Recipe : Toad In The Hole

Toad in the Hole is basically just sausages and Yorkshire pudding with a few onions thrown in, isn't it?  What can go wrong?  I'm great at cooking sausages and my Yorkshire puddings are world-renowned (trust me on this one and keep reading) so I thought I'd give it a bash.  Here is my ingredients list and method.  I sort of cooked it 'blind', like I do everything.  It worked for my Nana so there's no reason it shouldn't work for me.  Just make sure you have all ingredients available before starting so you don't have to send one of your children to the corner shop half-way through making your Toad in the Hole.

Ingredients:

• Sausages (I have no idea how many you will need.  I cooked 18 for four people, the dog nicked one during preparation and then had four that were left over.)
• 1 or 2 large onions (you'll probably need 1 as I always over estimate)
• 1 tablespoon of sugar per onion
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil per onion
• Plain flour
• Eggs
• Milk
• 1 large roasting dish
• Meal accompaniment.  I used baby potatoes.
• Oven on at about 200 °C/400 °F/Gas Mark 6 (I'm guessing at this because the numbers have rubbed off on the dial on my cooker but we always turn the knob to the place where 200 °C used to be)

I would include photographs of the preparation but no-one... NO-ONE... can make raw sausages, raw onions and Yorkshire pudding batter look sexy (and believe me, I tried).

Method:

• Place the sausages in the roasting tin.
• Slice up the onion(s).  I tend to cut mine in half and then chop them into thin strands.
• Place the onion(s), sugar and oil in a bowl and chuck around for a bit.  I don't know why I chose to do this but I'd read about it somewhere and it sounded good.
• Tip the onion, sugar and oil mixture onto the sausages, shake around for a bit and then put into the oven.
• Cook for about 20-30 minutes

Whilst the sausages are cooking put the potatoes on to boil.  Here are a picture of my potatoes.  Let's pretend that they came from my allotment because one day they will.  Now is the time to make the batter for the Yorkshire pudding mix.  People sometimes say that batter should be made in advance and left for a while.  I say bollocks.  This mix will make enough for 8 sausages so adjust accordingly.

• Mix the 4 dessert spoons of plain flour (it MUST be plain flour or it will be a big, fat fail), 2 eggs and some milk together with a balloon whisk ensuring that you get a bit of air in there.  You need enough milk to make a batter that isn't too thick and isn't too thin.  Keep mixing until you think your arm will drop off.  Have a break for a few minutes then whisk a bit more.  Repeat until the sausages are ready.
• Once your sausages are brown, whip them out of the oven, pour the batter mix over them and throw the roasting tin back into the oven.  Turn the oven up to just below 230 °C/450 °F/Gas Mark 8.  Check your potatoes aren't boiled dry.  
• Resist the temptation to open the oven door to see if the batter is rising.  It is, I promise.  Leave it about 10-15 minutes, sneak a peak and if it has risen above all expectations and is brown then it is ready.  If not, shut the oven door quickly and wait another five minutes.
• Serve with your meal accompaniment and gravy (preferably onion gravy but I couldn't be arsed making any of that so the good old Bisto granules came out).

Further notes:

You can use the same batter mix for 12 small Yorkshire puddings or add a bit more milk for a perfect pancake batter.