Toad in the hole

This is the food of my childhood and some thing that you need to make and eat as soon as it comes out of the oven. No toads are actually used in the cooking, just sausages, so why it is called toad in the hole I do not know.

All it is is a batter mix that you bake in the oven with some sausages in it, you will need

115g/4oz plain flour
large pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 large free-range eggs
300ml/½ pint milk
2 tbsp/30g fresh thyme leaves
8 good quality pork sausages
2 tbsp/30g vegetable oil

First make your batter, sift the flour in to a bowl then add the eggs and start to whisk them together with the flour. As you do this add the milk a little at a time till you end up with a smooth batter. If you get a lump batter do not panic blend it together with a hand blender. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle in the thyme leaves. Now set the batter mix to one side and let it rest for 30 minutes or longer.

The turn the oven on and preheat to 200c/400f, quiet a hot oven. Take the tin that you are going to bake the batter mix in and pour in the oil and heat in the oven. You want the oil to be smoking hot.

Start by grilling your sausages just to get then stated then take out the hot tin with the oil and pour in the batter mix. You want to hear the batter mix sizzle as it hits the fat . then pop the sausages in on top of the batter and put this all back in the oven .

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the batter has risen and golden-brown but firm . pull it out to soon and it will sink , leave it in to long and it will go to hard . Once it is done serve with mashed potatoes and onion gravy.