I hate wasting things. So much so that I’m forever trying to find ways to use things – some less successful than others. Case in point: pumpkin seeds. I used to bake pumpkin pies for a living (much more fun than it sounds) and I’d go through kilos of pumpkin each week.I tried to do something with the seeds – after all weren’t pumpkin seeds an edible commodity? One day I was horrified to discover that stashed in the back of the bottom shelf of the fridge, I had amassed kilos of slimy pumpkin seeds. I proceeded to wash them and then was so exhausted after that that I simply gave up and threw them out. Like I said, some instances were more successful than others.

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When I was a child, there were a few foods that I wanted to try just for the novelty of the name. They were invariably English because the English love an eccentric name (Spotted Dick anyone? ). One of them was Toad In The Hole which of course my mother never made as my father was rather strictly patriotic growing up and were only allowed Chinese food and which probably explains my now insatiable appetite and love for food from all over the world.

I loved the book The Wind in the Willows and I had always imagined that this dish was somehow linked to Mr Toad from Toad Hall and I thought that eating this dish would transport me to Toad Hall to hang out with Mr Toad. This is also the thinking I held onto when I climbed into the cupboard looking for the secret passageway into Narnia where I would hopefully feast on Turkish Delight. I spent hours in there pressing against the panels just so in the hopes of revealing the entry way, my mouth watering at the idea of consuming Turkish Delight which sounded so unlike anything I had ever tried before.

But back to Toad in the Hole. The Toads of course are the sausages and they poke out from the pastry which is like a Yorkshire Pudding. I don’t ever claim to be an expert on this especially as this was my first time making it but having made pastry I made some amendments to some recipes that I found. The oven of course needs to be hot and I thought that using soda water to lighten up the batter would help as of course the more puffed up it is, the better it is. I decided to make it a bit Italian by using Italian sausages and using vine ripened tomatoes and fresh basil although traditionally it would be made using pork sausages and rosemary.

This was a quick to make dish with hardly any preparation necessary. In fact 20 minutes of light work in the kitchen will do it as far as preparations go as the oven takes care of the rest leaving you to lie back at your leisure (or stand in front of the oven with your fingers crossed). After 40 minutes I turned on the light and peered inside. By George! It had risen and puffed up proudly, some little “toads” had poked through the Yorkshire pudding batter and the tomatoes were soft and luscious. After the obligatory photos we dug in hungrily as the smell was too tempting. It was pure comfort food with the spicy, flavoursome sausages going well with the eggy pastry-like batter. Mr NQN  ate it hungrily and then swallowed patting his stomach and stole another portion before I knew it. I had my own lovable rogue, my own Mr Toad.

So tell me Dear Reader, what’s the dish you always wanted to try when you were little?

Mr Toad In The Hole

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 500g Italian sausages, pricked lightly with 1 hole
• 250g vine ripened cherry tomatoes on the vine
• fresh basil leaves

For Batter

• 120grams flour
• 285ml cold milk
• 3 eggs
• pinch of salt
• 50ml icy cold soda water

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F. I used a 31×18cm oval dish but a similar sized dish would do you well as it looks great when it’s abundantly fluffy. Pour 1 tablespoon of oil in the baking dish and leave in oven while it is preheating so that it gets hot. When it has reached the correct temperature, place sausages in the baking dish and bake for 5 minutes on each side to brown.

2. While the sausages are browning, make the quick batter. Sift the flour into a bowl and add salt. In a jug whisk the milk and eggs until combined. Then add the liquid gradually to the flour whisking until the lumps are gone (doing this gradually will help prevent lumps). Just when the sausages are ready, add the soda water and whisk lightly but not too much – just combine it into the batter. Pour the batter over the sausages and then place vine ripened tomatoes on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes until risen and puffy (don’t open the oven while it is cooking). Once finished, garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve.

“You’re Not Quite Normal are you?” my friend says staring at my practice brain for Halloween. I’m not offended and agree. I’m a Halloween girl, there’s no doubt about it and I’ve been planning this year’s Halloween party since let’s think… November 1st last year? The one item I really wanted to make was a bloody brain jelly but alas I didn’t have the time to buy a mold last year. This year I was determined to do it though and nothing was going to stop me. I was more determined than Tracy Flick from Election or Rachel Berry from Glee. If I rode a fitness bike, I would have had a picture of the brain jelly in front of me while working out furiously to music. Thankfully no such props were necessary and a purchase of the brain jelly mold was easy.

At first I wanted to make a glowing green jelly brain a la Dr Frankenstein’s lab but when I saw the effect of a creamy vanilla pannacotta jelly with faux blood clots on top of it I was sold on the latter. And like all of my Halloween food, it’s entirely edible and it tastes just like a regular vanilla pannacotta in a thicker jellied red sauce. The idea of slicing this up did frighten my friend and remind her of that surreal scene in Hannibal involving Ray Liotta but once she tried a slice of it, any protests were quelled with a murmur “Mmm brains” she said. I think I turned my friend into a zombie…

Donna Hay cupcakes $3.50 each

And I was excited to see two of my favourite stores also share an interest in the Halloween theme. Donna Hay’s General store in Woollahra has a window devoted to Halloween where you can order cupcakes and buy boxes of pumpkin, witch and ghost cookies, lollies and trick or treat bags.

The Halloween window!

Ghost, witch and pumpkin cookies

I bought some lollies for my Halloween party and was offered a Gift With Purchase of a box of Donna’s Cookie mix (I chose oatmeal and cranberry) which comes with a purchase of $80 or over (while stocks last for this coming week).

Then Buppa from Buppa’s Bakehouse in Newtown emailed to let me know that she had some Halloween food including Pumpkin Pie (of course!), a rat treat, a mummy cupcake, a ghost cake and a skull cookie. I knew what I had to do with this box of Buppa’s goodness. Share it with my mum who is addicted to them.

The Mummy Cupcake was a moist chocolate cupcake topped with buttercream and jaffas for eyes. Ingenious!

The rather realistic rat was made of smooth, rich ganache like chocolate coated in finely ground cookie crumbs.

The Pumpkin Pie had a lightly spiced pumpkin and a slightly wet crust probably due to the pumpkin.

The Ghost cupcake was a light and fluffy vanilla cupcake taken out of it’s sleeve and coated with a rich buttercream.

The Skull cookie was my favourite with a crumbly chocolate cookie filled with cream cheese icing.

Happy upcoming Halloween fellow creepies!

So tell me Dear Reader, are you celebrating Halloween this year? And if so, what is your costume?

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