First Fresh Toads In The Hole

The name “Toad in the Hole” always conjures images of Arnold Lobel’s besties, Frog and Toad, and their adorable adventures. Two of my favorite stories are “Spring” in which Frog tears off the pages of Toad’s calendar to persuade him to get out of his bed to admire the beauty of spring; and, “The Corner” in which Frog tells the story of his search for Spring around every corner until he finds his parents working in their sunlit, newly-sprouted garden.
This was the recipe that raced to mind when a delivery of First Fresh Chicken Sausages arrived at the door yesterday. The sausages are made using Old World traditions of European sausage combined with the healthy benefits of locally grown, farm fresh ingredients.
While Americans usually refer to “Toad in a Hole” as an egg cooked in the hole cut out of a piece of bread, in England, it means sausages cooked in a Yorkshire-pudding-type batter. The English version is more whimsical, and of course more traditional similar to its playful cousin “Pigs in a Blanket.” With both St. Patrick’s Day and the first day of Spring occurring in the same week, this seems like the perfect time to make this traditional British dish and a great way to feature these amazing products.
6 - 8 links of First Fresh Chicken Sausage links or other breakfast sausage
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dry mustard powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

The First Fresh Chicken Breakfast Sausage browns
 beautifully in the pan and retained its juiciness
 throughout the entire cooking process. The spicy flavor
 lent itself wonderfully to the delicate batter.

Coat the bottom and sides of a casserole dish (8"x12", 9"x9" or 2 - 5"x8") with vegetable oil or non-stick cooking spray.
Place a rack in the bottom third of the oven. Put the empty dish on the rack. Preheat the oven with the dish in it to 400°F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour with the salt, pepper and mustard. Make a well in the center of the flour. Pour in the eggs, milk, and melted butter into the well and whisk into the flour until smooth. Cover and let stand while sausage cooks and oven preheats.
Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a skillet on medium high. Add the sausages and lightly brown them on at least a couple sides.
When the sausages have browned, and the dish in the oven hot, pull the oven rack out a bit, put the sausages in the casserole dish, and pour the batter over the sausages. Cook for about 20-30 minutes. Don’t open the door to the open to prevent the batter from deflating. The batter will rise quite a bit. It is done when the batter is puffed and golden and the sausages are nicely browned.
When done, serve immediately with the knowledge that the dough will collapse as it cools. An assortment of mustards, jams and perhaps a fried egg will be nice accompaniments.
Disclosure: We received samples of this product as members of the Atlanta Food Bloggers' Society. 
While the products we sampled were complimentary, the opinions included herein are honest and unsolicited.