Toad In The Hole

I know in my single days I referred to the odd date as a toad and believe me there were a couple that would have been most at home in a deep, dark hole somewhere, but dinner last night had nothing to do with either. We can thank the British for this creation of sausage and Yorkshire pudding and believe you me it was ideal for a cold Tucson day with copious amounts of rain. Perfect hockey watching weather if you want to know the truth, but I promised the big guy we wouldn't go there, so we won't. Suffice it to say one of us was VERY happy with the outcome but the other one - mmm not so much.

We were actually supposed to have steak grilled on the barbecue but the weather was so incredibly lousy I had to come up with something else. I'd picked up some English "Bangers" at Sprouts during my market run the other day and I'd been thinking about trying this Jamie Oliver recipe so took it as my cue. Now I suppose if you're British you can easily follow Jamie's recipes, and for the most part so can I, but I found this one particularly lacking in instructions and that's from someone who's spent darn near all her life in the kitchen. That said, I'll refer you to his recipe but I'm going to tell you I cooked my Toad In the Hole for 25 minutes, but it wouldn't have been hurt with a little more oven time. 

Now for those of you that haven't tried making Yorkshire pudding, there's one thing you need to know - when it comes out of the oven it's going to deflate VERY quickly, which does make taking a picture a bit of a challenge. Usually made to accompany prime rib, standard "yorkies" are fabulous made in muffin tins and make the perfect vehicle for gravy. Well darn, so's this Toad In the Hole - perfect for us gravy lovers that is. It was tasty believe me and looked a whole lot prettier in the oven than it does in this picture. Just saying!

Will I make it again, you ask? Uhhh, yes maybe - I think I'd like to try it again in individual servings so it gets super crispy on the outside, using my own recipe for Yorkshire Pudding which I'm also going to pass along to you, instead of Jamie's. Download Yorkshire Pudding Again, he wasn't overly forthcoming with the batter mixing instructions either, nor did he tell us how much liquid to add to the gravy.  I will take responsibility for choosing the sausage though but I have to admit I wasn't nuts about the spices in it, so I'll try another kind next time. All in all though, it was worth the effort and along with onion gravy and some pan roasted brussels sprouts, it was a great dinner.  As per usual, I'm just being overly critical.

So what's up today, you ask? The day holds tons of promise. While it's pretty early right now we've a clear blue sky. The rain very conveniently watered in the tomatoes and peppers that we planted on Saturday, and after I walk the dog I'm going outside with my coffee to watch them grow and catch a couple of rays while I'm at it. Hey - I might have promised not to brag about hockey, but that doesn't mean I can't at least try and make you "green" about something else. Don't worry - it'll be hotter n' Hades here soon enough.Then you can pay me back.

Comments

[Mags]

Congrats on the hockey win. Well deserved.

But I'm super envious of your weather there right now. It's another cold and dreary one here in Ohio. Can't wait to see the sun and feel some warmth!

[June]

Boy, that was some exciting game, wasn't it? Wish I could send some sun your way. Hang in there - soon. Honest!

[Nanan]

I missed all of the games - but heard that you guys deservedly won the gold - nicely done!!!! I do love hockey and I think Canadans should win if we don't hehehehe. I guess being Cajun and a francofile and now totally into hispanic culture - I just missed that whole anglo boat - I just don't get that whole pudding thing in the Yorkshire sense... This just is not something that seems fitting for the table for me or my little Colombian husband... but then again - maybe that is just Pierre talking to me at the moment (that would be what I called the gall stone they found Friday - gonna see the surgeon tomorrow - hopefully surgery Wednesday... ugh.

[June]

Lea - geez a gall stone. Bless your heart you poor thing. Tell Pierre to take a hike! Wish I could help somehow, but I'll be thinking about ya.Some day when you're feeling better you honestly must try Yorkshire puddings in the muffin cups. They're absolutely incredible with good gravy...and I can imagine you can make that really well. Roux baby roux. Good luck sweetie. I'll be thinkin' 'bout ya.