British Toad-in-the-Hole
A British classic! And perfect in a wood oven. This is my ‘go-to’ batter that doubles up for Yorkshire Puddings (which, incidentally, are also magnificent cooked in the wood oven.) I like to use a measuring jug to mix all the ingredients. Add each one until the amount is level with each 250ml increment. It saves faffing about with scales. Alternatively, you can measure each ingredient out into a US measuring cup, using 1 level cup of each. This recipe makes one large toad-in-the-hole or 12 individual Yorkshire puddings in a muffin tray.
OVEN TEMP
Medium Hot
Ingredients
Oil, for greasing
4 large eggs
120g/1 level cup plain flour
250ml/1 level cup milk
8 sausages or 12 chipolatas
To serve:
Mashed potato
Onion gravy
Method
1. Gently mix all the ingredients together until just combined. (Don’t overmix the batter, or the gluten in the flour will activate too much and your Yorkshire
pudding will not rise.)
2. Put the batter in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but ideally a couple of hours.
3. Preheat a cast-iron tray (ideally, a round one so you can spin it as it cooks).
4. Lightly oil the tray. Add the sausages and slide back into the oven.
5. Turn the sausages every few minutes until browned all over. (They do not need to be cooked through in the middle at this point.)
6. Carefully pour in the batter and return the dish to the oven.
7. Rotate every 5 minutes or so until the batter has puffed up and turned a lovely golden brown.
8. Insert a toothpick unto the batter to check it is cooked all the way through (the toothpick should come out clean).
9. Slice and serve with a big pile of mashed potato and lashings of onion gravy.
Wood Fired Feast by Jon Finch, GMC Publications