Halfway Up The Sausage

If you are anything like me at all, there are times when someone mentions a certain food or meal, or you catch a glimpse of it on TV or in a magazine, and it becomes all you can think about eating until you do. This happens regularly in our house. Last week it was a Chicken Caesar Salad. At the weekend Gary had a craving for KFC induced by a TV show, which lasted three days until it was eventually sated. Yesterday, with particular thanks to ITV's This Morning, it was Toad in the Hole.

Toad in the Hole is one of those classic English dishes that everyone loves, and yet many people I know avoid making because of the key ingredient - the Yorkshire Pudding!

Yorkshire's are so easy to make well, providing you do one thing... Leave the batter to rest. It's that simple. If possible, and you are planning ahead for a Sunday roast for example, you will get the best results if you make the batter the night before, and leave it to rest in the fridge overnight. Or, if you want a simple, traditional meal such as the aforementioned Toad in the Hole, you can make the batter quickly in the morning before work, and then all you need to do in the evening is cook it.

A simple batter to make a reasonable sized Toad in the Hole would be made as follows;
Sieve 115g of plain flour and add salt and pepper to taste.
Whisk 4 eggs, and then mix well into the flour.
Slowly pour in 1/2 pint of milk, whisking constantly to make a smooth batter.
Then cover with cling film and place in the fridge to rest.

When you come to make your Toad, simply place sausages in a dish and put in the oven to cook. As they are cooking they should release enough fat into the pan to then cook the Yorkshire Pudding. Once the sausages are cooked through, pour over the batter, which should fill the dish to around halfway up the depth of the sausage. Return to the oven until the Yorkshire has risen evenly and is golden brown.

Serve with lashings of gravy, and dig in!

V x