Eggs Meurette

Classic french dish as an appetizer. Essentially it's eggs poached in red wine sauce, with a garnish of bacon and mushrooms. Make this for your girl and watch her eyes light up like a xmas tree, honestly, the impressiveness of this dish will surely lead to something sexy later on, best of all it's really easy to make and you get to eat bacon and eggs !

Ingredients

1/2 cup of chopped bacon

10 pearl onions

1 small carrot, peeled and cut into dice

2 shallots, peeled and chopped

1 branch of celery, chopped

a sprig of thyme and rosemary

2 bay leaves

some olive oil and butter for sauteeing

500 ml of a full bodied red wine

large brick of salted butter

2 tablespoon of flour

4 eggs at room temperature

10 washed and diced cremini mushrooms

2 cups of beef broth

a tablespoon of white wine vinegar

a clove of garlic

a baguette

salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

• bring to a simmer the wine, broth and vinegar - vinegar will keep the eggs together.
• poach the eggs for a few minutes, 3-4, they will turn purple. Set aside.
• add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bouquet garni, ( the herbs ) and peppercorns to the poaching liquid and simmer until it is concentrated and reduced by half, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook the garnish, melt half the butter in a medium saucepan, add the mushrooms, and sauté until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms, add bacon with the remaining butter, and fry until brown. Lift out the bacon and drain it on paper towels. Add the baby onions and sauté them gently until brown and tender, shaking the pan often so they color evenly, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain off all the fat, replace the mushrooms and bacon, and set the pan aside.
• take the baguette and make croûtes - cut them in slices, or cut them in ring moulds so they're round, and fry them in melted butter.mmmmmm set aside momentarily.
• to thicken the sauce add kneaded butter - butter and flour mashed together - and thicken until it coats the back of a spoon.
• Plating :
  place croûte on the plate, gently place the garnish over top and pour the strained sauce over top then gently place the poached egg on top, and then on top of it add a final garnish of chopped parsley or maybe a nice thick shave of fresh parm.