2000s Recipes + Menus

Salade Tiède aux Oeufs en Meurette
(Warm Frisée-Lardon Salad With Poached Eggs in Red-Wine Sauce)

Serves4
  • Active time:45 min
  • Start to finish:1 1/4 hr
March 2008
Two grand bistro classics meet here: the frisée aux lardons salad with a poached egg, and oeufs en meurette (poached eggs in a red-wine sauce). Frisée, with its slightly bitter flavor and sturdy but delicate texture, stands up beautifully to the rich, concentrated sauce and the warm poached egg.

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For sauce

  • 1/2 cup chopped shallots
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 teaspoon tomato paste
  • 1 (750-ml) bottle dry red wine
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 4 thyme sprigs
  • 1 large parsley sprig
  • 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
  • 1 (1/4-lb) piece slab bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch sticks (lardons)
  • 2/3 cup veal demi-glace (see shopping list, below) or 2 tablespoons demi-glace concentrate plus 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

For eggs and toasts

  • 8 (1/2-inch-thick) baguette slices
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, halved
  • 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
  • 8 large eggs

For salad

  • 1/2 lb frisée, trimmed and torn into pieces (4 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil

Make sauce:

  • Cook shallots in 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine, garlic, thyme, parsley, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and boil until reduced to about 1 cup, 25 to 40 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
  • Meanwhile, cook lardons in a small heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned but not crisp. Drain on paper towels.
  • Strain wine mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Return to saucepan, then stir in veal demi-glace and bring to a simmer.
  • Strain wine mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Return to saucepan, then stir in veal demi-glace and bring to a simmer.
  • Stir together flour and remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter to make a beurre manié, then whisk into sauce and simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Add half of lardons to sauce and keep warm off heat, covered.
  • Wrap remaining lardons in foil and keep warm on rack in lower third of oven.

Cook eggs and toasts:

  • Brush baguette slices with oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Toast in upper third of oven until pale golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Rub garlic on toasts.
  • Meanwhile, fill a deep large skillet with 11/4 inches water, then add vinegar and bring to a simmer. Break 1 egg into a cup and slide egg into water. Repeat with remaining eggs, spacing them apart, and poach at a bare simmer until whites are firm but yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes.

Make salad while eggs poach:

  • Toss frisée with vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then with oil, and divide among 4 plates.

To serve:

  • Lift each egg out of poaching liquid with a slotted spatula and gently pat dry (still on spatula), then transfer to a toast. Season eggs lightly with salt and pepper and divide among salads. Pour sauce over eggs and sprinkle salads with remaining lardons.
Cooks’ note: Sauce can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered (once cool).
Shopping list: Veal demi-glace is available at specialty foods shops and Citarella (212-874-0383).
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