April 10  #541                             Oeufs en Meuette

Welcome to RK, I’m AS.  On a past trip to France I discovered a little dish that I fell in love with.  It’s known as “Oeufs en Meuette” or eggs poached in red wine.  Every time I found it on a menu I would order it, and no two were the same.  But they were always good.  And Chef JP of CR, this is a good dish to look at for two of the steps you take:  that is poaching an egg, and preparing a separate garnish that will utilize the red wine poaching liquid.

1.  the basic idea is the poached egg (use red wine alone…broth of any kind tends to discolor the egg) served on a crouton or English muffin slice, garnished with a ham or bacon and vegetable sauce that is made with the red wine.

2.  Poaching techniques:  simmer, with bubbles…make the liquid acidic…slide the egg from a teacup or small dish…coddle by spooning liquid over the egg…gently detach from the bottom…remove to a bowl of warm water…trim the edges.

3.  the garnish:  cook things in order of their hardness…i.e. hard carrots need more time than soft mushrooms or tender snow peas.  In this case cook carrots, ham or bacon pieces, mushrooms in that order.  Keep warm.  Drain the broth into the wine after poaching is completed, and reduce.  Season if necessary, and thicken with a little corn starch.

Re-combine with the garnish, and ladle over the eggs and English muffin slices.

4.  White wine Oeufs en Meuette.  Use an off dry or slightly sweet wine.  Slice a chicken breast into very thin cutlettes, sauté in butter.  Cook carrots separately in chicken broth, adding mushrooms and at the very end finely chopped spring onions (white and green parts).

5.  Tear apart the chicken into tiny pieces and keep warm in its skillet.  Drain the broth into the wine, reduce, season with a pinch of sugar, nutmeg and tarragon.  Thicken.

Spoon the vegetables and sauce over the eggs, on their muffins, and sprinkle the shredded chicken over the dish.

OEUFS EN MEUETTE BLANCS

A Radio Kitchen Original Recipe

½ bottle off dry white wine, like viognier or chenin blanc

4 large whole eggs

1 chicken breast, sliced into thin flat cutlets

olive oil

salt and black pepper

2 cups chicken broth

1 medium carrot, diced

4 medium white mushrooms, washed and coarsely chopped

4 or 5 spring onions, trimmed and cut into ¼ inch pieces, green and white parts

1 tsp corn starch

½ tsp light brown sugar

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp ground tarragon

2 English muffins, sliced and lightly toasted and buttered

1.  Bring the wine to boil in a small sauce pan.  When it is rolling, reduce heat to a bubbling simmer.  (The bubbles will help keep the egg from sticking to the bottom of the pan.)  Gently crack a whole egg into a tea cup, give the wine a swirl, and pour the egg into the center of the wine.  With a spatula, keep the bottom of the egg free from the sauce pan.  Using a spoon, gently ladle hot wine over the egg to ensure uniform cooking. Continue poaching the egg until all the white is cooked through.  When it is done, gently lift the poached egg out of the pan with a flat straining spoon, and transfer it to a bowl of warm water.  Repeat for the rest of the eggs.

2.  Sauté the thin chicken cutlets in olive oil in a skillet.  Turn several times as they cook.  When they start to get golden brown, remove them and set aside, keeping them warm.

3.  Deglaze the skillet with the chicken broth, scraping up any brown bits.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then add the carrots.  As they become tender add the mushrooms, and reduce heat to medium.  Cook another 4-5 minutes.  Finally add the cut up spring onions, stir briefly, then remove from heat.  Do not let them overcook.

4.  Strain off the chicken broth and set the vegetables aside in a bowl.  Combine the white wine and the broth in the skillet and reduce by ¾ over high heat.  When the sauce is reduced, make a slurry with the corn starch and add it back to thicken.

5.  Over low heat, add the light brown sugar (to taste…it should only renew the fruitiness of the wine, not make the sauce sweet) the nut meg and the tarragon.  Blend well.

Return the vegetables to the sauce and keep warm.

6.  Place the buttered toasted English muffins on a plate.  Lift out the poached eggs one by one, and trim away the raggedly edges.  Place one egg on each muffin.  Spoon on some of the vegetable garnish.  Using your fingers, shred the chicken breast meat and sprinkle it over the sauce and on the plate.  Serve immediately.

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