Eggs in red wine sauce (oeufs en meurette)

“This dish, from the Champagne region of France, is a peasant version of beef bourguignon, where the meat is substituted with eggs.” Poh Ling Yeow, Poh & Co. 2

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces

• 295 g butter
• 1 French shallot, finely chopped
• 350 g Swiss brown mushrooms, diced
• 1 large carrot, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 750 ml bottle red wine (preferably Beaujolais or similar)
• 1 bouquet garni (flat-leaf parsley stalks, thyme sprigs, rosemary stalks and a fresh bay leaf tied together with kitchen string)
• 250 ml (1 cup) vegetable stock
• sea salt and black pepper
• 1 stale baguette, cut into thin slices
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 12 large free-range eggs
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1 shot Armagnac (optional)
• finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Instructions

Steam the potato in a steamer basket over a saucepan of simmering water for 15 minutes or until tender. Keep warm.

Heat 145 g of the butter in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat until melted and foaming, then add the shallot and mushroom and stir to mix well. Add the carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softened but not coloured. Stir in the wine, bouquet garni and stock and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil over high heat, then cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C. Rub the baguette slices with the garlic. Heat another 100 g of the butter in an ovenproof frying pan over low–medium heat until melted and foaming, then add the baguette and cook for 1–2 minutes or until golden, adding the olive oil. Transfer to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Transfer to paper towel to drain.

Poach the eggs, one at a time, in a large saucepan of simmering water for 2 minutes or until the whites are cooked and the yolks are still runny. Drain on paper towel.

Strain the hot wine sauce through a fine mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl (discard the veg) and then return to the pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Using a fork, mash the remaining butter and flour on a small plate until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture to the pan of wine sauce, whisking continuously until all the flour mixture is added and the sauce is thickened and smooth Whisk in the Armagnac, if using.

Pour most of the hot wine sauce into a large flat serving dish, arrange the poached eggs on one end of the sauce and the hot potato on the other end, then place the croutons around the edge of the dish. Scatter the potato with parsley, spoon a little more sauce over the eggs and serve immediately.

Photography, styling and food preparation by china squirrel.

Poh & Co. 2 Thursdays at 8.30pm on SBS.

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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.