How Many Times Have I Toad You? (Sainsbury's Toad In The Hole)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	Sainsbury's Toad In The Hole
Date:	17/01/09 (229 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A budget ready meal that wasn't.

Disadvantages: advantages?

My Yorkshire pudding is a bit hit and miss, sometimes the batter rises as it should do then other times I end up with a `concrete slab`. We both love a decent Toad in the hole, I usually just serve it with some vegetables.
I have noticed that the Yorkshire pudding is making a bit of a comeback though, many of the Pub menus have Yorkshire puddings filled with either sausages and gravy or minced beef and gravy and the freezer shops are also stocking them en mass. In many Northern areas it is traditional to have the Yorkshire pudding served with some gravy on the top before you start your main course. The Sunday roast always used to be the highlight of the week and housewives needed to have enough meat left over for Monday`s meal, so if you were filled up with Yorkshire pudding and gravy the theory was that you would eat less meat on the Sunday.



Sainsbury`s have got their marketing strategy off to a tee. Their product packaging always displays the most tantalising looking picture of the end product. The Toad in the Hole comes in a shallow cardboard box, the front picture shows a table on which sits a plateful of well risen golden batter with three sausages done to perfection sitting in the midst of the crispy batter and it is obvious to anyone that handing over £1 to the cashier in exchange is a sensible deal...or is it?



Open the box and you find a black plastic tray with a sealed plastic lid. Prise the plastic lid off of the top of the plastic tray and you see three anaemic looking pork sausages sitting in a shallow grave of grey batter.
Preheat the oven to 160C, put the offending Toad onto a flat baking tray in case of spillage and then place it into the centre of the oven.
As the batter starts to cook you start to cheer up, the smell that is wafting from the oven is tempting, the British and Dutch sausages ( Sainsbury`s description not mine! ) are playing games with your taste buds.
Another look through the glass oven door somewhat disappoints me, the grey batter hasn't suddenly sprung into action, the raising agents haven't gone wild, three logs are now floating in a pond struggling for survival.
Ten minutes pass and things are looking up again, the life jacket has been thrown in and the batter is now starting to take shape.
Instead of a grey pond I can clearly see air bubbles forming on top of the cooking batter. The sausages are afloat on the top and sizzling well too.
Just enough time to microwave the broccoli, laziness is nothing if not carried out well!
By now the smell emanating from the oven door could be nothing else than a true Toad in the Hole aroma. Spicy sausage and a strong whiff of `porky` batter.



At first glance the whole thing looked good, little rivulets of fat coursed through the veins in the batter, the sausage skins were just as I like them and I started to sharpen my teeth in anticipation.
I seductively slid the Toad onto the plate beside the pile of waiting broccoli and prepared to enjoy.
Appearances can be very deceptive cant they?
The crisp golden batter was skin deep, the inner part was soggy, my top lip quivered but I struggled on doggedly.
The multi- cultural sausages had bronzed skins but no substance and by now my will to live was slowly but surely ebbing away.
I turned to the broccoli in despair.



I had sat down to enjoy 457 fat laden calories for the humble sum of £1.
The Toad in the hole contained no artificial colours or flavours, or hydrogenated fats for that matter.
But above all, sad though it may be, I was really looking forward to the experience!



Well all I can say about the meal is...the packaging was highly attractive, the cooking smell was mouthwatering and the broccoli was lovely!
So sorry Mr Sainsbury but not one of your better ready made meals.
So...now where did I put my Delia Smith recipe book?

Summary: A budget meal that backfired