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submitted by twobobs
Toad-in-the-hole is another old English dish and a traditional favourite of Scrotes. You need good quality herby English pork sausages, and the batter for Yorkshire Pudding given elsewhere. It is worth shopping around for the sausages- Scrote tends to avoid the packet sausages in supermarkets and get his from a small local butcher.
For the batter, you need 4 ounces of plain flour, 1 egg, half a pint of milk and some butter. You will also need a mixing bowl, and a ballon whisk helps, although a fork will do. Put the flour in the mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and break the egg into it. Whisk into it some of the flour, making a thick paste. Keep mixing in more of the flour, adding some milk if the paste becomes too thick to manage, and beating out any lumps. When all the flour has been incorporated, add the rest of the milk and whisk the mixture thoroughly. The mixture should be like single cream in consistency, but if in doubt err on the liquid side. Set the mixture to rest in the fridge for at least half an hour- this is important. Before using it, whisk the mixture again.
Smear the shallow baking dish with a little oil to prevent sticking. Arrange the sausages (there should be eight to the pound) and set to bake in a moderately hot oven for 30 to 40 minutes to cook. In the last 5 minutes turn the oven up so that the fat that has sweated from the sausages becomes smoking hot. Pour the batter over the sausages into the dish and quickly return to the oven for a further 40 minutes. Resist the urge to peek or the batter will collapse. The batter should rise and curl over the embedded sausages, brown and crisp on the outside and soft and succulent on the inside. When it is ready, cut up the dish into portions and serve with cooked green vegetables on the side.