Toad in the hole with Bramley Gravy for Yorkshire Pudding Day!

How's that for a bit of neat assimilation of two "food days"?

Sunday was Yorkshire Pudding Day - which just happened to fall within Bramley Apple Week - so, we had some Bramley Apple Gravy with our Toad in the Hole.  Very nice it was, too!

Yorkshire Pudding Day is the brainchild of Florence Sandeman of Recipes4us.co.uk.

You can read all about the day and why she felt the humble Yorkie required its own day, here.  She makes a good argument for the homely dish - which dates back to the 1700's, apparently.

I think that if I'd have been born in the 1700's and lived until now, I still wouldn't have cracked the conundrum of making a good Yorkshire Pudding.  I do think that there are some things that are just beyond a person's capabilities, because of an inherent imbalance between their own ability and what is required to achieve the goal.  Such is the situation with me and Yorkshire Pudding - which is why dear hubby got the job of making this Toad in the Hole.

I have to admit to railroading him somewhat into making the Bramley gravy, as he knew we were in Bramley Apple Week and he had a slight reservation over his Toad in the Hole being sufficiently interesting enough for a Sunday dinner.  When I found the recipe on BBC Good Food, I thought it sounded just perfect - as indeed, it was.

I won't go into the recipe for Toad in the Hole here again - you can just click on the link and be taken to it.

However, the Bramley Apple gravy was so good - and would be perfect for a pork chop dish, never mind sausages - that I've included the recipe (such as it is) below :


BRAMLEY APPLE GRAVY 

Ingredients :


Olive oil
2 onions, sliced
level tsp dried Sage
1 large Bramley Apple, peeled, cored and diced
500ml pork or chicken stock
1 tsp mushroom ketchup.

Method :

1.  Heat the olive oil in a suitable sized saucepan and add the onions.  Cook until dark golden brown and caramelised, which should take around 20-25 minutes on a medium heat.


2.  Add the dried sage and the apple cubes and continue to cook until the apple has taken on a little colour - around 2-3 minutes.


3.  Add the stock and mushroom ketchup and cook, reducing, until the apple has begun to break down.


4.  Using a hand blender, blitz to remove any hint of lumps from the gravy.


5.  Season to taste.


6.  Serve.