Smoky, cheesy toad in the hole with apple and jalapeño

The cook

1. 01

   Step 1WHISK IT

   Whisk the flour, eggs, milk and salt into a smooth batter. Leave it to rest for 20–30 minutes while you sort the fire and filling. That pause lets the flour hydrate properly.

2. 02

   Step 2BUILD THE HEAT

   Set up a lidded kettle BBQ for two-zone cooking, with an indirect area large enough for a roughly 30 × 20 cm metal roasting tin with sides at least 5 cm deep. Bring the cooking temperature to 230°C with the lid closed. Use a sturdy metal tin, not glass or ceramic, and make sure the lid can close above it with room for the batter to rise.

3. 03

   Step 3LOSE THE WATER

   Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat on the hob. Add the leek and apple and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring, until softened with a little colour and no puddle of liquid left. Stir in the jalapeños and black pepper, then take off the heat. Wet filling makes heavy batter. We’re not having that.

4. 04

   Step 4BROWN THE SAUSAGES

   Put the sausages and rapeseed oil in the roasting tin. Cook on the indirect side of the BBQ, lid down, for 12–15 minutes, turning halfway, until starting to brown. They’ll finish cooking in the batter. Keep the BBQ steady at 230°C.

5. 05

   Step 5MAKE THE GLAZE

   While the sausages brown, stir together the honey, both mustards, cider vinegar and smoked paprika. Set aside. Keep a clean spoonful back if you fancy a little extra at the table.

6. 06

   Step 6MAKE IT SIZZLE

   Give the batter a quick whisk. Wearing proper heatproof gloves, lift the hot tin onto a heatproof surface and close the BBQ lid to hold the heat. Quickly spoon the warm apple mixture between the sausages, keeping the outer edges fairly clear. Pour in the batter around the sausages; it should sizzle as it meets the hot fat. Return the tin to indirect heat immediately.

7. 07

   Step 7LID DOWN, HANDS OFF

   Bake for 25 minutes without opening the lid. The batter needs uninterrupted heat to rise and set. Once the edges are tall and golden and the centre is setting, scatter the smoked Cheddar mainly across the sausages and central filling, rather than weighing down those glorious edges.

8. 08

   Step 8GET IT STICKY

   Brush the exposed sausage tops with the glaze, keeping it off the crisp batter edges. Close the lid and cook for another 5–10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the batter is deeply golden with no wet centre. Check the thickest sausages reach 75°C in the middle with a probe thermometer. If needed, give it a few more minutes over indirect heat.

9. 09

   Step 9REST, THEN WRECK IT

   Remove the tin and leave uncovered for 5 minutes so the sausages rest without steaming the crust soft. Take it straight to the table on a heatproof board and cut into four generous portions. Sticky tops, crisp edges, molten cheese. Get stuck in.