It's an extremely decadent breakfast, and one that was two days in the making. On the first day, I prepared the wine reduction, simmering two cups of Cotes du Rhone with two small peeled and sliced carrots; a quarter of an onion, roughly chopped; two bay leaves; and a few minced garlic cloves. After about 15 minutes, I strained the resulting dark red liquid and stored it until this morning.
Then, I set four eggs to poaching in simmering water and put good bread in the toaster while I returned the wine to its shallow pan. I made a paste of a tablepoon each of softened butter and flour, heated the reduction and whisked in my flour/butter paste. A few moments of whisking over medium-low heat and I had a darkly shiny, thick sauce. The plating was a snap and I was rhapsodizing over sharply winey sauce, liquid yolks, chewy country bread. Oeufs en Meurette recipe from Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking.









