork and beef Polish sausage that I made myself, and I made my sausages large so this dish was a big crowd pleaser when I served it at my house. But like I said, any mild sausage is going to work well, though I might not use a spicy or Italian flavored one is my only suggestion.

This is a real traditional British recipe, and I myself have no claims to any British ancestry, in fact my "people" aren't real fans of the old English. But soon my last name will change, I will give up my Scottish/ Nova Scotian roots and take hold of new traditions in the bliss of matrimony with a fresh English Name. . .  

However I still think boiled/steamed puddings are gross and will likely never ever accept them as proper food, but I will try my best to make some traditions from the English part of my heart. 

Sausages baked in batter is a pretty good place to start on this mission if you ask me. Much better than trying to learn to like mushy peas.

Other Places:

What was cooking one year ago?

Perfect Home Fries