Poached Eggs with Red Wine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2½-quart (2.4-liter) narrow saucepan
• •10-inch (25 cm) heavy skillet
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Slotted spoon
• •Wire cooling rack
• •8 small ramekins or cups
• •Large broiler-safe oval platter or four shallow broiler-safe gratin plates

Instructions

1. 1

   Shape and fry rusks

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Trim the bread into eight ovals about 4 inches (10 cm) long, then press a shallow hollow into each center with the back of a spoon without breaking through the base. Dry them on a rack in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes per side, until firm but not colored. Melt one-third of the butter in a skillet over medium heat and fry the rusks in batches, adding fresh butter as needed, until both faces are evenly golden and crisp. Drain them on a rack, hollow side up. The drying gives the bread enough backbone to carry egg and sauce; soft bread simply collapses.

   Add fresh butter between batches instead of letting one panful grow dark. You want butter-gold rusks with a clean flavor, not scorched milk solids.
2. 2

   Poach eggs in wine

   Pour the wine into a narrow 2½-quart (2.4-liter) saucepan and bring it to a bare tremble over medium-low heat, with an occasional small bubble but no rolling boil. Crack each egg into a ramekin, then slip two or three at a time into the wine. Spoon wine gently over any exposed white and poach for 3 to 3½ minutes, until the whites hold together while the yolks remain yielding. Lift each egg with a slotted spoon and place it directly into ice water to stop the cooking. If the whites feather, the wine is too hot. Pull the pan from the heat for thirty seconds, gather the loose white toward the yolk with a spoon, and trim untidy strands after lifting. Ça se rattrape.

3. 3

   Prepare the referenced sauce

   Strain the poaching wine through a fine sieve. Measure the amount of wine called for in the separate entry and use this strained liquid when preparing Sauce Bordelaise (No. 32) exactly according to that recipe. Hold 1½ cups (360 ml) warm for serving. The finished sauce should coat the back of a spoon and still flow freely. If it tightens while waiting, stir in hot water one teaspoon at a time; if it remains loose, simmer it gently a little longer.

4. 4

   Rewarm and drain eggs

   Set the broiler to high and place its rack 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 cm) below the element. Bring a wide pan of fresh water to about 175°F (80°C), hot but not simmering. Slip the chilled eggs into it for 45 to 60 seconds, just until warmed through, then lift and blot them carefully on a clean towel. Water left on the whites thins the sauce, so dry them with patience. Arrange the rusks hollow side up on a broiler-safe oval platter, settle one egg onto each, and season lightly with the salt.

5. 5

   Coat and glaze

   Spoon about 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of hot Sauce Bordelaise (No. 32) over each egg, coating the white and allowing a little sauce to pool around the rusk. If the sauce slips away, lift the egg, blot it once more, and recoat it. Place the platter under the broiler for 20 to 40 seconds, just until the sauce catches a taut shine and quivers at the edges. Do not wait for browning; glacer means a polished surface, not a gratin, and another minute would harden the yolks. Bring the platter straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose a dry, supple red with moderate tannin. A modest Bordeaux is the natural bottle here; a heavily oaked or aggressively tannic wine grows bitter as the sauce concentrates.
• •Fresh eggs matter because their thick whites cling closely to the yolks in the poaching wine. Pasteurized shell eggs are the right choice for guests who should avoid undercooked egg.
• •Use Sauce Bordelaise (No. 32) with its marrow as written. The marrow and reduced sauce are what give the coating enough body to cling to the curved eggs; a generic red-wine gravy changes the dish.
• •Fry the rusks in real butter and keep them uncovered once crisp. Oil misses the flavor, while covering traps moisture and softens the very foundation meant to hold the sauce.
• •This makes a generous brunch centerpiece or a rich first course for supper. Pour the same style of dry red used for poaching and serve something sharply dressed and green afterward.

Advance Preparation

• •Shape and dry the bread up to one day ahead. Cool it completely and keep it airtight, then fry the rusks in butter within an hour of serving.
• •Poach the eggs up to two hours ahead, chill them immediately in ice water, cover, and refrigerate. Prepare Sauce Bordelaise (No. 32) with the strained poaching wine during that interval.
• •Hold the finished sauce covered over the gentlest heat for up to thirty minutes, or cool and refrigerate it for several hours. Rewarm it slowly and correct the consistency with teaspoons of hot water.
• •Do not assemble the eggs on the rusks until the broiler is hot and everyone is ready to eat. Once coated, the crisp bread begins drinking in the sauce, which is delicious at the table and disastrous in a waiting kitchen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 270g)