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Toad in the Hole with Onion Gravy

Posted by Barbara Hanson, July 3, 2008 at 11:30 AM

I got the Cumberland sausages for this dish at Myers of Keswick in New York City, which you can read about Serious Eats: New York. To my surprise, I found that the Yorkshire pudding batter recipe is the same as that which I use for popovers, which makes sense, and also the one I use for ultrathin Swedish pancakes, which makes no sense at all.

- serves 4 but don't count on it -

Ingredients

For toad:
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound Cumberland sausage

For gravy:
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 cup beef stock or broth
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper

Procedure

For toad:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. While oven is heating, prepare batter: Whisk together flour, milk, eggs, and salt until smooth. Let stand for 10 minutes or so.

3. Heat oil over medium-high heat in large pan. Cut sausages into individual links. Pierce each sausage in a few places with a sharp knife.

4. Add sausages to pan, brown without cooking through, about 10 minutes. Adjust heat if necessary to prevent burning.

5. Directly from the heat, while sausages and fat are still extremely hot (this is absolutely critical) dump all into a 9x9” baking dish. Quickly arrange so sausages don’t overlap, pour batter directly over, and pop into oven. Bake for 40 minutes, without peeking, until puffed and golden. Okay, you can peek, gently. Open the oven door only a crack to check the color within the last five minutes of cooking time.

For gravy:
6. Heat butter over medium heat in medium saucepan. Add onions and saute until golden, almost lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

7. Add flour. Stir, in an attempt to distribute the flour, about a minute.

8. Pour in beef stock, and let come to a simmer as it thickens. Simmer for a few minutes to get rid of the floury taste. Add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.

9. Serve onion gravy alongside, or atop, the toad in the hole.
Should serve 4, but don’t count on it!

Post a Comment | Tagged: British, gravy, sausage, Toad in the hole

Cook the Book: Toad-in-the-Hole

Posted by Jenn Sit, December 27, 2007 at 2:00 PM

We all know that English food has a pretty bad rep—with dishes named “spotted dick” and “bangers & mash,” it’s not hard to see why. But I’m here today to defend the merits of English pub grub. Maybe it’s just because I liked sitting in the beer garden of The Turf pub eating hearty classic English dishes with a big pint of killer Old Rosie Cider (Strongbow’s too sickly sweet for my taste).They always warmed you up when it was a wee bit chilly to even be sitting outside and I loved every bite (and sip) of it. These kinds of heavy gravy-laden dishes are necessary for the heart’s survival—not in an arterial sense, but in the heart-warming, stick-to-your-ribs way that you need to get yourself out of bed and to the library after the third straight week of rain and clouds. Plus, even from a local supermarket like Tesco or Sainsbury’s, English sausage is really tasty (oh Cumberland, how I miss thee…).

Anyhow, I’ve got the folks at Martha Stewart on my side with their great brunch recipe for toad-in-the-hole from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics. If you’re not familiar with this English classic, it’s pretty simple and not as amphibious as it sounds—fresh English sausages nestled in classic buttery Yorkshire pudding (crunchy outsides, soft insides), baked, and then served with onion gravy. I’d make this recipe for brunch with some fried sunny side-up eggs or it could even be served for dinner with a side of mash or veggies. Apparently, the name comes from the way the sausages look like little toads peeping their heads out. Oh how cute—so now let’s find out where some of those other dishes got their names from…

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3 Comments | Tagged: British, Cook the Book, Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart New Classics