2021 Tour de France - Stage 6: Tours to Châteauroux
In a language that has, at least, 25 ways to say “no”, you’d figure the French would have a unique name for the center region of France, but au contraire! Today the riders find themselves in the lamely-named Centre region. However, what the region lacks for in a unique name, it makes up for it with the name of this dish: Oeufs á la Couille d'Âne . . OR Eggs like a Donkey’s Testicle! I’m not making this shit up. This hilariously named dish is a really lovely breakfast from the French countryside and everyone should make it over this long weekend.
French Country Breakfast
Oeufs á la Couille d'Âne, adapted from French Regional Food, Joel Robuchon
Slab bacon, cut into lardon
Butter
2 onions, halved and sliced thin
2 large shallots, minced
Red wine
Butter
4 eggs
Champagne vinegar (or other light vinegar)
Sliced multigrain bread
Chives
Slice the bacon into lardon batons (½” thick, 1” long, ½” wide). Place them flat-side down into a large skillet over medium-high heat. As soon as the lardon sizzle, reduce the heat to medium-low. Once some fat has rendered, reduce the heat to low and flip after 8 minutes. Continue cooking until the fat has rendered - 15 mins or so. Reserve.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tbsp butter in a non-stick pan. Once melted, add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt and reduce the heat to medium-low. Sweat the onions slowly, for about 20 minutes, until softened but not taking on much color. Reserve.
While the onions sauté, melt a tablespoon of butter in a large pot and saute the shallots with a pinch of salt over medium heat. Once softened, pour ⅔ of a bottle of wine into pot and reduce until thickened like runny cough syrup. Reserve.
Once the vegetables, sauce, and lardons are ready, crack 4 eggs and place each one into a separate small bowl. Bring a pot of water to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in 1 tbsp of vinegar. Keep stirring creating a slow swirling vortex in the water, then pour in the eggs, about 10 seconds apart from each other. Cook for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, pull the eggs from the water and allow to dry.
While the eggs are cooking/resting, reheat the wine sauce. Once the onions have released the wine and it is just starting to bubble, whisk in 2 tbsp of butter.
To serve, toast and butter the bread slices. Distribute the wine sauce among the dishes equally. Place some sautéed onions on the bread and top with the egg. Use a spoon to spread out the wine sauce on each plate and place the toast down in the middle of the sauce. Sprinkle each dish with lardon, sea salt and black pepper. Garnish with chives.
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Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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