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OEUFS EN MEURETTE

Any sauce left over can always be added to a stew.

Serves four as a starter or two

for a lunch or supper dish.

80g (3oz) smoked bacon

75g (23⁄4oz) butter

10 fat spring onions,

top half removed

1 teaspoon golden caster

sugar

150g (5½oz) button

mushrooms

a squeeze of lemon juice

4 slices of bread, cut into

round toasts

½ bottle of red wine

4 eggs

1 shallot, peeled and sliced

1 garlic clove, peeled and

sliced

15g (½oz) plain flour

2 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

salt

Cut the bacon into little lardons, saving the rind and any

trimmings for the sauce. Bring the lardons to the boil in a

small pan of cold water, then drain and run under a cold

tap. Melt a tablespoon of the butter in a frying pan and fry

the lardons until crisp and brown, then remove them. In

the same fat, colour the spring onions and sugar over a

high heat. Add a pinch of salt and enough water to cover,

then turn the heat down and soften gently for 15 minutes.

Save the mushrooms stalks for the sauce and add the

caps to the spring onions, with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a frying pan and fry

the bread rounds until golden brown.

Bring the red wine to the boil in a small saucepan.

Break each egg into a cup and, when the wine is

simmering, slip an egg into the pan, waiting each time for

the wine to return to a good simmer before dropping the

next egg into the pan. As soon as the whites are firmly set

and the eggs feel lightly done, lift them out and place them

carefully into a bowl of iced water. Once cooled, pat the

eggs dry and trim the edges of any trailing white.

Meanwhile, sauté the shallot, garlic, chopped bacon

trimmings and mushroom stalks in a tablespoon of the

butter. Once softened, add the flour and cook in the butter

to make a little roux. Pour in the wine in which you have

poached the eggs and allow it to come to a rolling boil.

Add the thyme and bay leaf and simmer and reduce slowly

for 15 minutes. Strain the sauce into another saucepan and

bring to a simmer.

Slip the eggs into the gently simmering sauce to heat

them through, making sure the yolk is still soft. Place an

egg on each piece of toast and keep warm in a low oven.

Warm the mushrooms, lardons and spring onions in

the sauce, enrich it with the remaining butter, and check

it for seasoning. Pour it over the eggs on toast and serve.

WINE: Oeufs en Meurette is Burgundian but there is not

much Burgundy around that I would be prepared to pour

into a pan, even for this recipe. A robust country red is

appropriate, half in the pan and half to drink.

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