Oeuffs en meurette with bone marrow and persillade

Sauce meurette is a classic French country sauce originating from Bourgogne. It is a dark concentrated essence of red wine and stock.

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Oeufs en meurette has several elements such as paoched eggs, bone marrow and speck that is brought together by the beautiful sauce.

Ingredients

• 350 ml Burgundy
• 225 ml veal stock
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 1 stick of celery, chopped
• 1 small garlic clove, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs thyme
• ½ tsp peppercorns
• 100 g cold unsalted butter, diced
• 85 g bacon lardons
• 85 g button mushrooms, quartered
• 4 stalks bone marrow, 5-6 cm long, soaked in water overnight
• ½ clove garlic, chopped
• 4 tbsp brioche breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped chives
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 slices sourdough bread

This recipe needs to be started 1 day in advance

Instructions

1. For the sauce, combine the wine and stock in a large saucepan and reduce by half. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and peppercorns and boil until reduced by half (15-20 minutes). Strain the wine, pressing the vegetables to extract all the liquid, then set aside.
2. While the wine reduces, melt 1 tbsp of the butter in a saucepan, add the bacon and fry until crisp. Add the mushrooms and fry until cooked. Drain fat off and set aside.
3. Combine breadcrumbs with finely chopped garlic, parsley and chive. Top each bone marrow with crumbs and bake for 5-6 minutes at 160°C until bone marrow is soft and crumbs are golden.
4. Bring the vinegar and 1 litre of water to the boil in a large shallow pan. Break the eggs, one at a time and poach  for 3-4 minutes, until the yolks are fairly firm but still soft to the touch. Using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs and drain on kitchen paper. Trim off the stringy edges with scissors.
5. To finish the dish, reheat the sauce on the stove and finish with the cold diced butter, whisking until sauce emulsifies.
6. Toast sourdough slices and cut into little fingers. Place 2 poached eggs in a shallow bowl, top with mushroom and bacon, place bone marrow on the side of the eggs and spoon over sauce. Serve with toasted sourdough fingers.

Note

• Bone marrow is available at your local butcher, and you can ask them to cut it to the size you need.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Oeufs en meurette has several elements such as paoched eggs, bone marrow and speck that is brought together by the beautiful sauce.