No idea why British food has such an undeserved bad reputation. Nothing, and I mean nothing on God’s green earth beats a good ole English breakfast. Or a hearty Shepherd’s pie. Or a mellow fish pie. Oh, the many times I’ve craved fish & chips as only the British can make them! Cut those guys some slack, will you! They have a lot of wonderful dishes.

This here is one of my son’s favorite dishes, and okay, I confess I really like it, too. Toad in a hole is a typically British dish—sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter served with onion gravy.

Seriously. What’s not to love?

Ingredients:

Toad in a Hole:

small pork sausages
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk

Onion Gravy:

1oz butter
2 red onions
1 small garlic clove
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp coarse mustard
worcestershire sauce
dried thyme
pepper
salt



Directions:

* Yes, you’ll be needing pork sausages. It’s Toad in a Hole, people, it needs pork! I opted for small Catalan sausages (Spanish) but I’m sure Italian sausages work fine as well. Or regular pork sausages.

Pour 2 tbsp olive oil in a baking tray and shuffle those PORK sausages around until all sides are brushed with oil. Pop them in a preheated oven and bake at 400F (200C) for 10 minutes.

Time to make the batter. Lazy cook alert, I use my food processor for this—cooking is easy and fun, but I don’t want to make things anymore time-consuming than strictly necessary, you know? Combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp salt and 1 cup of milk and blitz for a minute or two. There. Your batter is done.

I like a somewhat bulky gravy, so I’ve cut 2 small red onions in half-quarts. That’s the one thing British and Americans have in common: they call this gravy, while in the Netherlands we simply call this onion sauce. Our gravy is so different.

Originally the ‘gravy’ doesn’t contain garlic, but since this is my recipe I’ll just allow myself some creative input on behalf of the British and add a small garlic clove.

Combine 2 tbsp all-purpose flour with 1 tsp mustard powder.

Since we’ve given the sausages a head start, they should be looking slightly tanned by now. Pour the batter around them and pop them back in the oven for 30 minutes. Until the sausages are brown and the Yorkshire pudding batter is all golden-brown and puffy.

Heat 1 oz of butter and sauté the red onions, over low heat, until soft. This will take about 5 to 8 minutes.

Once the onions are all soft and sweet, add your garlic and cook for 30 more seconds. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes before pouring in the chicken broth. Whisk until it’s a lump-free gravy. Season with salt, black pepper a tiny sprinkling dried thyme.

Finish it with a good splash of worcestershire sauce and 1/2 a tsp coarse mustard (not to be confused with Dijon mustard) and simmer the gravy for a minute or 5.

Pub food rocks! Serve with loads of fluffy mashed potatoes and green beans on the side! Now really, if my 3-year-old can’t wait until after my shots to dip the Yorkshire pudding in the gravy, you know it’s good food.

Kay’s Recipe Card

Click here for printable size.