Oh, I know that, but having no English blood in my family, pudding to me brings an image of tapioca, vanilla, chocolate, etc. rather than a souffle type thing. That’s why I’ve always had the image of a beef broth based “jello type” pudding. My insult revolves around a british friend I had once who made some pretty um… interesting… things. One that stands out was some godawful creations he called hedgehogs. I’m still convinced that they were real hedgehogs that he cooked with a blowtorch, innards and all.
I used the casserole from my slow cooker. Being a guy, I make do with what I have. For example, I don’t have cake tins, so I made my birthday cake by baking the layers seperately in a straight-sided skillet. (As you can tell, I didn’t quite think through the “cool cake before applying icing” bit. :o ) Actually I think I do have some old, old muffin tins around somewhere – packed away in a box.
I haven’t tried making toad-in-the-hole. About the closest I’ve come is cutting out the centre of a slice of bread with a glass and frying an egg in it. I’ve only eaten TitH a few times. I’m not especially keen on English breakfast sausages. The ones I’ve had seem to have been more filler than meat. They’re not bad, and sometimes I like them better than the American variety. There’s nothing like Farmer John’s or Jimmy Dean’s breakfast sausage! (But Ye Olde King’s Head in Santa Monica has very good bangers’n’mash for dinner.)
I got some Irish bacon a couple of times from an English shop. Pretty good stuff, but not worth the effort of going to get it. I like Rath hickory-smoked bacon, but I seldom see it in the stores. The unnamed bacon ends and pieces are also good, but they come in three-pound boxes and it gets freezer burn before I can get through it all. (Breakfast is normally two large cups of French roast coffee.)
Say… Now I’m getting hungry!
Hm. I have three huge slices of roast, eight pieces of Yorkshire pudding, and two eggs left. I just might be able to find some actual food for breakfast for a change!
A sample space of one - yep, that’s enough to start the insults flying.
I get the same insults from people here in Sweden, who seems to ignore that fact that they eat British meals in pubs and watch British chefs on TV. It is just an easy insult that everyone “knows” is true.
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather (that’s eight “greats”, right?), John Tillotson, was a cousin to John Tillotson the Archbishop of Canterbury (c. 1692). Of course the bloodline I’m descended from is not so lofty. John Tllotson (the immigrant) was admonished for chaining his wife to the bed, fined for not attending church, and sued for killing a neighbour’s horse. 
Turbo Dog:
You’ll have to excuse us being a little sensitive about the British food thing - it gets a bit tiresome being slammed about it around here (not to mention the running gags on Frasier etc.).
I don’t know how many British people cook “traditional” roasts and stews these days, but certainly we don’t for every meal. Sunday is still a day for traditional cooking (I suspect because the whole family is together and because you have more preparation time), but just as an example - and since I’m on my own tonight - this is what I’ll be doing later:
Heat a frying pan and add a few pine kernels. Flip them around 'til toasted all over, then set aside. Take a skinless chicken breast, slice into medallions about ¼" thick and finely chop an onion. Fry the chicken in olive oil until golden then add the onion. Begin cooking some penne in boiling salted water. When the onion is translucent and begining to brown, add some dry sherry to lift the glaze off the bottom of the pan. Chuck in a little minced garlic, chop a few roasted artichoke hearts from a jar and add them, add a couple of spoons of pesto sauce, some black olives, a few capers and the pine kernels. Turn the heat down after a few minutes. Add some crème fraîche and mix well in. When the pasta is ready drain it, mix the sauce into it and serve. Shave some parmesan over the top and some black pepper. White chianti goes well with it. I have no idea what it’s called or how many rules it breaks but it’s quick and tastes OK.
'Scuse the hijack L A.
I’ve heard that curry is the most popular English dish nowadays. Too bad the Indian take-out down the street closed. 
Yes, it was widely publicised that chicken tikka masala has replaced fish’n’chips as the new national dish. CTM is not an authentic Indian dish but was invented by Anglo-Bengali chefs (IIRC) in the English midlands. I think this may not be entirely accurate, but it is true that curry is very popular whether eaten in restaurants, as take-away or cooked at home.
Johnny, 130 is not rare. Don’t believe what is says on the thermometer. If you want rare, take the roast out at 110. The bigger the roast the more it will carry after being removed from the oven.
In my book, 140 is medium.
My grandmother was fond of telling me that in some parts of Yorkshire, the pudding was presented as a separate dish before the roast beef was served.
It was eaten with gravy and, believe it or not, a sprinkling of sugar. I believe these tactics were designed to sate the appetite so that people didn’t eat so much beef afterwards.
I was born in Bradford. 
My family has done it both ways. While putting it in muffin cups is more convient for serving, I don’t think it tastes as good. It’s drier or something.
Thank you for the recipe, Johnny.