Choose a roasting tin or flameproof dish into which the breasts and sausages will fit with plenty of space for the surrounding batter. First make the batter. Put all the ingredients in a food processor, with the plunger removed to help aeration, and pulse for about five 10-second bursts until you have a smooth batter. Alternatively, put the flour and seasoning in a large mixing bowl, beat in the eggs and yolk, then whisk in the combined milk and water by degrees, until you have a smooth batter. Leave the batter to rest for at least 30 minutes before using. Take the pieces of pheasant breast and make 2 or 3 parallel slits about 2cm deep in each one. Cut each prune into 4 or 5 slices, discarding the stones. Cut one of the streaky bacon rashers into thin strips. Push a piece of bacon (the fattier the better) and a sliver of prune into the slits in the breasts. Cut the remaining 2 rashers of bacon in half and flatten and stretch each half with the side of a large knife. Then wrap each piece of pheasant breast in the stretched half rasher. Pour the oil into your chosen dish and place in the centre of a hot oven (220°C/Gas Mark 7) to heat through for about 10 minutes. Then add the sausages and wrapped breasts – they should sizzle in the oil. Start them cooking in the oven for a few minutes, then turn them browned-side up and push them around so they are more or less evenly spaced in the tin. By now the oil should be very hot. Pour the batter over and around the sausages and breasts and return the dish to the oven. Cook for at least 15 minutes, but probably not more than 20, until the batter is puffed up and a deep golden brown. Give each person a slab of the batter, with a sausage and a breast in it. Serve with gravy, if liked, plus buttered cabbage or other greens. Variation Another great addition to toad in the hole, which you can use as well as or instead of the pigeon breasts, is kidneys. Use whole lamb’s kidneys, half pig’s kidneys, or trimmed calf’s kidneys cut into suitable chunks. Prepare exactly as for the pigeon breasts.

By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall