Red Wine Poached Eggs with Butter-Fried Baguette
Red Wine Poached Eggs with Butter-Fried Baguette
A Burgundy classic! I must have eaten about twelve versions of this dish while traveling through the Burgundy region in France. It's usually made with beef and/or bacon and I found so many versions to be very bland and fatty. This recipe relies on the meatiness of mushrooms and caramelized onions to create great depth of flavor as well as a velvety sauce. This is an impressive dish to make for brunch entertaining as nearly every element can be made ahead.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 750ml bottle inexpensive pinot noir
32 oz mushroom stock
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
4 stems fresh parsley
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
pinch of kosher salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp unsalted room temperature butter
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
40 chives, about 2 bunches
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 large eggs
white wine vinegar, for poaching
16 slices baguette
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
Method
To a large pot, add pinot noir, mushroom stock, one thinly sliced onion (reserve the other for later), carrot, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, peppercorns, and a pinch of salt. Heat over medium-high heat until reduced by half, about 25 minutes. Once reduced, strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Discard the vegetables.
In a small bowl, mix the unsalted butter and all-purpose flour thoroughly with a fork, then whisk this into the red wine sauce quickly until completely incorporated and cook until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, sauté the remaining thinly sliced onion in a large skillet over low-medium heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil. You want these to be soft and caramelized, so keep an eye on the heat as you don’t want these to cook too quickly and burn.
Stir about 1/2 of the carmelized onions in with the red wine sauce. Keep the remaining aside for garnish.
To make chive oil: simply add chives and olive oil to a blender and blend on high until bright green and emulsified. Transfer to a small pitcher or container.
To a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium-high heat. Add baguette slices and fry until golden brown. Add remaining butter and flip the baguette slices over to brown on the other side.
To poach the eggs: Fill a 2-qt. saucepan with water until it is about 2 inches deep. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and add a splash of white wine vinegar. Poach eggs, no more than 2 at a time, for about 3-5 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are still soft. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate.
To assemble: Ladle 4 equal portions of red wine sauce into wide bowls. Place 2 baguette slices into the sauce, top each baguette with a poached egg, and pour a bit of chive oil over each egg. Garnish each egg with about one teaspoon of carmelized onions. Serve immediately.