January 11th: Toad in the Hole & Oven-Roasted Grape Tomatoes

You know Nigella Lawson, right? Beautiful, sensual, food-loving goddess? How could I not cook this recipe of hers that was in the Ottawa Citizen back in November? The name is everything Nigella is not: Toad in the Hole.* How disgusting does that sound? As it turns out, it is simply sausage patties with a popover crust, baked in the oven. A simple variation on a meat pie. Apparently this is not a traditional Toad in the Hole, but I've never had any version with which I can compare it. It comes from Nigella's latest cookbook (not that I have any), Nigella Kitchen. To accompany, I made Onion gravy, for which I have included the recipe below, mashed potatoes** and roasted tomatoes. For the latter, I followed this recipe from December 2010's Canadian Living: Oven-Roasted Grape Tomatoes, which were recommended as a side to sausage patties. Seemed like a good fit.


*N.B.: temperature and weight conversions included at bottom of recipe on N's website (N, because we're practically best friends)
**I am on some crazy mashed potato kick recently. I have not enjoyed mashed potatoes for the past 15 years or so, yet recently I am making them all the time. What is up with that?

The verdict? Good, not great. The popover tasted much like the dumplings my mom used to put in stew when I was a kid and sorry, Mom, I love almost all your food, but I've never liked dumplings. G&O liked that part best. I thought the gravy was good, and O ate up her onions (yay!) but G found the gravy too onion-y and the onions too sweet (my bad; I forgot to buy onions so used a Spanish onion that was kicking around, and I shouldn't have added the sugar but wasn't thinking about the higher sugar content of the onion itself). The tomatoes were a definite hit. So, sorry N, but I'm tossing your recipe. Here's the gravy recipe, included in the newspaper but not on the website, hmm:

Onion gravy
Warm 2 tbsps oil in a skillet; cook 2 onions, peeled, halved and very finely sliced, until soft (about 10 minutes). Add 2 tsps sugar, and let the onions cook, caramelizing a little, 3 minutes. Stir in 4 tsps flour, then 2 cups chicken broth. Leave to warm and thicken, stirring occasionally.