A traditional Toad in the Hole is an English dish made with sausage and Yorkshire pudding batter and served with onion gravy.  You might mistake this dish for another British dish, spotted dick, which ironically is not made with sausage, but is instead a pudding {which resembles a cake.  It’s all so confusing.} Thankfully, the Americans have adopted their own version of the same name, and it’s made with toast and an egg.

The British version dates back to as late as 1757, but it’s up for debate as to how the dish earned its unsavory name.  Many think it’s because the sausage looks like a toad peeking out of a hole.  I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in eating anything that resembles a toad.

Side note, when I was little my sisters and I found a toad on the school playground on a Saturday. We took it home, put it in our plastic pool in the backyard and named it Green Beans.  Sadly, Green Beans escaped never to be seen again.

Back to breakfast.  When the Americans made their own version, it acquired many different names including Egg in the Hole, Egg in a Nest, and Frog in the Pond.  I still prefer Toad in the Hole.

It was a childhood favorite which I was reacquainted with several years ago, when I was at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix with a friend.  We ate lunch at the café and I was excited to see Toad in the Hole on the menu.  It was so yummy I had to try and recreate it at home:

Ingredients:

White or Wheat bread {the thicker the better}

1 large egg

1 tablespoon butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Instructions:

Using a cookie cutter or a knife, cut a 2-inch hole into the center of the bread.

Break egg into a ramekin or tea cup

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium high heat and melt the butter

Reduce to medium and place bread in the pan

Cook 3 minutes and flip over

Gently add the egg into the hole and sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes

Gently flip the bread and the egg over for an additional 30 seconds – 1 minute depending on how runny you like your yolk

Transfer to plate and serve