We had a dinner party for 7 the other evening and I wanted to try this tasty recipe for our first course, but was slightly nervous doing 7 poached eggs at once. Result…perfectly flawless and incredibly delicious.

Recipe:

Poached Eggs with Red Wine Vin on Bitter Greens
Ingredients:
1 bottle red wine (something you would drink, I used a young Beaujolais)
1 red onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 ribs celery, rough chop
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 bay leaves
1 stem rosemary
2 sprigs parsley
1 teaspoon whole pepper corns
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
7 large eggs
White vinegar
Salt and pepper
Bitter, spicy greens, like endive, radiccio, mustard greens, arugula – rough chopped
Optional for the salad – bacon, bacon fat croutons, white wine sauteed mushrooms

Preparation:
Add the first 9 ingredients to a sauce pot and bring to a boil then simmer and reduce by half. Then let cool slightly and strain into a seperate bowl, removing all the herbs and veggies. Pour the strained wine back into the sauce pot and reduce by another 1/4. The sauce will be very rich and strong, but incredible. Let cool and then pour into a small bowl and whisk in the mustard, vinegar and oil. Set aside.

Set a large pot of water on the stove on medium high heat. Bring to a boil then simmer. Add a good amount of white vinegar. Every time I have tried to poach eggs before I have never put in enough vinegar so don’t be shy…I used about 1/2 – 3/4 cup of vinegar. Crack each egg into an individual ramekin. Drop each egg into the water and as soon as it hits the water use a whisk and create a little whirlpool around each egg to set the white into a sphere around the egg. Poach for 3-4 minutes, the yolk will be just starting to set.

Meanwhile, plate the salad on individual plates, topping with any of the optional garnishes. Season each with a touch of salt and pepper.

Lift each of the eggs out of the water using a spider, draining any access water on a towel and lay each in the middle of each salad plate. Season lightly with salt and pepper and drizzle over a few tablespoons of the red wine vin.

*to make bacon fat croutons cook 3 strips of chopped bacon in a skillet until very crisp over medium heat. Remove the bacon and let drain on a few paper towels. Cut 2 pieces of day old sour dough bread into 1 inch pieces. Drop into the bacon fat, stir to coat then turn the heat down to low and let crisp, turing over every few minutes. Remove from pan, season and set aside.