Poached Eggs Sévigné

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2-quart (1.9-liter) heavy saucepan
• •Wide 3-quart (2.8-liter) saucepan for poaching
• •10-inch (25-cm) skillet
• •3¼-inch (8-cm) and 2-inch (5-cm) round cutters
• •Fine-mesh sieve and slotted spoon
• •Truffle slicer or very sharp knife with a ⅜-inch (1-cm) cutter

Instructions

1. 1

   Concentrate the essence

   Pour 1 cup (240 ml) of the chicken stock into a small heavy saucepan and bring it to a lively simmer. Reduce it to ¼ cup (60 ml), about 12 to 15 minutes, until it tastes deeply of poultry and lightly coats a spoon. This is the poultry essence that gives the velouté its authority without requiring a stockpot on the fire all day. If it becomes salty before it has enough body, stop reducing; ça se rattrape by using only part of the essence and loosening the finished sauce with water.

   Start with unsalted stock. Salt is easy to add at the finish and impossible to remove once four parts of stock have become one.
2. 2

   Braise and mince lettuce

   Melt 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the butter in a covered sauté pan over medium heat. Add the lettuce quarters, ½ cup (120 ml) of the stock, and a generous pinch of the salt. Cover and braise gently for 12 to 15 minutes, turning once, until the leaves are tender through their pale ribs but have not browned. Drain them in a sieve, press firmly with the back of a spoon, then mince them finely. Press once more. This is the step that decides the dish: if moisture still beads around the mince, return it to the dry pan and stir over low heat until the excess disappears. The lettuce should be succulent, never wet.

3. 3

   Build the velouté

   Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook this blond roux, the butter-and-flour base, for 2 minutes without letting it color. Add the remaining 1½ cups (360 ml) stock a little at a time, whisking each addition smooth before the next. Bring to a bare simmer and cook for 15 minutes, whisking along the pan floor and skimming any film from the surface. Whisk in the poultry essence, season with white pepper and enough salt to bring the chicken flavor forward, then pass the velouté through a fine sieve. Off the heat, whisk in the final tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of butter. The sauce should be nappant, thick enough to coat a spoon softly. If it is lumpy, strain it; if too thick, whisk in hot water one spoonful at a time; if too thin, simmer it a little longer.

4. 4

   Fry and fill rusks

   Heat the oven to 200°F (95°C). Cut the bread into four rounds about 3¼ inches (8 cm) wide. Score a 2-inch (5-cm) circle in the center of each without cutting through the bottom, then lift out enough crumb to leave a shallow well and a sturdy base. Heat the clarified butter in a wide skillet over medium heat and fry the rusks until evenly golden and crisp, about 2 minutes per side, spooning butter around their rims. Drain them briefly on a rack, fill each well with one quarter of the warm minced lettuce, and hold them in the low oven for no more than 10 minutes. If a base has softened, set it in a dry skillet for 30 seconds before filling.

5. 5

   Poach the eggs

   Bring the water and vinegar to 180 to 185°F (82 to 85°C) in a wide saucepan, where the surface trembles but never boils. Crack each egg into a fine-mesh strainer for a few seconds to shed its loose white, then slip it into a small cup. Lower the eggs into the water one at a time, leaving room between them, and poach for 3 to 3½ minutes, until each white is set and the yolk remains yielding. If the whites begin to feather, the water is moving too hard; lower the heat and fold the stray white gently around its egg with a spoon. Lift the eggs with a slotted spoon, trim only the wildest edges, and blot the undersides thoroughly on a clean towel.

6. 6

   Coat and finish

   Warm the velouté gently without boiling, loosening it with a spoonful of hot water if it has tightened while standing. Arrange the four filled rusks in a circle on a warmed oval platter and set one drained egg on each. Spoon the velouté over every egg, coating it generously while leaving a rim of golden bread visible. Slice four thin rounds from the widest part of the truffle and stamp a small circle from the center of each to form the prescribed black rings. Set one ring squarely on every egg and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Stock is the spine of the sauce. Choose an unsalted chicken stock with enough natural gelatin to set softly when chilled; a watery stock reduces to less water, not more character.
• •A fresh winter black truffle gives the clearest perfume, but a whole preserved black truffle is the classical pantry's honest answer outside its season. Drain it well and cut it into proper rings. Truffle oil cannot perform the same job.
• •Use the freshest eggs you can find. Their whites sit close around the yolks, which gives a neat poach without gadgets or frantic stirring. For guests who should avoid undercooked eggs, use pasteurized shell eggs and poach until the yolks are set.
• •Choose firm, close-crumbed white bread rather than brioche. The rusk must support lettuce, egg, and sauce without turning sweet or collapsing under them.
• •Pour a dry Champagne or a taut white Burgundy. Both have enough acidity for butter and velouté, while leaving the truffle in command.

Advance Preparation

• •The poultry essence and velouté can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cool them promptly, cover, and refrigerate separately; reheat gently and adjust the velouté with a spoonful of water.
• •The lettuce can be braised, pressed, and minced 1 day ahead. Refrigerate it covered, then warm it in a dry pan so no stored moisture reaches the rusks.
• •The eggs may be poached up to 8 hours ahead, chilled immediately in ice water, and refrigerated in fresh cold water. Rewarm them for 45 to 60 seconds in barely simmering water, then blot them dry.
• •Cut the bread rounds several hours ahead, but fry them within 30 minutes of serving. Fill them only when the sauce and eggs are ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 295g)