Toad in a Hole (British Version)

I grew up on Sunday roast beef and Yorkshire puddings while my wife grew up eating the southern American version of toad in a hole, a pan fried piece of buttered bread with round hole in the center in which a egg is fried. She also likes pancakes called Dutch babies which are similar to a Yorkshire pudding pancake. I like both versions and plan to make both and call it toad in the hole, 2 ways. Today I am going to show you the British version first. This is a simple dish and I am going to make a large single serving using a small cast iron skillet but you can make a full version in a full sized cast iron skillet (Just double the recipe amounts). Let this be a starting point and make it your own by changing things around. I can see using corn meal, using different meats, (I tried it with smoked turkey and quail eggs) eggs. Traditionally this is served with a gravy, but today I served it with maple syrup (my wife's idea).

Ingredients:

6 links of breakfast sausage

1/2 cup self rising flour

3 eggs

2 tbsp. melted butter plus extra for the skillet

1/2 to 1 cup buttermilk

salt, pepper and sugar to taste

maple syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Beat the eggs and 1/2 cup of the buttermilk together with salt, pepper and the sugar. Add the flour to a bowl, make a well in the center and stir in the egg mixture. Adjust the thickness of the batter to your liking. Thinner will be more like Yorkshire pudding, thicker more like a pancake. Choose your preference. Let rest for half a hour.

Brown the sausage in a skillet or in the oven. Save the grease.

Heat the cast iron skillet in the oven for at least 10 minutes. Remove the preheated skillet from the oven and add the grease from the sausage plus some butter to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add a thin layer of batter, then the sausages, then more batter filling the pan at least half way up the pan. Return the skillet to the oven and bake until brown on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve with maple syrup and enjoy!

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