Brains Poached in Red Wine

By corlear

Cervelles en Meurette

"Meurette" combines four of the most typical Burgundian ingredients: bacon, onions, mushrooms and red wine. As well as accompanying brains or eggs as in this recipe, sauce meurette is excellent with fish: the fish is poached in wine, which is then used to make the sauce. Folklore has it that the fish must be alive when they go into the pot.

Ingredients

• 2 sets calf's OR 4 sets sheep's brains (about 1 1/2 lb)
• 2-3 Tbsp vinegar
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 onion, thinkly sliced
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 qt red wine, preferably burgundy
• 2 cups broth
• boquet garni
• 6 black peppercorns
• salt
• pepper
• 3 Tbsp butter, kneaded with
• 3 Tbsp flour
• pinch of sugar (optional)
• 4 oval croûtes, fried in oil and butter

Preparation

Step 1

Soak the brains for 2-3 hours in a bowl of water with the vinegar, changing the water once or twice.

Pull off or trim any skin or membrane from calf's brains, but not from sheep’s brains. Wash them well to remove all traces of blood.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a pot, add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook over a low fire, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add the wine, broth, bouquet garni, peppercorns and a small pinch of salt; bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Add the brains, cover and poach for 15-20 minutes or until they are quite firm to the touch. Don’t boil or the brains will fall apart.

Transfer them to a platter, cover and keep warm while making the sauce.

Boil the wine mixture until reduced by half. Whisk enough of the kneaded butter, piece by piece, into the boiling wine mixture to thicken the sauce to a light coating consistency. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, strain and taste for seasoning. If the sauce is too acidic, add a pinch of sugar. Take from the heat and stir in the remaining butter, a piece at a time.

Put one sheep’s brain or half a calf’s brain on each croûte, and coat with some sauce; serve at once, with the remaining sauce separately.