Poached Eggs with Red Wine Sauce
In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best:In the early years, F&W had a distinct French bent to it, especially in the recipes. Anne Willan, founder of the prestigious École de Cuisine la Varenne in France, expounded the virtues of cooking with wine and shared a recipe for classic oeufs pochés en meurette, a Burgundian preparation reminiscent of eggs benedict, with egg-topped buttered toast rounds. Traditionally the eggs for this dish are poached in red wine; it adds a bit of flavor, but the eggs take on a grayish-purple color. This version calls for eggs that have been poached in water, then assembled with the red wine sauce at the end. In her version, Willan used red burgundy to make a rich, glossy sauce studded with bits of bacon, which she spooned over the runny eggs. She didn’t insist on using Burgundian wine, but she strongly advised the cook: “if it is not fit to drink, it is not fit for the pot.”
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Notes
This dish can be made up to 8 hours ahead. If you have poached the eggs ahead of time, cover with water and refrigerate them separately from the sauce. Before using the poached eggs, quickly immerse them in a large skillet of simmering water until just heated through, about 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Wrap fried bread rounds loosely in foil and keep at room temperature.