Eggs meurette

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 people, you will need:

• 1 750 ml red wine
• 2 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• 3 8 poacheds eggs
• 4 200 g onion fondue
• 5 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 200 g small pieces of smoked bacon
• 7 4 slices bread
• 8 1 teaspoon cornflour
• 9 2 tablespoons water
• 10 Chives
• 11 Salt
• 12 Pepper
• Total weight: 1,805 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
30 min.	45 min.	1 hour 15 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Pour 750 ml red wine into a pan on medium heat. Salt and add 1 teaspoon caster sugar (to reduce the bitterness after cooking). The ideal wine for this is a red Burgundy made from Pinot Noir grapes, but do experiment with other red wines rich in tannin, Syrah/Shiraz for example. Bring to the boil and leave to reduce gently.
2	Prepare 8 poacheds eggs.
3	In a pan on lively fire pour 1 tablespoon olive oil and when hot, add 200 g small pieces of smoked bacon and make fry. Then mix then with 200 g onion fondue in a bowl, leaving the fat in the pan.
4	Remove the crust from 4 slices bread. reheat the frying pan and fry the bread in the bacon fat until they are golden brown.
5	When the wine has reduced by 4/5, mix 1 teaspoon cornflour and 2 tablespoons water in a cup.
6	Then pour this mixture into the reduced wine and beat vigourously while still heating to thicken the sauce. Check seasoning.
7	Arrange on the plates: put a slice of fried bread on each one and spread with a layer of onions and bacon. Place two poached eggs on top and cover with wine sauce. Garnish with a few chives and serve immediately.

Remarks

As is usual with these emblematic recipes, I keep my distance; this is not "the" recipe for eggs meurette, just one among many, my own version. What's more, I reckon there must be as many versions as cooks in Burgundy...
In this recipe, everything can be prepared in advance, even the day before. But it's wiser to fry the bread and thicken the wine sauce at the last minute.
The great chef Bernard Loiseau used a carrot purée rather than cornflour to thicken the sauce.
In a restaurant near Meursault I tasted a version with chopped mushrooms added to the onions, which was an excellent idea.
You can also enhance the flavour of the sauce by adding a bouquet garni to the pan as it comes to the boil, or 1 or 2 cloves of garlic.

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