Oeufs en Meurette

This recipe was proposed by Gourmande from the Supertoinette Thermomix forum for our monthly challenge. Her version of the eggs en Meurette is lighter than the traditional recipe (no bacon in the sauce) and much easier to do thanks to our friend the Thermomix! This dish comes from Burgundy, so you can use a Burgundy red wine for the sauce although I used a Bordeau, being a fan of more bodied and tannic wines. Also, the poaching of the eggs has been the subject of a heated debate on the forum as everybody has their own way of poaching them. So, you can be all traditional and use a saucepan with boiling water, if you have the silicone contraption that makes it easier and gives a neater result (as I did), you can use that as well. If you have a heat resistant cling film, then the Thermomix will be the best choice (I’ll give you the steps to poach your eggs in the internal basket) and if you have any other way you fancy to try, please be my guest! The important thing is that the egg yolk is still runny and the egg white is not fried.

Finally, I may add that I had never done oeufs en Meurette before (being the daughter of a Burgundy woman, I feel ashamed) but I was absolutely delighted by this recipe! The sauce is tasty and you can’t stop mopping it with the bread at the end, the eggs are fantastic with it and if you made my recipe of the sourdough bread, then you will be in heaven!

Source: Gourmande and Christalie for the method to poach eggs in the Thermomix

Ingredients

For 1 person (multiply accordingly for the number of servings)
2 small onions or shallots
30g olive oil or butter
30g chicken stock (or 30g water + 1/8 ctock cube)
100g red wine (try to get a decent wine, you can drink the leftovers!)
1 egg
1 slice of bread, toasted

Optional: fried bacon, cut into lardons and parsley to sprinkle

Method

Chop the onions in the TM bowl 2 sec/speed 5.
Add the oil or butter and cook 8min/100C/speed spoon/Reverse blade
Add the wine and cook 5 min/100C/speed spoon/Reverse blade.
Add the stock and reduce 15 min/100C/speed spoon/Reverse blade, measuring cup OFF
At this point, you can either set aside and keep warm or blitz the mixture if you want a smooth sauce or if you don’t like the texture of onions (I did it as I like my sauces smooth). Also, if the sauce is a bit liquid, add a tsp of cornflour mixed with 1 tsp of cold water to the hot sauce at speed 3.
Now, for the poached eggs:
Method #1: using a pan of boiling water. Add 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar into boiling water (use a big saucepan and a large quantity of water). Crack the egg in a separate cup, twirl the water with a spoon to create a whirlpool at the center. Drop the whole egg in that whirlpool and continue stirring with the spoon to keep the momentum and get the white to wrap the yolk while cooking. After 2 or 3 minutes, take out the egg with a slotted spoon and place on a warm plate. Sponge the excess water with a kitchen paper.
Method #2: using the easy poach silicone cup (see picture).
Method #2: using a silicone poacher

Oil the silicone cup and place an egg inside. Place in a small saucepan and add 1.5 cm of water in the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, place a lid on the saucepan and count 4 to 6 minutes (depending on the size of the egg).
Method #3: using the internal basket of the Thermomix. Place a piece of cling film, big enough to wrap an egg into a small bowl so it lines it. Oil the cling film (important!). Crack the egg into the lined bowl, then peel the cling film off the bowl, twisting the ends together until you wrap the egg. Place the wrapped egg into the internal basket. Add 1.5 L water into the TM bowl. Cook the water 5 min/Varoma/speed 1. Add the internal basket into the bowl and cook another 5 min/Varoma/speed 1. Take out the basket and pour cold water over the wrapped eggs to stop the cooking.
To serve, toast some bread, pour some sauce over a serving bowl, gently place the poached egg on top and sprinkle with parsley and fried bacon if using.