I was having a look though and ancient directory on one of my backup drives, and I came across a bunch of old recipes from when I used to live in Barcelona, I always used to write down the ones that worked out! A well fed girlfriend is a happy girl friend I find. Well, it's one check box anyway!
We would often go up into the mountains for walks or to the beach (my favourite), usually a little further up the coast. Away far from heavy touristy bits of city. Pop a small kite up so we're easy to find on the beach when the others arrive and get down to the arduous business of sunbathing!
After a good swim in the sea and a bit more of a sunbathe, grab a couple of beers from the nearest chiringito and crack open the picnic box. I don't think we ever came back with any of them left!! Soooo morish! Balance with a nice goats cheese and tomato salad. You know that, well, rather screw faced reaction you get when offering your friends kids (little feckers) food? Well you wont get one of those!!!
They take 10mins to make. In it's simplest form the recipe goes: 1. whisk batter, 2.cut sausages, 3.bake. And it's a classic crowd pleaser, for BBQ buffet or for a picnic hamper, and they freeze too!
The batter is quite loose and it makes for a gloriously sticky mini toad in the hole, for less stickiness add more a touch more flour.
ingredients (makes 12)
for the mini toads
3 medium eggs
3 heaped tbsp flour
1/4 pint (~140g) milk
2 tbsp olive oil
4 large good quality sausages
(or 9 herbed mini bratvurst)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
 |
| Mix batter : ) |
salt to taste
apparatus / equipment
12 mould muffin tray.
method
Pre heat the oven to full blast ~230C
Make the batter: Mix the eggs, flour, sugar salt oil and milk until smooth.
Leave it to warm to room temp.
Evenly distribute the cut up sausage into the baking tray, 4 sausages into 12 pieces, 9 small sausages in 36 pieces.
 |
| Sizzling hot - the bater should start to cook on contact! |
oven until they are sizzling.
Once they're sizzling pour over the batter half filling each mould.
Bake 15mins - don't open the door before this!!!
Depending on your oven they'll take 15-25 minutes.
thinking ahead
You can make them when ever you want, and then freeze them.
When you wan to use them defrost them and pop then into the oven at 180C for 5mins
what could go wrong?
You're impatient and you open the door early, and they sink leaving you with hockey puck with a sausage in the middle.
Solution, don't open the door before 15min.
to serve
Serve with a little ketchup or aioli or both, and a light salad. Or ahem, cough, thick onion gravy, buttery mash and cabbage or peas
variations
Why not try making a giant yorkshire pudding!! The trick hear is to get the quantity of mix to tin size right!
No deeper than 1cm!!
A high sided tin will also guide and contain your yorkshire pudding. Which means it will contain your onion gravy!!
But not your excitement!! : )
