Oeufs en Meurette (poached eggs in red wine sauce)
Serves 4
A perfect brunch on a chilly Burgundian sunday.
oeufs en meurette (poached eggs in red wine sauce)
- 8 x eggs
- 2 x shallots
- 100g bacon
- 450g fresh button mushrooms
- 750 ml very tannic red wine (Burgundy red or Barossa shiraz)
- 25o ml chicken stock
- 125g butter
- 8 slices of baguette (toasted whole or cut into croutons)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
- salt, pepper, thyme
Prepare the croutons: Stack bread on a cutting board. Using a bread knife, remove the two edges and cut small cubes of bread by pressing heavily on the dough and pulling the knife out sharply. Put the bread cubes in a bowl, drizzle with 4 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with a little thyme and toss them gently to soak the oil. Place on a sheet of baking paper on a tray. Bake at 180C for 10 minutes, turning halfway through cooking.
Cut the mushrooms into small pieces. Sauté with bacon. in a large pan with 20g butter over high heat for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the water produced by the mushrooms and set aside in the pan.
Prepare the sauce meurette: Melt 30g butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the chopped shallots. Melt without browning for 10 minutes. Add broth and 500 ml of red wine. Reduce by ¾ over low heat. Just before serving, whisk in remaining butter into small pieces. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Poach the eggs: Bring a litre of water and 250 ml of wine to a boil in large saucepan and add the vinegar. Poach eggs 2 by 2 by dropping them gently into the boiling water and poach for 3 minutes. To minimise threads of egg white, swirl the liquid in your pan in circles with a wooden spoon. This allows the egg to remain very compact at the centre of the liquid. Drain the eggs, place them on kitchen paper on a plate and cover with a bowl to keep warm.
Arrange the plates: Reheat mushrooms and bacon over high heat 2 minutes. On each plate, spread 2 tablespoons of mushrooms and a few croutons (or 2 slices of toasted baguette). Place 2 poached eggs on top. Top with meurette sauce and serve immediately.