Monday, February 11, 2019

Mini Toad in the Hole for #BakingBloggers

I'm feeling a little stuffed at the moment.  I made my offering for the Baking Bloggers theme this month, and ate the whole thing. 
Except for one sausage, I gave that one to the dog.

Our challenge this month was to make something British.   It could be either sweet or savory, but had to be baked.  I'm a member of a group called Baking Bloggers and every month we have a theme or challenge.  This month it was British Baking  Sweet or Savory.

My mind went to a few British favorites, but it got stuck on this.

I love Toad in a Hole.  But I've never blogged about it.
Hello!!!!
This is such an easy meal to make, tastes great and is fun to boot. 
However, I did change it up a smidge.

Traditionally this is made with English Banger Sausages, and I had every intention of buying some the next time I was in the 'big city' but still haven't make it up there. This is traditionally served with onion gravy for dinner.
A friend told me that this was also served for 'tea' to the children, and that way they got a hearty meal and didn't bug the grownups, who would eat much later.

At one time it was also a way to use up 'leftover meats', but evolved over time to just use sausages as the meat.  Ideally it should be made with those lovely fat sausages that split as they bake, aka bangers.

However, I made this for breakfast/brunch. 

Won't be the last time either. 
I had some 'gasp' turkey, low fat breakfast sausages and decided to use them.   And I'm not in the least bit sorry, either.

I've been having a power struggle with my oven lately, and it won this round, but I had an ace up my sleeve or rather a toaster oven on the counter.

My first one failed, miserably, sigh.
I browned my sausages, preheated the oven
 Poured in half the batter, while the pan was nice and hot
 Baked them and nothing, nada, not one little teeny rise. sigh  To over use an expression, flat as a pancake.
Since I'd only used half the batter, I had also cooked a Dutch Baby in the toaster oven and it worked, beautifully.
So I whipped up some more batter, and VOILA!!! 
A big beautiful, delicious Toad in the Hole.
Nirvana
And then I desecrated it a little.  I poured some maple syrup on the plate, and well, all I can say is, my scale may never forgive me, cause, this may make a regular appearance on my breakfast/lunch/dinner table.
 Life is good

I have to share another picture, cause this worked out so well, I had to try to recreate it.
Toad in a Hole
Since I had a little batter left, I put it into this custard cup and baked it as well.


I used my basic, (usually)Yorkshire Pudding never fail recipe for the batter.  I also used some turkey sausage with maple flavoring instead of English Banger Sausages.
Do you know why they call them 'bangers'? Because if you don't prick the casing as they're cooking, they 'bang' open and split from the hot fat cooking inside. And split a lot of the time even if you prick the casing.   
They are so good.





Yield: 2 servings

Toad in a Hole

prep time: 30 minscook time: 20 minstotal time: 50 mins
This is a quick and easy breakfast, lunch or dinner idea. Kids usually love it, as do adults.

ingredients:

  • 2 eggs (I've been using Jumbo eggs lately cause they've been so inexpensive) cracked into a measuring cup.
  • I get a half cup of eggs from the two Jumbo eggs.
  • 1/2 cup milk (equal amount of milk to egg)
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour (equal amount of flour to egg)
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2-4 English Banger Sausages
  • or
  • 6 small breakfast sausages ( 3 per person or serving)

instructions:

  1. Whisk the eggs and milk together, really well, or use a hand beater. Let this sit for about 20 minutes and then sift the flour into the egg/milk batter, beating very well, until it resembles a thick cream. If you happen to get any lumps in there, just sieve them out. Set the batter aside for a minimum of 30 minutes or several hours if you can. 
  2. While it's resting, you can either precook the sausages, as I did, or in an oven safe pan, grease the pan, place the bangers in the pan, and bake for 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Turn the sausages over, and bake an additional 10 minutes, boosting the oven temperature up to 425-450 degrees.  The sausages will have released some fat.  Pour the batter over the sausages, and bake for an additional 20 minutes.  The batter will rise up and fold around the sausages.
  3. If you're just making Yorkshire Puddings or Yorkies as I call them,  here's a couple of hints.  One of the main tricks of making sure that Yorkshire Pudding's rise is not letting the pan with the hot fat in it cool down. So, you keep the pan in the oven, and hope you don't let out too much heat as you're pouring the batter in. Then you hurry up and shut the door, and cross your fingers you're not going to pull out hockey pucks. Here's my hint on how to not make hockey pucks.
  4. Turn on a large element on top of the stove, doesn't have to be on a high temp, then place your pan on top of that as you're pouring the batter into the cups/pan. No loss of heat.
  5. Place the pan back in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, just til they are all puffed up and golden.
  6. If using a toaster oven, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, and place an oven safe pan inside to heat.  Let heat for 5 minutes or so, with the browned sausages in the pan, remove the pan, closing the oven door, and pour the batter over the sausages. Place back in the oven, and bake for 20-25 minutes. 
  7. Serve immediately.
You can also divide the basic recipe in half, which is what I do.  It still works very well. 
Created using The Recipes Generator

Baking Bloggers

British Baking

I'm adding a Red Plate here, because they wer
chosen as one of the most popular dishes at Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday. 
Sidsel Munkholm - Author
Sidsel Munkholm - Author

Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

17 comments:

  1. I never knew why they called them bangers. Thanks for the lesson.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even when you 'prick' them, they'll still split open as they're cooking. I've had them almost jump out of the pan, which is an interesting experience.

      Delete
  2. I feel like this may be showing up on my plate one weekend morning soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a great dish for special occasions or just because.

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  3. These look so fun! Thanks for sharing your experiments and how you got it to work out! Delicious sounding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've always said, I'll share the fails along with the wins. Can't always make it perfect the first time.

      Delete
  4. Yep, this will definitely be on my menu soon! Love your variations to the classic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I do like them with a more traditional sausage, but it really is a great breakfast dish. You get your eggs, sausage and, you can even put a little maple syrup on top, so you also have your pancake as well.

      Delete
  5. So THAT'S why they call them bangers! That totally makes sense. My husband would love this and yet I've never made it. I need to remedy that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely try this. If you can get English style Bangers, that's the way to make it. Do remember to prick them as they start to cook. I've had them literally explode. They tasted great, but made a bit of a mess.

      Delete
  6. This dish look so amazing and delicious, love the description of the it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations!
    Your post is on the Top Ten for Full Plate Thursday this week. Thanks so much for sharing it with us and hope you have a great week!
    Miz Helen

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am not a breakfast person, but would gladly start my day with a nice serving of these babies!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But... They're not just for breakfast. I like a hearty breakfast, and these fit the bill, perfectly.

      Delete

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