Sift the flour into a medium-sized bowl and add the salt and pepper.

Create a rough well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs to the well.

Place the milk and the water into a small jug.

Place the Yorkshire pudding batter into the fridge to chill for one hour. (Whilst it's chilling you can make the gravy and that will leave you free to do the vegetables whilst the toad in the hole is cooking.)

Slice the onions in half, peel them and slice them into ½ cm slices.

Place the slices in a frying pan and add the oil and the tablespoon of butter.

Over a medium-high heat, toss them a lot whilst letting them fry for 5 minutes. (If they start to stick to the pan turn the heat down a little bit and/or add a little more oil.)

Add the sugar, turn the heat down to medium and continue cooking, tossing often, for a further 10 minutes or until they have softened and collapsed.

Whilst they are cooking get the liquid stock ready or add a little boiling water to the dry stock (enough to dissolve it) and then top it up to the 2 cups with cold water.

Once the 10 minutes is up, add the flour and stir it in for 1 minute.

Add 1 cup of the stock and stir it in well.

Still stirring, add ½ cup more of the stock and once it's thickened slightly add the remaining half cup, give it a good stir and then let it come to a boil.

Turn the heat down to medium/low or to where it's just simmering (softly boiling).

Add the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and the salt and pepper.

Stir it all in and leave it to simmer for a further 8 minutes or until it has thickened and halved in volume.

Cover with a lid or cooking foil and leave it in the pan to reheat later when the toad in the hole is ready or place it in a gravy jug to reheat it in the microwave.

When the Yorkshire pudding batter is nearly chilled, place a rack in the centre of the oven and turn it to 180°C fan/convection oven or 200°C conventional oven, on bake.

Place the 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in an ovenproof dish (12 cup capacity) and add the sausages, turning them over so they are coated in the oil.

Place the dish in the oven and cook the sausages for 10 minutes. Then turn them over and cook them for a further 10 minutes or until they are well browned on each side (no need for them to be cooked through yet).

Whilst the sausages are cooking retrieve the Yorkshire pudding batter from the fridge and give it a small whisking.

Carefully remove the dish from the oven and pour the Yorkshire pudding batter over the sausages.

Quickly move the sausages to where you want them and then return it to the oven and cook it for 30 minutes or until the Toad in the hole is puffy and has browned all over.

It will start to 'inflate' somewhat when it leaves the oven so serve immediately with the brown onion gravy, mashed potato and peas or beans.

Keep well covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. To reheat it, cover it in aluminium foil and heat it at 160°C fan/convection oven or 180°C conventional oven for around 20 minutes or until the sausages have heated through.