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BON APPETITE
The prospect of another meal in Burgundy is enough to make me start
planning the trip right now. Whether it is in one of those strange and
wonderful cave-like restaurants they seem to favour, or at a big open
structure in the midst of a vineyard, it doesn’t much matter.
What matters is that you chat with the “patron” of
the restaurant first and find out which wine belongs to his friend,
and order a half liter of that to start. It probably won’t be the
best wine on the list, but you will have made a friend who will
carefully guide you through the rest of the experience.
There
are some strange things in the “classic” Burgundy menu, but
don’t turn your nose up at them.
I confess I have never developed a strong preference for oeufs
en meurette (eggs poached in red wine – they turns a rather
unappetizing shade of purplish gray which is not, in my view,
compensated for in their flavour.
Having said that, the following is a slight variation on the
classic theme, with the eggs not suffering from prolonged exposure to
the red wine. This recipe
is adapted from Bernard Loiseau’s “L’Envoloée des Saveurs”.
Loiseau has a nifty little three-star restaurant in Saulieu in
the Côte d’Or that I have never visited – however, good friends
have and highly recommend it. I’ve
prepared enough of his recipes to know I like his style of food.
Oeufs
en Meurette
8
eggs
100
grams butter, softened
3
carrots
1
large shallot
chopped
chive
300
ml strong red wine (like a côtes-du-rhone)
200
ml red wine vinegar
salt
and pepper
Bring
the red wine to a boil in a medium saucepan, removing it from the
stove as soon as it boils. Remove
the alcohol by lighting it. Chop
the shallot very finely and add to the wine.
Return the saucepan to the stove and reduce the wine by a
third. Set aside.
Wash
and peel the carrots; cook them in heavily salted water – they
should be cooked until mushy. Drain
then and put through a food mill, making a thick purée.
Mix this purée into the red wine and shallot reduction.
Mix well, then pass through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan.
Over low heat, gradually add the butter, whisking after each
small addition to fully incorporate it.
Taste and rectify seasoning.
Cover and set aside.
Add
2 litres of water to a large saucepan; do not add salt, but add in the
vinegar. Bring to a
simmer, but do not let boil. Break
each egg into a bowl, then gently (but quickly) pour each one into the
water, guiding the white in coagulating around the yolk.
Poach about three minutes.
While
the eggs are poaching, prepare a bowl of ice cold water.
When the eggs are poached, lift them out and plunge them into
the cold water to stop the cooking.
Take them out after 10 seconds and set aside.
For
presentation, you may want to clean up the eggs, cutting off the rough
white bits, giving the eggs a more uniform look.
Reheat
the red wine sauce over a low heat, whisking constantly.
Pour the sauce into a small shallow soup bowl, then add two
eggs per person. Serve
immediately.
Serves
4 as an appetizer.
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