A real classic!! Toad in the hole is common place in British homes. The actual dish is made up of very few ingredients so the trick to making a successful and tasty Toad in the Hole is to use the highest quality ingredients you can get your hands on!
Ingredients: 6 Good Quality Sausages (I used Giggly Pig Sausages, Chunky Bacon)
2 Red Onions
1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of Milk 2 free range Eggs
½ tsp Chilli Flakes
Maldon Salt Black Pepper
From the Garden:
Three of 4 spears of Rosemary (Chopped)
For the gravy:
1 tsp butter
1 large onion, peeled and cut into quarters
1 Carrot
1 stick of Celery
1 tsp plain flour
1/2 tsp English mustard powder
250ml hot chicken stock
400ml dry cider
From the Garden:
Small Bunch of Thyme
3 Bay Leaves
Get the oven on to 225 degrees
I used an award winning Cider from Somerset called Sheppy’s which is matured in Oak vats for an extra rounded flavour and Giggly Pig Sausages with chunks if bacon through them that I had sourced from Barleylands farmers market.
Place your toad in the hole baking dish in the oven to heat up with a generous glug of oil.
Firstly the batter.. There is a fail safe formula you should always use for batter making, remember this and you will never have Yorkshires that sink again! One cup of flour, one cup of milk and an egg, beat it together and rest in the fridge for an hour – simple as that!! When you are cooking your Yorkshire puds make sure that the oil is oven hot before you pour the mixture in and you will always have Yorkshires that rise! In this case I wanted to make the batter a little richer so I added an extra egg and to flavour it I used some chopped Rosemary and a small amount of dried chilli – as well as seasoning of course. Mix this all together and allow to sit in the fridge (minimum 30 minutes, hour by preference) whilst you prepare your other ingredients. I had a simple parsley and mustard mash with mine so I peeled the spuds and got them in a pan of salted water.
In a frying pan fry off your sausages in a little Olive Oil, you want some colour on the outside but they do not need to be cooked through.
Peel your two onions and chop into lengthways quarters.
Now, by now the dish that you have had in the oven should be very hot and the oil smoking. Carefully through the whole of the next process! Take your batter mix from the fridge and pour the batter evenly into the baking dish. The oil will splutter and spit so be careful! This is the secret to getting your Yorkshires to rise..! You will see the batter start to cook around the edges this is an excellent sign. Now, using a pair of tongs evenly place the sausages into the batter and in the gaps place the quarters of onion semi-submerging each piece. Get the toad in the hole back in the oven as quickly as possible and set the timer for 30 minutes.
In the frying pan that you cooked the sausages in add a knob of butter. Chop an onion, a celery stalk and a carrot and fry in the sausage fat and butter mix with the Bay leaves. You want the vegetables to take on colour and soften this should take 5 minutes or so. Now add your flour and mustard powder stir into the fat and cook for another 30 seconds. Now uncap your cider and pour into the pan carefully as it tends to froth up. Once in, add your Chicken stock and allow to simmer until you are ready to serve.
The toad in the hole is going to take 45 minutes in total to cook so although I told you to set your alarm for 30 minutes earlier when it goes off its time to get your potatoes on!!
When you are getting close to serving; get your plates warm and pass your gravy through a sieve and into another pan to keep warm (put it on a low heat and check the seasoning). Mash your potatoes if you are having a mash with it.
Now, the big unveiling!
Your Toad in the Hole should be crispy on top and around the edges whilst being soft and fluffy underneath, the onions roasted and sweet and the sausages brown and nicely cooked.
I served this with a Mustard and Parsley Mash and Asparagus although any green seasonal vegetable is perfect bathed in the Cider gravy!
This is great for a chilly Spring evening, in fact its perfect for any chilly evening which is why it’s a very regularly eaten! The crispy batter, plump meaty sausages and sweet roast onions.. And then, the rich apple’y gravy.. Delicious!
If it has been a while since you cooked Toad in the Hole get some great sausages in and start cooking!
British Food Home
No comments:
Post a Comment