Eggs à la Tripe

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2-quart saucepan with lid
• •10-inch heavy sauté pan with lid
• •Thin-bladed knife
• •Flexible heatproof spatula
• •1½-quart deep serving bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook and slice eggs

   Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover them with cool water. Bring just to the boil, cover, remove from the heat, and leave for 10 minutes. Cool them promptly in cold water, peel, and cut crosswise into broad slices about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Use a thin, damp knife and lift each slice gently so the yolk remains nested inside the white.

   Eggs that are still warm tear more easily. Cool them completely before slicing, then let the sauce warm them at the finish.
2. 2

   Étuver the onions

   Reserve about a teaspoon of the butter, then melt the rest in a heavy pan over low heat. Add the minced onions, cover, and étuver them, meaning stew them gently in their own moisture, for 12 to 15 minutes. Stir every few minutes until they are very soft, translucent, and still pale. If the edges begin to gold, pull the pan from the heat and add a spoonful of water to stop the cooking. For darker patches, lift the pale onions out, wipe the pan, and continue with the reserved butter. Ça se rattrape.

   Keep the heat low enough that the butter never sizzles fiercely. The sound should be a quiet murmur, not frying.
3. 3

   Simmer the Béchamel

   Add the warm Béchamel sauce to the softened onions and stir thoroughly. Hold the sauce at the barest simmer for exactly 10 minutes, stirring along the bottom often enough to prevent catching. It should nap the back of a spoon while still falling from it in a broad ribbon. If it tightens into a paste, remove it from the heat and whisk in boiling water a teaspoon at a time until supple again.

4. 4

   Fold in eggs

   A few minutes before serving, slide the egg slices into the sauce and fold them through once or twice with a flexible spatula. Keep the heat very low and warm for 2 to 3 minutes without boiling. Stirring breaks the whites and loosens the yolks, so turn the sauce over the eggs rather than chasing them around the pan. If a yolk begins to slip, stop folding and spoon the hot sauce over the remaining slices instead.

5. 5

   Serve in a timbale

   Transfer the œufs à la tripe immediately to a warmed deep serving bowl, the useful home equivalent of the old timbale. Spoon the onions and Béchamel around the egg slices without burying them completely, and bring the bowl straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use ordinary yellow onions. Their firmness and gentle sharpness soften properly during the étuvée; very sweet onions become cloying before they become tender.
• •The Béchamel is a finished component, just as the source intends. Warm it before measuring so its consistency is honest, and make sure it is fully seasoned in its own preparation because no additional flavoring enters this dish.
• •Slice the eggs boldly. Thin slices disappear into the sauce, while broad rounds preserve the resemblance that gave œufs à la tripe its name.
• •No cheese, herbs, or browned top are needed. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. Set plain bread beside the bowl for gathering up the sauce.

Advance Preparation

• •The eggs may be cooked, cooled, and refrigerated in their shells one day ahead. Peel and slice them shortly before they enter the sauce.
• •The Béchamel may be prepared up to two days ahead with parchment pressed directly against its surface. Reheat it gently and restore its flowing consistency with a little boiling water before measuring.
• •The onions can be cooked pale several hours ahead and refrigerated. Rewarm them gently before adding the Béchamel, but fold in the eggs only just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)