Oeufs en Meurette

By corlear

Oeufs en Meurette—poached eggs served in a silky red wine sauce speckled with pearl onions, mushrooms, and crisped bacon—represents Burgundy cooking at its finest. For years I neglected to order them when in Burgundy because to my American sensibilities, poached eggs seemed an incongruous first course in a typically lavish Burgundian dinner. Indeed, order oeufs en meurette at the Hostellerie des Clos, in Chablis, and not only will your meal begin with three(!) eggs floating in a very rich sauce but you’ll immediately grasp why the famous letter-writing Madame de Sévigné penned that the countryside of Burgundy had air “which you have only to breathe to get fat.”

The best oeufs en meurette I’ve ever tasted are served in the splendidly vaulted dining room of the Château de Gilly, an imposing hotel in which cyclists on my Burgundy tour have the luxury of reposing for two nights during their Route des Grands Crus bicycling trip. Here, two eggs are served in separate cocottes, one napped in the traditional red wine meurette and the other in an innovative and equally delicious white wine variation. After a bit of jovial persistence, I succeeded in coaxing the recipe for the red wine version from Gilly’s charming manager, J. L. Bottigliero, and it is my adaptation of this recipe that I am pleased to share here. Note: I prefer to serve my oeufs en meurette as a brunch dish rather than first course to a meal.

Ingredients

• For the Meurette Sauce:
• 3 cups red Burgundy table wine, preferably with 13% alcohol
• 1 cup Homemade Beef Stock
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• Sea or coarse salt and
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• For the Garnishes:
• 24 pearl onions
• 8 ounces slab bacon, rind removed, cut into 3/4-inch dice
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup thinly sliced white mushrooms
• For the Eggs and Finishing the Dish:
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 8 large eggs
• 8 rounds white bread (4 inches in diameter), toasted and buttered (split English muffins may be substituted)
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Preparation

Step 1

1. To make the meurette sauce: Combine the wine, beef stock, sugar, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme in a medium-size nonreactive saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and continue to boil gently until the liquid is reduced by half; about 15 minutes. Strain the reduced liquid into a large clean saucepan, discarding the solids. Keep warm over medium-low heat. Using your fingers or a fork, knead together the butter and flour until thoroughly combined, to make what the French call a beurre manié. Whisk the beurre manié slowly, half-teaspoon by half-teaspoon, into the meurette sauce until it is silky and somewhat thickened. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and keep warm over low heat. (The meurette sauce may also be made up to 2 days in advance, stored in the refrigerator, and then reheated gently over low heat.)

2. To prepare the garnishes, begin by peeling the pearl onions. Unfortunately, the blanch-and-slip-away-the-skins method does not work well with pearl onions, and it is best to peel them with the aid of a small, sharp paring knife. Set the onions aside.

3. Sauté the bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat until crisp. Drain on layers of paper towels and set aside. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat from the skillet. Add the onions to the skillet and sauté them over medium-high heat until they are browned all over, 6 to 8 minutes. Add a pinch of sugar to the skillet and continue sautéing until the onions become lightly caramelized and are tender, 3 to 4 minutes more. Add the onions to the meurette sauce.

4. Melt the butter over medium heat in a small skillet. Add the mushrooms and sauté them until all their liquid has evaporated and they have become lightly browned. Stir them into the meurette sauce.

5. To poach the eggs, bring a large skillet of water to a boil and stir in the vinegar. Carefully break the eggs into the simmering water and poach them to the desired degree of doneness. Have ready 4 large, shallow soup dishes. Place 2 rounds of buttered toast side by side in each dish. Carefully remove the poached eggs from the skillet with a slotted spoon, draining well, and place an egg atop each toast round. Spoon the warm meurette sauce generously over and around the eggs. Sprinkle each serving with some of the reserved bacon and a smattering of parsley. Serve immediately.