toad in a hole

leah | 03.19.2020

to all the haters, this is NOT egg in a basket, it is sausages in yorkshire pudding batter. this is from the wurst of lucky peach which is out of print so i don't feel bad about re-printing the recipe. yes, i know it's ugly.

this is also the first time i've been anywhere since 3/15. we drove to walker's parents' house to pick some rosemary from their front yard and bring over part of the corn rye. they weren't home, so don't worry, we didn't interact with anyone. oh, and they were out taking pete for a walk, so they didn't interact with anyone either.

ingredients:

toad in a hole

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup beer
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 tbsp butter
• 4-6 sausages (this does not work well with pre-cooked sausages)
• a couple sprigs of rosemary
• 1-2 cloves of garlic

gravy

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp red wine (optional)
• 1 cup beef or mushroom stock (i use better than bouillon)

methods:

• preheat the oven to 450F.
• make the batter by combining the flour, salt, milk and beer. beat the eggs in a separate bowl until frothy then fold into the flour mixture.
• heat up a 2-3 tbsp of butter in a cast iron pan. once it's sizzling, drop in the sausages. fry on both sides until nicely browned and the sausages are most of the way cooked. i also drop in a couple sprigs of rosemary and a smashed clove of garlic into the fat and fish them out a few minutes later.
• pour the batter over the sizzling fat. it's prettier if you don't pour the batter over the sausages but i like the crispy coating so i do it anyway. put the pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
• drop the heat to 400F and bake for another 10 minutes. remove from oven.
• while the pan is in the oven, make some gravy. onion gravy is traditional but this is an onion-free household so i just make a simple brown gravy.
• first make a roux by melting 1 tbsp butter in a saucepan and add in 1 tbsp flour. cook the flour out for a minute, make sure it's completely combined with the butter.
• pour in a tbsp or two of red wine if you want, let the alcohol cook off, then add 1 cup of beef or mushroom stock. whisk really well. season with salt & pepper and any herbs you want. i use a touch of italian seasoning, don't think about it too hard.
• bring the gravy to a boil and let it thicken.
• serve the toads with the gravy.