6 Chef Skills I Learnt Making Poached Eggs in Wine Sauce

Hey guys salute, this is Alex

Today I want to be...

I shouldn't be smiling

Today I want to be serious, okay?

We're gonna make... buckle up.
Buckle up.

We're gonna make...

[dramatic music]

Today we're gonna make a recipe

laughs

Are you actually mad Alex?

F***in out of my mind

Ah, the recipe we're gonna make

comes from this book, my own cook book

[music plays]

There you go.
Woah.

Yes this is the one I want to make

Picture perfect eggs meurette,
poached eggs in a wine sauce

It's a very traditional french recipe

it comes from the region of Burgundy.

Delicious, affordable recipe that doesn't

use any fancy ingredient, and yet

it is a dish based heavily on technique

But I think that, that's great news,
in fact.

Cause learning this dish,
will also teach you

like tones of new chef skills.

You will basically become

a better cook after mastering this recipe.

So, lets get to it.

So there are 3 key elements to this dish

We're gonna start with the first one,
which I think is the most important one.

The sauce.

Lets be serious for a moment, okay?

Being able to wrap up a good sauce

clearly states, clearly makes the
difference between, like...

a random cook and a home chef.

Who are you? Who do you think you are?

Okay? That's what I thought.

[cooking noises]

In case you are wondering

I'm not using, like, an expensive wine

I'm just using a cheap wine.

Shiraz or Grenache

Any thing that has basically been grown

in a sunny, very sunny, environment.

At the end of the day this recipe is just

pretext to learn and brag about

french chef skills.

And the first one is...

Flambé -
Set the liquid on fire

to reduce its alcohol content.

[cooking sounds]

I am boiling the day light out of this

liquid. I want to concentrate

both the flavors but also the color of

this wine. You wanna go for

what is called in french. "Mirroir"
or in English a mirror.

[silence]

Look how shiny and how dark that

surface is. You can't even tell

that's wine no more

It looks like soy sauce.

Mirroir- an extreme wine reduction that

can get used and stored very easily.

[sings da-da-ta-ta]

In terms of flavor profile,

you want to embellish the story
with a bit of beef stock.

You can use vegetable stock.

You can use chicken stock.

Whatever.

The guy just doesn't give a f**k. Like...

[inspirational music] No I do, I just

acknowledge the fact that everybody

has his or her own taste. And that's why

I'm suggesting a few options there.

[music changes]

[cooking noises]

Reduction- reduce the amount of liquid

to concentrate both the flavor

and the color.

So remember we started with about

a little liquid, that's what we get
in the end.

[cooking noises]

[no speaking]

Monté - emulsifying a sauce
by adding in cold butter.

[soft piano music]

Now you know whats good about this sauce?

Everything.

wow

I've got the beef
I've got the acidity of the wine as well

which is just, you know, making that sauce

a bit fresher. Otherwise with butter

and the beef stock, it could get

a bit heavy. But it's not.

Yeah!

Oops.

[rock music plays]

[cooking noises]

I'm going to cook these

for about 5 to 10 minutes

on medium heat. Because I want

them to be fully cooked, but I also want

them to caramelize.

[cooking noises]

hmm... salty and juicy
and smoky. Wow.

That's the kind of reaction you get with
caramelized bacon.

Bwah!

Anyway, bacon bits...done.

We call them Lardons in France by the way.

Uh... Shallots

[hip hop music plays]

[cooking noises]

Glacé - cooking vegetables with a
thin layer of caramel.

So, uh, the next step is to basically

poach an egg. And I know that plenty

people out there cook at home especially

are afraid of this operation

because it seems too technical.

But its not the case. Its not the case.

You just need to get the freshest egg
possible

and do about nothing to it.

Let me show you.

Bring vinegary water to a boil

get it off the heat and gently
very gently drop a very fresh egg in.

Wait 3 minutes and that's it.

It really looks like a little
Japanese dumpling.

I know the yolk is going to be
nice and runny inside.

Rinse this in cold water to stop the
cooking,

yes, but also to rinse off any
vinegary smell or flavor.

Poché - which is just cooking an egg by
submerging it in hot water.

That's the french cuisine, made simple.

So I think we have all the elements
we need.

Lets plate this bad boy.

It's nice boy, okay? Yea
Not scary.

[string instrumental music]

[chewing] wow

[says something in French]

(unknown) juice, bold flavors everywhere

garlic, beef stock, caramelized onions,

caramelized bacon, smoke.

If this is not calling for a glass of wine

I'm not a Frenchman any more.
laughs

Do I have some wine?
Carbonated wine from California?

nah, maybe not.

So you need some red wine to go with this.

Take a piece of bread, rub it nicely
with a clove of garlic

and then just dig in. Dig in!

Without being polite at all.

The paragon of pleasure
and intense flavor

I swear, you use that sauce

and you drizzle it on to
a sunny side up egg

You'll probably get about the same effect.

I'm sorry for the poached egg.

But you're not the star, man

You are not the star
The star, the star is sauce.

Silky smooth, [unknown word],
luxurious experience

that you could basically enjoy

on plenty other types of food.

Like, I would love that sauce

[slurps]

On a steak for example, that would be
amazing on a steak.

The caramelized shallots,
shika shika shika

A drizzle of sauce
wow

flip it in half, a sandwich

shamboom [vocalizations]

Heaven.
laughs

I think sauces are underestimated.

They are the foundations of French cuisine

I thought for a while about making a whole

series about sauces.

If you think this is a good idea.

Let me know in the comments

It's always good to hear from you.
Okay?

So, uh...
If you're thinking about getting my book

I can't blame you for that

You must know that this is one of the very
few traditional french recipes inside it.

Ramen, Matsah bowl, onion soup
-so french one-

Moroccan vibes.

So it's very much globally influenced.

But I can't deny I would be a fool

not to accept that there is a ton to learn
in the traditional french cooking.

And that's also why I wanted to show you
that recipe.

It feels a bit fancy.
Yes.

But if you think of it, the ingredients
are very very affordable.

It's a dish about mastering new technique
as I mention earlier.

It's a dish about learning new chef skills

and I think it's a dish about becoming

a better, smarter, sharper cook.

Anyways guys, I hope you enjoy this recipe

If you did
Give it a big thumbs up

And spread that everywhere
Spread it like butter.

I will catch up with you next time.

But until then buh-bye. Salute.

[music plays]