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Friday, January 2, 2009

Eggs Poached In Red Wine.








This is famous french dish known as 'Oeufs Meurette'. It is from the burgundy region and it is usually an appetizer. I love this dish; it is so tasty and different. It is not quite vegetarian because there are bits of bacon in the sauce.
The only complicated part of this is the sauce.
As for the eggs and the set up:
You will need per person:
2 slices of good french bread per person
2 eggs
Enough red wine to poach the eggs in.
A handful of spinach leaves duly trimmed and washed.
Chopped onion and garlic.
Olive oil
2 mushrooms
Bordelaise sauce
Chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Clove of garlic
Fry the bread in a heavy bottomed pan and rub with the clove of garlic until well perfumed. Put the red wine on the simmer for the eggs. Sauté off the mushrooms and add to the sauce. Put in a warm place. Put a frying pan/skillet on the stove with a little olive oil and heat. Put the eggs in to poach let them simmer not boil.
Add the spinach (away from the flame) to the pan with a little chopped onion and garlic. When cooked put to the side.
Place the bread croutons on a warm plate, spoon the spinach over them and then place the poached eggs on top of that. Keep warm but don’t overcook the eggs. Finish the seasoning of the sauce, coat the eggs, add a little chopped parsley and serve.
Here is a red wine sauce that i have adapted for the home cook.

Red Wine Sauce
Yields approximately 1/2 cup, enough to sauce
Ingredients:
2 medium shallots, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup homemade stock (chicken, beef, lamb, or venison)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Add the shallots to the pan and cook over low heat stirring frequently until the shallots are translucent.
Raise the heat to high, add wine and vinegar and reduce till dry. Add stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce until the liquid is reduced in half.
Reduce heat to medium and cook until the sauce has the consistency you like. It should be thick enough to coat regular spoon. I hesitate to give cooking times for each of these steps because the amount of heat (Btu's) varies from stove to stove.
Remove from heat and stir in butter. This will help thicken it a little more and give it a nice glossy appearance. Add the fresh thyme, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve over your main course.
Note: if you use bouillon cubes instead of real stock ( who has the time to make stock ) be careful of the salt as you reduce it.

3 comments:

Therese said...

Had this while visiting Dor in Recey.Memory tells me it was delicious. Might follow your instructions soon.

Anonymous said...

Ok, those purple eggs are just a bit wild looking. Will give them a try. Thanks.

Unknown said...

Truly delicious little dish. I made them for a beaujolais nouveau party some time ago. This is an appetizer in france. I wish people here in the United States would embrace eggs as an appetizer as there are so many variations. I came across a recipe the other day for something I had forgotten. It is called a Scotch Woodcock. I used to make it in London in the sixties. It consists of a really well done portion of scrambled eggs on toast or on a crouton, criss crossed with anchovies and studded with capers. Great with a beer. I think I will make it and post it here soon. Maybe even tomorrow. Should be great with a salad.