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Traditional Old English Farmhouse Fare
Now don't get scared this is not about cooking frogs and toads..it comes from a supper dish where sausages cook in an egg batter and resemble frogs or toads looking up from a pond.
Yorkshire Pudding is not sweet, it is a batter that is cooked in very hot fat in the oven and is traditionally served before any roast, with gravy.
This way the Sunday roast fed more people
Toad in the Hole serves 3-4
1 pound sausages (any kind)
Batter
1/2 cup all purpose or whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 large egg beaten
salt & pepper
Hot oil
either roasting pan 9x6inches, 8x 8 inches or small, individual pie dishes, foil ones will not work well.
The batter Has to be beaten with a spoon to create gluten ( this is a trick I learned from Annie Steele the Yorkshire born wife of Mr Tommy Steele at their home in Ham, Surrey..working the batter slowly with a spoon makes the pudding dryer and stands up better) and also has to be made 30 mins before cooking.
add the egg to the milk
in a large bowl, stir the flour and seasonings, gradually add the milk and egg gradually, stirring and beating to stretch the gluten.
When all the milk has been added, cover with a cloth and allow to rest.
Cook the sausages in a skillet with some oil, or bake in hot oven
Preheat oven 400f
place the baking pans/ tins on a cookie sheet with 1/4 inch oil in oven to heat for 10-15 mins
either chop the sausages up into 1/2 inch dice or just cut in half.
Remove the hot pans from the oven, add the sausages.
Beat the batter and fill the pans half to 3/4 full and put back in very hot oven for 20-30 mins.
The should be puffed up..and will fall a little on being removed from oven.
Remove from small tins and serve with hot gravy, if cooked in a roasting pan cut into slices and serve with gravy.
Yorkshire Pudding traditional
For traditional way of serving prepare the batter as above recipe, & cook without the sausage.
Serve with a traditional roast or before it with gravy.
Also add some lightly sauteed leeks/or onions in top before serving.
Bacon Pie also known as a bacon Cake in North of England Farmhouses
2 sticks butter
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
iced cold water
1/2 pound cooked bacon ( chopped) or cooked sausage meat crumbled
1 cup sauteed leeks or onions
Rub the fat into the flour and baking powder to fine breadcrumbs and then add water by the tablespoonful until a light pastry is made. allow pastry to rest 30 mins
Preheat oven 375f
Roll the pastry out into a circle 1/4 inch thick.
place the onions and bacon on one half of the pastry.
Fold the pastry over to make a crescent shape and roll out the top to remove all air.
Crimp the edges
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 30-35 mins or until golden brown
Serve hot with mustard or relish
"Cousin Jim" I have no idea where the name came from but in some North of England villages this was a supper dish served on Tuesdays.
Preheat oven 350F
in a large ovenproof casserole:
Season each layer with salt & pepper
grease the inside of the casserole and add
1 layer of thinly sliced onions
Top this with any cooked meat or bacon
Top this with thinly sliced raw potatoes
Dust the top with flour and then add boiling water or stock to cover.
Cover with a lid of foil, or pastry and bake, on a cookie sheet for 45 mins to 1 hour..until everything is cooked.
Easily feeds a crowd for pennies.
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| Yes there is a lighthouse somewhere under there..Storm UK 2014..also a nice English Springtime photo. |
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