Tiny Toads Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Put a generous half-teaspoonful of sunflower oil in the bottom of each cup of a deep 12-hole mini muffin pan set on a baking tray.
• Pour the milk into a jug, add the egg, flour and a pinch of salt and whisk everything together with a hand blender or wire whisk until a smooth batter forms.
• Put the muffin pan in the oven for a minute or so until the oil is very hot. Carefully remove from the oven and quickly fill the cups just under two-thirds full (this may not seem enough batter, but they puff up in the oven). Drop a sausage into each cup and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, well risen and crisp. Serve with ketchup.

Steps:

• KIDS the writing in bold is for you. GROWN-UPS the rest is for you. Cut the sausages with scissors. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 6. If the sausages are linked, get your child to use a pair of scissors to cut them into single sausages.
• Count the sausages. Place 2 sausages in each hole of a 12-hole muffin tin and go through all the maths this involves - two times table, counting up in twos etc. Drizzle each set of sausages with a little oil. Children from about seven upwards can now place the tin in the oven for 20 mins until the sausages have browned, getting a grown-up to turn the sausages halfway through.
• Crack some eggs. Over a small bowl, get the child to hold the egg in one hand, then tap it with a cutlery knife until it just cracks. Then get them to put down the knife and open the egg into the small bowl. You can now check for any bits of shell before tipping it into a larger bowl. Repeat with all the eggs - this should keep them busy.
• Make a batter. Get the child to measure 150ml flour in a measuring jug and tip into a bowl with the mustard powder. Make a well in the centre and beat in the eggs. Measure the milk.
• Pour in the milk. Gradually pour the milk into the batter - get the child to whisk well between each addition - until you have a mix that is the consistency of double cream. Season. Pour the batter back into the jug.
• Sizzle the batter. Remove the sausages from the oven and place on a heatproof surface. Very carefully, and making sure that they don't touch the hot tin, get the child to pour the batter over the sausages and throw a sprig of rosemary into each hole. Only get children aged seven upwards to do this. A grown-up needs to place them back in the oven.
• Cook in the oven. Leave the batter to cook for 15 mins undisturbed. But if your oven has a clear glass door, let the kids watch the batter rise. Remove the tin from the oven. Leave to cool for a few mins, then serve with gravy, mash and vegetables.

Steps:

• Make the batter: Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 7. Tip 210g plain flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in 1 tsp English mustard powder with a good pinch of salt. Make a well in the centre, crack in 4 eggs, then pour in a little from 400ml milk. Whisk the mixture, gradually incorporating some of the flour, until you have a smooth batter in the well. Now add a bit more milk and continue stirring until all the milk and flour has been mixed together.
• The batter is ready: You should now have a smooth, lump-free batter that is the consistency of double cream. Stir in the leaves from 4 thyme sprigs, then tip the batter back into the jug you measured your milk in, for easier pouring later on. Use scissors to snip the links between 8 plain pork sausages, then drop them into a 20 x 30cm roasting tin. Add 1 tbsp sunflower oil, tossing the sausages in it to thoroughly coat the base of the tin, then roast in the oven for 15 mins.
• Cook the batter: Take the hot tray from the oven, then quickly pour in the batter - it should sizzle and bubble a little when it first hits the hot fat. Put it back into the oven, then bake for 40 mins until the batter is cooked through, well risen and crisp. Check it after 40 minutes, cover loosely with foil if it is browning too much. If you poke the tip of a knife into the batter in the middle of the tray it should be set, not sticky or runny.
• Make the gravy: Soften 2 sliced onions with 1 tbsp sunflower oil in a large non-stick frying pan for about 20 mins, stirring often, until they are golden brown. Sprinkle in 1 tsp soft brown sugar for the final 5 mins. Add a spoonful of plain flour, then cook, constantly stirring, for 2 mins, so it coats the onions and there is no dry flour left. Gradually pour in 500ml beef stock, stirring well to make a smooth sauce. Bubble for 4-5 mins to thicken, then season. Cut the toad-in-the-hole into large wedges and serve with the gravy spooned over.

Steps:

• Prepare batter: Combine eggs, salt, pepper, cayenne, 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour, and milk in a large bowl; whisk thoroughly until batter is very smooth and no lumps remain. Whisk in water. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Prepare sausages: Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausages and cook until browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and transfer to a buttered 9x12- or 9x13-inch baking dish. Pour oil from the skillet over the sausages; brush oil with a pastry brush all over the bottom and up the sides of the dish.
• Start onion gravy: Melt butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and salt; saute until soft and starting to brown, 5 to 6 minutes.
• While onion is cooking, pour batter in and around the sausages. Place in the center of a cold oven and turn temperature to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Set oven timer for 30 minutes.
• While toad in the hole cooks, finish onion gravy: Stir in flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and return to a simmer. Add Worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar and simmer until gravy thickens up and reduces, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in green onions. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• When timer goes off, remove toad in the hole from the oven; it should be browned and puffed. Spoon gravy over the sausages and garnish with green onions and chives.
• Serve with extra gravy.