The Viking Sausages – Filiberts’ Toad in the Hole With Onion Gravy

You may remember that a month or two ago I asked you what you would say if, when questioned, you were asked “what is mankind’s greatest invention?”  You’ll also remember that at the time I proved conclusively that, despite strong entries from ‘The Wheel’, ‘The Computer’ and ‘Kriss Akabusi’, the humble sausage was indeed mankind’s greatest achievement. 

Of course, you’ve got your sausage, perfect in its simplicity, but sometimes a sausage can be, well, a bit too run of the mill.  You can’t blame it, it’s been around since the 6^th Century in one form or another and I think that you’d be a bit knackered too if you’d been knocking about for the better part of 1,500 years.

Thankfully, in the 18^th Century, someone in England by the name of Hannah Glasse wrote a book called ‘The Art of Cookery’.  In it, she presented a recipe for ‘Pigeons in a Hole’ – pigeons cooked in Yorkshire Pudding batter.  Come 1861, a gentleman called Charles Elme Francatelli made a similar recipe – again eschewing sausages like some kind of madman – with “bits and pieces of any kind of meat, which are to be had cheapest at night when the day's sale is over.”  And then, after years of experimentation, and shrouded in secrecy as no one person can actually lay claim to the decision to place hog tubes in batter, mankind was given the one, the only, the unbeatable Toad in the Hole – the dish that makes the sausage better.  You may hear it referred to as ‘Frog in the Toad’.  If you do, you must report the person that uttered that obscenity to a member of your local constabulary at once.  People like that aren’t welcome in polite society.

So, as no one has yet claimed the invention of Toad in the Hole, I come to you with a revelation.  It was invented by my great great great great great great grandfather on the English side.  His name was Filibert Harvey, and he was a master cook, raconteur, swordsman, lover and cad.  He invented this incredible dish to sustain himself through periods of immense exertion: mental, physical and otherwise.  The recipe itself has been handed down from generation to generation and now, finally, the Food Viking is honoured and proud to present to you:

The Viking Sausages – Filiberts’ Toad in the Hole With Onion Gravy

First of all, as usual, you’re going to need STUFF.  On the shopping list this week:

For the Toad:

- Sausages – nice, thick, porky tubes of brilliance

- Milk

- 2 eggs

- Plain flour

For the Onion Gravy:

- A red onion, sliced

- Beef Stock

- 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped

- A spoonful of Dijon mustard

For the Mash:

- Potatoes

- Milk

- Butter

You’ll notice in the pictures above that I included cheese and spring onions – I had planned on making champ.  For some reason, lost in my memory, I chose not to.  So if you want to make champ, go ahead.  If, like me, you have the memory of a…  a… something that has a short memory, you forget, then normal mash will do just as well.

Anyway, moving on.  Now that you have all of your bits and bobs, let’s get cooking!

Method:

Before anything else, you need to make your hole.  I mean batter.  You need to make your batter.  Here is my foolproof recipe, which is enough to cover 6 sausages. 

·         3 tablespoons plain flour

·         Crack 2 eggs in to flour

·         Add a splash of milk

·         Add a splash of cold water

·         Beat together until smooth

·         Add more milk if needed

·         Leave in fridge for about half an hour so the mixture is well chilled – this is important for fluffiness of end product!

Now that’s done, let’s get on to the Toady part of the evening:

·         Preheat oven to 220c/Gas mark 7

·         When the oven is heated, pour a good glug of olive oil in to a heavy bottomed pan or pot, and put in the oven.  Leave to get very, very hot

·         Fry off sausages in a medium hot pan for about 8-10 minutes until nearly cooked.  Ideally, you want some almost black bits on the skin for extra flavour.  This also helps keep the sausages whole in the next part of the cooking process

·         Remove pot from the oven – the oil should be so hot it is shimmering

·         Arrange sausages in pot

·         Pour over batter

·         Quickly place back in the oven, and leave for 30 minutes.  Do not open the oven door!  He change in temperature will result in saggy hole (batter, I mean batter) if you do!

 Toad done?  Hole baking?  Then let’s make a gravy!

·         In a small saucepan, sweat down your sliced onion and garlic

·         Then, add beef stock.  For a quick beef stock, here is a cheat that isn’t all Bisto-y.  Knorr, and that charmer Marco Pierre White, have a range of stock pots.  Dissolve one of these in about 400ml of hot water and BANG! Brilliant stock very quickly!

Seriously, the guy's like my idol. even if Mrs Viking said after meeting him, and I quote:
"Ooh, he was very charming. Very attractive."
Well played, Marco, well played.

·         If you like, add some red wine or a little dark ale

·         Bring to the boil, and then switch back to the simmer

·         Add a heaped spoon of Dijon mustard and stir

·         Simmer gently until the Toad in the Hole is cooked

 We’ve covered mash before, but in case you missed it:

·         Boil potatoes for 20-30 minutes til cooked

·         Drain

·         Mash with a masher (or a potato ricer for perfect mash)

·         Add a knob of butter and a splash of milk

·         Finish mashing process with a wooden spoon – stir vigorously and add more milk or butter as desired – careful not to add too much, you don’t want sloppy spuds!

I know that seems like it’s a bit of a faff – I promise that it isn’t – give it a go and see for yourself!

There’s no posh way to present this dish, and nor should there be.  A mountain of mash served next to a valley of Toady Holiness with a lake of shimmering onion gravy.  You eat this and I promise you, with my 100% Viking Guarantee, that you will instantly be happier.  It’s a very comforting dinner and sure, it isn’t one for every day, but by crikey it’s good.  I promise you this, Kriss Akabusi would love it, and there's no finer recommendation than that.

And so that’s it from me once again!  Have a great weekend of cooking in the sunshine – you deserve it.

Til next week,

Viking!