Toad in the Hole – GCC: Menu 31

 

I completely broke the recipe and suggested sides “rules” for this week’s Gutsy Cooks Club choice, Toad in the Hole.

Toad in the hole is a traditional English dish consisting of sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter, usually served with vegetables and onion gravy.  The origin of the name “Toad-in-the-Hole” is often disputed. Many suggestions are that the dish’s resemblance to a toad sticking its head out of a hole provides the dish with its somewhat unusual name.

Personally, I don’t get it…but hey, maybe I’m just not that “brilliant”.

Now, nothing against the English and their food, but I decided to take this dish out of England and put it in Italy.

Why, do you ask?

A) Because I had some ingredients that needed to be used.

B) My husband is Italian and I can never have enough Italian ;-).

And finally…

C) Because I can.

First up was making the batter, which included flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour), salt, milk and eggs…sound boring to you? it sure did for me, so I added the following:

• Ground black pepper
• 1 tsp each of fresh rosemary and parsley
• 1/2 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano

Secondly, place sausages in an oiled baking dish and bake for about 5 -10 minutes at 425°. 

I elected to add some garlic, onion and green pepper to bake along with the sausages (I used hot chicken sausages).

Lastly, reduce the oven temp to 400° and pour batter around the sausages and continue baking for approximately 30 minutes, or until batter is golden and crisp.  This is to be served hot. 

I served up the “toads” with some homemade baby portobello mushroom sauce and parmigiano.

What was the end result you ask?

Well, let’s just say Sam and I agreed “Italianizing” (is that even a word??) this dish was a good idea.  Otherwise, it would have been way too bland. 

Who knows, maybe if I had stuck to the recipe and served it with an onion gravy or mustard sauce (some of the suggestions) it would have been really good. 

However, to be honest with you, with all the recipes on my “to do” list, I doubt we’ll ever find out.

Ladies and Gentlemen…this concludes this week’s Edible Adventure.

“If God had intended us to follow recipes, He wouldn’t have given us grandmothers”. ~Linda Henley