Eggs in Red Wine Sauce

By corlear

Oeufs à la Chouan

Old wives tell their tales the world over, but when a recipe is involved they are taken seriously. It would seem that the following dish became popular during the French Revolution of 1789.

A band of revolutionaries named les Chouans (after a certain Jean Chouan who led them), roamed through Vendée on the run. They were fed willingly, if frugally, by the peasants who also took them in and hid them when necessary. Food in those times was scarce but two eggs, an onion and a glass of wine were always to be begged, borrowed, or stolen in a good cause. They still make a delicious and satisfying meal when bolstered up with plenty of thick-crusted country bread.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion or 12 shallots
• 1 clove garlic
• 50 g (2 oz) butter
• 300 ml (1/2 pint) red wine
• 1 small sprig thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 stalks parsley
• salt
• black pepper
• nutmeg
• 8 large eggs

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Peel the onion and garlic and chop finely together. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat and when foaming add the onion mixture. Reduce the heat to low and cook slowly until soft and transparent, without colouring. Stir frequently, add the wine, the herbs tied together, salt, pepper and a large pinch of grated nutmeg. When simmering slowly, leave to reduce a little.

Meanwhile break the eggs into wetted saucers and slide them into the pan. Flip the sauce over the yolks until they are veiled and the whites just set. Remove the herbs. Put a pinch of salt and a twist of ground pepper in the centre of each yolk and serve the eggs immediately on a hot plate with the sauce poured round them.