Poached Eggs Masséna

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •30 cm (12-inch) wide, shallow saucepan
• •25 cm (10-inch) lidded skillet
• •Small saucepan and heatproof bowl for a bain-marie
• •Fine-mesh strainer, four small cups, and a broad slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the foundations

   Cover the marrow rounds with cold water and refrigerate them for 30 minutes, changing the water once; this draws away blood without warming the delicate fat. Drain and keep them very cold. Examine the artichoke bottoms. If a cavity is too shallow to hold its spoonful of Béarnaise, scrape away a teaspoon or two from the center with a small spoon, stopping well before you pierce the base. Arrange the sauces, eggs, parsley, and four warm plates before cooking begins.

2. 2

   Hold both sauces

   Warm the tomato sauce over low heat until it reaches nappant consistency, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon without sitting like paste. If it is too tight, loosen it with hot water a teaspoon at a time; if it runs straight off the spoon, simmer it briefly. Hold the Béarnaise in a heatproof bowl over a bain-marie, a warm-water bath kept around 122 to 131°F (50 to 55°C), with the bowl clear of the water. If the Béarnaise splits and butter beads around the edge, put 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cool water in a clean bowl, whisk in one spoonful of broken sauce until smooth, then add the rest gradually. Ça se rattrape.

   Direct flame is too fierce for Béarnaise. The bowl should feel comfortably warm in your hand, never hot.
3. 3

   Butter the artichokes

   Melt the butter in a lidded skillet over medium-low heat. Set the artichoke bottoms in flat-side down, season them with a small pinch of the salt, and spoon butter over their rims. Cover and heat for 5 to 7 minutes, basting once, until hot through and butter-gold at the edges. They are already cooked, so the aim is to warm and season them, not brown them into toughness. If they release water, uncover the pan and let the moisture cook away before basting again.

4. 4

   Poach the eggs

   Fill a wide saucepan with about 3 inches (8 cm) of the remaining water, add most of the remaining salt, and bring it just below a simmer, around 180 to 190°F (82 to 88°C). Crack each egg into a fine-mesh strainer for a few seconds to shed the loose white, then transfer it to a small cup. Slip the eggs into the water one at a time, leaving space between them, and poach for about 3 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still yield beneath them. If a white spreads, fold it gently around its yolk with a spoon during the first 20 seconds. If a yolk breaks, lift that egg out and use the spare. Drain the eggs on a folded lint-free towel and trim any ragged tails.

   Fresh eggs and the brief pass through a fine-mesh strainer give cleaner shapes without adding vinegar that would sharpen the marrow's poaching water.
5. 5

   Poach the marrow

   Skim any stray egg white from the water and return it to a bare tremble. Lower the cold marrow rounds on a slotted spoon and poach them for 1 to 2 minutes, just until the edges turn opaque and the centers soften while keeping their shape. Never let the water boil, or the marrow melts into it. If a slice begins to slump, lift it immediately; the heat of the egg and sauces will finish softening it. Drain the rounds carefully on a warm plate.

6. 6

   Assemble in order

   Place one buttered artichoke bottom on each warm plate and fill every cavity with exactly 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of Béarnaise. Working with one egg at a time, spoon 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of tomato sauce into a warm shallow bowl, set the egg into it, and spoon the sauce over until the egg is completely masked. Lift the coated egg with a broad spoon and settle it onto the artichoke. If the sauce slides away, return the egg to its towel, reduce the sauce for a minute, and coat it again. Crown each egg with a poached marrow round and a pinch of chopped parsley. Serve at once, while the sauces gleam and the yolks remain fluid. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Frozen artichoke bottoms, thawed and dried, are an excellent home-kitchen choice because they keep the broad cup this dish requires. Canned bottoms also work if rinsed and dried well. Marinated hearts do not; they have the wrong shape and their vinegar fights the sauces.
• •Ask the butcher for marrow from a straight center-cut beef bone and, if possible, to push it out in one chilled cylinder. Cold marrow cuts cleanly. Warm marrow smears, and no amount of ceremony improves a greasy thumbprint.
• •The entry begins with finished Béarnaise and finished classical tomato sauce. Have both ready before starting the one-hour assembly. The Béarnaise should taste clearly of tarragon and shallot, while the tomato sauce must be smooth enough to mask the egg.
• •Serve one egg per person as a first course. Brut Champagne is particularly good here: its acidity meets the artichoke and tomato, while its bubbles clear the butter and marrow from the palate.

Advance Preparation

• •The classical tomato sauce may be made up to two days ahead, chilled promptly, and reheated slowly. Thin it with a spoonful of hot water if it tightens in the cold.
• •For a dinner party, poach the eggs for 2½ minutes up to four hours ahead, chill them immediately in iced water, and refrigerate them submerged. Rewarm them for 45 to 60 seconds in barely trembling water before coating them with tomato sauce.
• •The artichoke bottoms can be drained, dried, and hollowed earlier in the day. Keep them covered in the cold, then warm them in butter shortly before serving.
• •The reduction for the Béarnaise may be prepared ahead, but make the finished emulsion within an hour of serving. Once assembled, Œufs pochés Masséna does not wait.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 170g)