Oeufs Au Beurre Noir Eggs With Black Butter Food

OEUFS AU BEURRE NOIR - EGGS WITH BLACK BUTTER

Steps:

• Poach the eggs in water to which a little vinegar has been added.
• Remove while still soft and place in a dish in warm oven.
• Boil the wine vinegar until it is 1/2 of its original quantity; pour over eggs.
• Simmer butter a few minutes in the pan; add parsley and salt and cook until both butter and parsley are browned.
• Pour over eggs and serve at once.

RAIE AU BEURRE NOIR (SKATE WITH BLACK BUTTER SAUCE)

Steps:

• Arrange fish pieces in one layer, slightly overlapping, in a skillet or casserole. Add water to cover, the white vinegar, salt, bay leaf, peppercorns and thyme.
• Bring to a boil and let simmer over low heat about 2 minutes or less. Turn off heat and let stand until ready to serve. Do not let stand for more than a very few minutes. Transfer fish pieces to a layer of paper towels. Then transfer drained pieces of fish to a heated serving dish.
• To make sauce, heat a heavy skillet, preferably of black iron, almost to smoking. Add butter; when it melts and starts to darken, add capers. Cook, shaking skillet and stirring, about 1 minute, or until butter starts to blacken. Add red-wine vinegar and parsley, swirling it around, and pour sauce over fish.

OEUFS EN MEURETTE

Steps:

• For the sauce, put the wine and stock in a large saucepan and bring to a vigorous boil. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bouquet garni and peppercorns and boil until reduced by half (15-20 minutes). Strain the wine, pressing the vegetables to extract all the liquid, then set aside.
• While the wine is reducing, melt a quarter of the butter in a saucepan, add the bacon and fry until crisp. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Sauté the mushrooms in with another quarter of the butter until tender (2-3 minutes). Remove and put with the bacon. In the same pan, gently sauté the onions for 10-15 minutes until crisp and tender, shaking the pan often so they colour evenly. Drain off the fat, return the mushrooms and bacon to the pan and set aside.
• Make the croûtes: using a round or oval cutter, cut the bread into 4 shapes just larger than a poached egg. Heat 5 mm/1⁄4in of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the bread croûtes in batches until brown on both sides (1-2 minutes per side). Drain on kitchen paper and set aside.
• To thicken the sauce, crush the remaining 15g/1⁄2oz butter on a plate with a fork and work in the flour to form a soft paste - French cooks call this beurre manié. Bring the wine mixture to a boil and whisk in the kneaded butter a piece at a time, until the sauce becomes thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon (you may not need all the kneaded butter). Strain the sauce into the pan with the bacon, mushrooms and onions. Bring to a boil, taste and adjust seasoning, adding a piece of chocolate if you like.
• To finish the dish, reheat the sauce on the stove, and warm the croûtes in the oven. Bring the vinegar and 1.2 litres/2 pints of water to the boil in a large shallow pan. Break the eggs, one at a time, into the places where the liquid is bubbling, so the bubbles spin the eggs. Lower the heat and poach the eggs for 3-4 minutes, until the yolks are fairly firm but still soft to the touch. Using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs and drain on kitchen paper. Trim off the stringy edges with scissors. Place the croûtes on warm serving plates, set an egg on each croûte and spoon over the sauce.

SKATE AU BEURRE NOIR

Steps:

• Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Slice off a little from each end of the potato. Cut potato in sixths lengthwise. Cut the wedges into elongated seven-sided ovals; hold potato wedge steady with fingertips and, with a small paring knife, trim all sharp edges. Work from top to bottom of piece in a quick curving movement, turning the piece slightly between each cut. The finished pieces should be of uniform size and shape. Add potatoes to boiling water. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and reserve.
• Bring stock to a boil in a medium saute pan. Reduce to a simmer. Season both sides of skate with salt and pepper. Place in pan; cover and cook 2 minutes. Turn fish. Cover once again, and cook until opaque, about 2 minutes more. With a fish spatula, transfer skate to two plates. Place three pieces of potato on each plate.
• While fish is cooking, melt butter in a separate medium saute pan over high heat. Cook until butter starts to turn golden, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, swirling pan. This swirling motion combined with the remaining heat in the pan will bring the butter to its desired, almost-black color. Add lemon juice, capers, parsley, and a pinch salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over skate. Serve.