Mini toadies with sage

In my last post I bragged about going to Spain for half term with the kids. Well, I didn’t go. Serves me right I suppose. Why didn’t I go? Well, because… well, how can I put this… I thought I booked the flights but it turned out I didn’t. Yup, really. I don’t know what happened. As far as I was concerned I booked them but the credit card company and flight company say not. Not one of my finest moments. No, it was a big time face palm moment when I fully realised that we weren’t booked on the flight. But then, maybe these things happen for a reason. The kids and I ended up spending the week in Derbyshire doing nice countryside things. It reminded me again of how lovely (and quiet and friendly and spacious) it is in Derbyshire, which is where both Adam and I hail from… “Maybe we should move back here…” I suggested to Adam over the phone after our first night there (oh God, that old chestnut). Hmmm, he said, wearily…

So this recipe is clearly highly suitable for tonight, which is Bonfire Night. We ate it last night. I know, if I were a true blogger professional, I’d blog this recipe 2 or 3 days before said festival, thereby giving readers a chance to read it, then shop and make the dish. However I simply am not that organised right now. Most of my energy is being used up on my 15 month old, who has turned overnight into an out of control beast (a cute beast though) who will not be put in a high chair, climbs (and falls off) furniture, pulls everything out of cupboards, smashes things, and generally wreaks havoc wherever she goes. By all means make it tonight if you have the ingredients in, but let’s face it, every day is a good day for toad in the hole.

I made 12 mini yorkies, as my tin had only 12 holes and I only have one fairy cake tin. But it would probably do about 4 or 5 more in fact. It’s a clever way to make sausages go further; I only used 3 long ones here. Serve with mash and cabbage, and lashings of gravy. I warn you, don’t overestimate how many this recipe will feed; I ate 4 and could’ve easily eaten twice that.

I’m sorry there aren’t more / better photos of the dish. I am struggling to take good ones in the darker evenings.

To make 16 individual toad in the hole (serves 4-6):
4-6 sausages, chopped into a couple of inch pieces, or 16 good quality cocktail sausages
285ml milk
115g plain flour
3 eggs
salt
10 – 12 leaves of sage, finely chopped
sunflower oil

2 x cup cake / fairy cake tins with 12 holes – or equivalent

• Whack the oven up to 200C.
• Make your batter. Put your flour into a large bowl, then crack your eggs in. Whisk, adding the milk gradually. Don’t worry if there are some lumps, they’ll sort themselves out. Season, and add your chopped herbs. Pour into a jug – this will enable you to get the batter in the holes quickly, while the fat is still sizzling. 
• Put a little oil, about 2 teaspoons, in each hole. Let the tin preheat for about 15 minutes, until it’s smoking hot. 
• Take out, carefully, and, quickly, put a little sausage in each hole – it should sizzle, if it doesn’t the oil is not hot enough. With haste, pour in the batter to fill each hole and get it back in the oven as quick as you possibly can. It may overflow a little, don’t worry if it does. 
• DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN! Take out after 20 minutes, when they should be triumphantly huge, crispy and brown, with a perfectly cooked little sausage in the middle!