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Mugwump in a Hole
I EGG, LIGHTLY BEATEN 2 CUPS MILK I TEASPOON SALT I CUP FLOUR I POUND FAT BEEF, OR LEFTOVER MEAT PEPPER AND SALT Whip egg, milk, and teaspoon of salt together, add gradually to flour, and beat light and smooth. Put meat in buttered 2-quart dish, season well, pour batter over, and bake 1 hour in moderate oven. The "mugwump," or bit of meat, can be taken out of the hole and served on a separate dish, accompanied by vegetables, and the hole be served by itself. These directions for eating a mugwump hole come from one of the first outdoor cooking families of Virginia. A mugwump was the derisive name given to a bolter from the Republican Party in the 1884 elections. The term is apt for both the citizen and the hearty dish, for a mugwump is a flappy piece of meat in a state of development from tadpole to frog, being "neither one thing nor the other." And since this dish is an adaptation of the classic English "Toad in a Hole" designed to use leftovers of beef, mutton, veal, and fowl, the name is all the more apt.
A Yorkshire-pudding batter poured over meat — the English toad in the hole under a political nickname. The batter is thin by modern standards, which is authentic, but it wants heat to climb.
- Moderate ovenRead that as 350F. If you want the batter to rise into a crisp-edged dome rather than settle into a dense pudding, start at 425F for the first 15 minutes and drop to 350F for the remainder.
- Get the dish and fat hotThe recipe says buttered 2-quart dish; batter puddings generally rise better if the fat is already hot when the batter hits it. Heat the buttered dish with the meat in it for several minutes before pouring.
- Rest the batterWhisked flour, egg and milk benefit from 30 minutes standing so the starch hydrates. The original assumes you will beat it "light and smooth" and use it at once, which gives a tougher crumb.
- The pound of beef"Fat beef" here means a raw piece with good marbling, not lean steak. One hour at 350F will not tenderize a raw pot-roast cut; brown a fatty cut first, or do as the recipe half-suggests and use cooked leftover beef, mutton, veal or fowl.
- SeasoningSalt goes into both batter and meat. The teaspoon in two cups of milk is enough for the pudding; season the meat separately and generously, since the batter dilutes everything around it.
- Two-quart dishA 2-quart baking dish is roughly a 8x8-inch square or a 9-inch round, about 2 inches deep. Anything much wider spreads the batter too thin to puff.
- YieldServes four as written, with a vegetable alongside. The suggestion to lift the meat out and serve batter and meat on separate dishes is the recipe's own suggestion, not a requirement.