I’ve just made a Toad in the Hole without the toad, but using bacon instead. Incidentally, my children can’t work out why it’s called Toad in the Hole if it hasn’t got real toads in…but that’s the English language for you. I will also pass on a tip that I saw on Channel 4′s Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard last week, that it’s difficult to make a good, crisp Yorkshire Pudding type batter (which this is) without doing it in a metal tin. He was talking about pastry but the principle remains the same.

I made this in a ceramic baking dish and he is right, it would have been crisper in a metal tin. So the next time I do it, that’s the way I am going.

Recipe: Bacon Toad

Ingredients (serves 4-5)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 pack smoked bacon

1 mug flour

1 mug milk

2 eggs

salt and pepper

Method:  Place the strips of bacon and olive oil in a metal baking tin with deepish sides, and place in a hottish oven at 180-200 degrees celsius. Meanwhile whisk together the flour, milk and eggs, salt and pepper. When the bacon looks almost done, after about 10 minutes, whip it out of the oven carefully onto a heatproof board and quickly but carefully, without splashing, pour the pancake batter round (giving it a stir before you slosh it in as the flour tends to settle into a sticky goo at the bottom). Put the whole lot back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes till the batter has puffed up and crisped to a nice golden brown. While this is cooking, whip up a fresh salad with a dressing (try a teaspoon each of mustard, mint jelly, sundried tomato paste + a tbsp of vinegar and a tablespoon or two of olive oil + salt + pepper). When the batter no longer looks raw in the middle, and the edges are crispy and brown, bring it to the table and cut into six, but I bet some of you will want to two wedges! Serve with salad. A great, savoury, cheap meal for families, students and children.