Toad in a Hole

Sharing of this recipe is long overdue since it was made at our Olympic themed dinner club back in October but I was waiting for the weather to turn cold and for people to start craving comfort foods again.

Why it is called "Toad in a Hole" was elusive to me but as I read about it, the best explanation that I could find was that the sausages look like little toads popping their heads/bodies out of a hole.  Perhaps with some stretch of the imagination that could be true...or perhaps the Brits were drinking a wee bit too much when they named this common British dish.

It incorporates pork sausages (aka bangers due to the popping sound that they make in the pan as they cook) in a crispy Yorkshire Pudding.  But how do you make it even better?  By wrapping the sausages in prosciutto and then topping the whole dish with deliciously rich, caramelized onion gravy.  Yikes, coronary material in the making and no wonder it tastes amazing!

I personally thought this made way too much gravy so would perhaps recommend halving the recipe for that.  Maybe you're supposed to have your Toads in a Hole swimming in gravy but I prefer just a light drizzle.

One Year Ago: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Toad in a Hole

Photo Credit: Emily H.

Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 large yellow onions, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp flour
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1/2 cup madeira wine
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tsp dry mustard
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 8 Tbsp rendered bacon fat (I didn't have enough bacon fat handy so used a combination of about 4 Tbsp bacon fat for flavor + 2 Tbsp vegetable oil + 2 Tbsp vegetable shortening)
• 6 slices prosciutto
• 6 large pork sausages (Bangers are best but I couldn't find them so would recommend something mild such as bratwurst)

Directions

1. Make onion gravy: Heat butter in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add onions and cook until golden brown, about 40 minutes.  Stir in 1 Tbsp flour.  Add stock, wine, and Worcestershire.  Bring to a boil and then cook for 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set gravy aside.
2. Heat oven to 425 degrees F.  Whisk remaining flour, mustard, and pepper together in a bowl.  Whisk in milk and eggs.  Let mixture rest for 15 minutes.  Pour 6 Tbsp bacon fat into a 9"x11" baking dish.  Heat in oven for 10 minutes.  (This heating of the fat in the pan is the key to getting a good puff to your pudding!)  In a 12" skillet over medium heat, heat up the remaining bacon fat.  Wrap 1 slice prosciutto around each sausage then place in skillet and brown all over, about 8 minutes.  Pour batter into the hot baking dish then arrange the wrapped sausages in the dish.  Bake until golden, about 25-30 minutes.  Serve with onion gravy.

Source: Saveur