Toad in the Hole with a Twist

On Sunday afternoon I wanted to wind down after an exciting Saturday afternoon playing cricket against a decidedly rough bunch of blokes and having a very early Sunday morning get up to some charity work. As there was a bit of rain in the air and the temperature was a little cooler than usual for this time of year I decided to make a traditional cooked dish eaten more commonly in winter.

I say 'traditional dish' but the Toad in the Hole I chose to make had one important difference; the sausages were Quorn ones which contained no meat whatsoever. The soundtrack for this part of today's cooking was the Grateful Dead's eponymous debut album which is far removed from the spaced out live jams they are known for and instead comprises of a short, sharp mix of blues, folk and garage rock.

I made the batter by making a well in a mixing bowl with four ounces of plain floor and then poured the contents of one egg into the middle of the well. I gradually added the flour to the egg whilst at the same time adding periodically half a pint of milk until I had a reasonably thick mixture.

As I always do with batter mixtures I left it to stand in the bowl for about an hour. After an hour I poured enough cooking oil into a 25cm wide and 5cm deep baking tray to just cover the bottom of the tray. I then added the batter mixture to the tray and spaced out evenly four vegetarian sausages in the tray.

I cooked the Toad in the Hole for twenty-five minutes at 210 degrees (220 for non-fan ovens) until the batter was golden brown and the sausages were a deep shade of ocher.

The resulting meal was every bit as tasty as a traditional Toad in the Hole as the batter was cooked enough not be sloppy but still moist enough not to be too crisp. The sausages had the same taste as normal meat ones but without the worry of having any fat or gristle to pick out. To complement the dish I served it with homemade onion gravy, mashed potato and boiled peas.

Out of the oven and ready to eat; I cooked it for just the right amount of time to avoid the sausages and batter burning.