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Hey guys salute, this is Alex
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Today I want to be...
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I shouldn't be smiling
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Today I want to be serious, okay?
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We're gonna make... buckle up.
Buckle up.
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We're gonna make...
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[dramatic music]
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Today we're gonna make a recipe
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laughs
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Are you actually mad Alex?
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F***in out of my mind
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Ah, the recipe we're gonna make
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comes from this book, my own cook book
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[music plays]
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There you go.
Woah.
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Yes this is the one I want to make
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Picture perfect eggs meurette,
poached eggs in a wine sauce
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It's a very traditional french recipe
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it comes from the region of Burgundy.
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Delicious, affordable recipe that doesn't
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use any fancy ingredient, and yet
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it is a dish based heavily on technique
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But I think that, that's great news,
in fact.
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Cause learning this dish,
will also teach you
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like tones of new chef skills.
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You will basically become
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a better cook after mastering this recipe.
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So, lets get to it.
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So there are 3 key elements to this dish
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We're gonna start with the first one,
which I think is the most important one.
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The sauce.
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Lets be serious for a moment, okay?
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Being able to wrap up a good sauce
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clearly states, clearly makes the
difference between, like...
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a random cook and a home chef.
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Who are you? Who do you think you are?
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Okay? That's what I thought.
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[cooking noises]
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In case you are wondering
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I'm not using, like, an expensive wine
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I'm just using a cheap wine.
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Shiraz or Grenache
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Any thing that has basically been grown
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in a sunny, very sunny, environment.
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At the end of the day this recipe is just
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pretext to learn and brag about
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french chef skills.
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And the first one is...
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Flambé -
Set the liquid on fire
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to reduce its alcohol content.
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[cooking sounds]
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I am boiling the day light out of this
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liquid. I want to concentrate
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both the flavors but also the color of
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this wine. You wanna go for
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what is called in french. "Mirroir"
or in English a mirror.
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[silence]
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Look how shiny and how dark that
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surface is. You can't even tell
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that's wine no more
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It looks like soy sauce.
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Mirroir- an extreme wine reduction that
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can get used and stored very easily.
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[sings da-da-ta-ta]
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In terms of flavor profile,
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you want to embellish the story
with a bit of beef stock.
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You can use vegetable stock.
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You can use chicken stock.
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Whatever.
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The guy just doesn't give a f**k. Like...
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[inspirational music] No I do, I just
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acknowledge the fact that everybody
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has his or her own taste. And that's why
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I'm suggesting a few options there.
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[music changes]
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[cooking noises]
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Reduction- reduce the amount of liquid
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to concentrate both the flavor
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and the color.
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So remember we started with about
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a little liquid, that's what we get
in the end.
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[cooking noises]
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[no speaking]
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Monté - emulsifying a sauce
by adding in cold butter.
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[soft piano music]
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Now you know whats good about this sauce?
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Everything.
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wow
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I've got the beef
I've got the acidity of the wine as well
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which is just, you know, making that sauce
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a bit fresher. Otherwise with butter
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and the beef stock, it could get
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a bit heavy. But it's not.
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Yeah!
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Oops.
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[rock music plays]
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[cooking noises]
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I'm going to cook these
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for about 5 to 10 minutes
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on medium heat. Because I want
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them to be fully cooked, but I also want
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them to caramelize.
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[cooking noises]
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hmm... salty and juicy
and smoky. Wow.
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That's the kind of reaction you get with
caramelized bacon.
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Bwah!
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Anyway, bacon bits...done.
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We call them Lardons in France by the way.
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Uh... Shallots
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[hip hop music plays]
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[cooking noises]
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Glacé - cooking vegetables with a
thin layer of caramel.
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So, uh, the next step is to basically
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poach an egg. And I know that plenty
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people out there cook at home especially
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are afraid of this operation
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because it seems too technical.
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But its not the case. Its not the case.
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You just need to get the freshest egg
possible
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and do about nothing to it.
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Let me show you.
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Bring vinegary water to a boil
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get it off the heat and gently
very gently drop a very fresh egg in.
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Wait 3 minutes and that's it.
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It really looks like a little
Japanese dumpling.
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I know the yolk is going to be
nice and runny inside.
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Rinse this in cold water to stop the
cooking,
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yes, but also to rinse off any
vinegary smell or flavor.
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Poché - which is just cooking an egg by
submerging it in hot water.
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That's the french cuisine, made simple.
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So I think we have all the elements
we need.
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Lets plate this bad boy.
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It's nice boy, okay? Yea
Not scary.
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[string instrumental music]
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[chewing] wow
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[says something in French]
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(unknown) juice, bold flavors everywhere
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garlic, beef stock, caramelized onions,
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caramelized bacon, smoke.
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If this is not calling for a glass of wine
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I'm not a Frenchman any more.
laughs
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Do I have some wine?
Carbonated wine from California?
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nah, maybe not.
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So you need some red wine to go with this.
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Take a piece of bread, rub it nicely
with a clove of garlic
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and then just dig in. Dig in!
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Without being polite at all.
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The paragon of pleasure
and intense flavor
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I swear, you use that sauce
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and you drizzle it on to
a sunny side up egg
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You'll probably get about the same effect.
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I'm sorry for the poached egg.
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But you're not the star, man
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You are not the star
The star, the star is sauce.
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Silky smooth, [unknown word],
luxurious experience
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that you could basically enjoy
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on plenty other types of food.
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Like, I would love that sauce
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[slurps]
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On a steak for example, that would be
amazing on a steak.
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The caramelized shallots,
shika shika shika
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A drizzle of sauce
wow
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flip it in half, a sandwich
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shamboom [vocalizations]
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Heaven.
laughs
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I think sauces are underestimated.
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They are the foundations of French cuisine
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I thought for a while about making a whole
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series about sauces.
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If you think this is a good idea.
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Let me know in the comments
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It's always good to hear from you.
Okay?
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So, uh...
If you're thinking about getting my book
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I can't blame you for that
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You must know that this is one of the very
few traditional french recipes inside it.
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Ramen, Matsah bowl, onion soup
-so french one-
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Moroccan vibes.
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So it's very much globally influenced.
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But I can't deny I would be a fool
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not to accept that there is a ton to learn
in the traditional french cooking.
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And that's also why I wanted to show you
that recipe.
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It feels a bit fancy.
Yes.
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But if you think of it, the ingredients
are very very affordable.
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It's a dish about mastering new technique
as I mention earlier.
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It's a dish about learning new chef skills
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and I think it's a dish about becoming
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a better, smarter, sharper cook.
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Anyways guys, I hope you enjoy this recipe
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If you did
Give it a big thumbs up
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And spread that everywhere
Spread it like butter.
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I will catch up with you next time.
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But until then buh-bye. Salute.
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[music plays]