Christmas Breakfast 2011

We would normally have "our" traditional Christmas Breakfast of Oeuf Royale, that is poached eggs on an English toasted buttered muffin that has been topped with a slice of fois gras, the egg is then napped with sauce Béarnaise, then a layer of smoked salmon and a spoonful of caviar. This is washed down with a glass or two of Champers.

BUT.

This year the tradition was about to change, we had (Linda and I) been watching Michel Roux Junior on TV and he made a wonderful dish, this had been enjoyed for the then President Mitterrand for breakfast. This was Oeufs Pochés de Meurette, but of course I was not content to leave it in the hands of a Michel, I added my own twist, sautéed lambs kidney's.

So here we go, you will need!

2 really fresh eggs (ours came from the market yesterday)
1 bottle of good red wine (ours was SA Roodeberg 2008)
4 small onions peeled
4 shallots (diced really fine)
4 diced brown mushrooms
2 rashers of bacon

1 piece of Pancetta cut this into lardoons (do not be led to think that bacon is a good substitute, IT IS NOT)
2 mini brioche

A couple of spoonfuls of oil
loads of butter
Double cream (Devon, nah,nah, na, na, nah)
100ml good stock (ours was chicken and a couple of spoons of game)
salt and pepper
3 lambs kidneys split and cored

a couple of sprigs of thyme

Small sautéed onions

Heat some clarified butter in a frying pan and slowly fry the onions until golden brown transfer to oven to keep warm.

Red wine sauce poached egg

First heat your red wine and using the vortex method, poach the eggs and then straight into iced water to stop the cooking process.

The Duxelles.

Use half of the shallot fine dice and also the mushrooms, heat a little neutral oil in a frying pan and slowly sauté them over a very low heat. When cooked remove and set aside until ready to make the completed duxelles.

The red wine sauce

Strain about 200ml of the poaching red wine into a small sauce pan and reduce over a low heat until it is just a glaze, add the stock and again reduce to a syrup, adjust the seasoning (it may require a bit of sweetness, a bit more seasoning, I added a couple of dessert spoons of game stock reducing again).

Sautéed lambs kidneys

Halve and core 3 lambs Kidneys, season them with salt, pepper and fresh thyme, sauté in some of the diced shallot in olive oil (careful, please do not overcook). Place in a warm oven.

Fry your bacon until crispy and place in a warm oven.

Fry the pancetta until crispy and this also goes into the oven

(in between you may have a glass of red wine)

Now finish off the duxelles, return the shallot/mushroom mixture to a small frying pan and add the double cream, heat through and adjust seasoning, ready!

Now it is time to fry your brioche in butter (we used small individual ones so cut off the bottom (cooks perks) and split them in the middle, fried the middle pieces until golden brown and when ready to turn also added the top cut side down.

You are just about there and deserve a glass of the prosecco (you would hate it to be corked)

The breakfast plate.
Place the bottom slice of the brioche into the centre of a warmed plate, place a red wine poached egg on top, drizzle with red wine sauce, drape with a slice of bacon, surround with a couple of quenelles of duxelles, the onions, kidneys and lardoons, drizzle with some more of the red wine sauce.

pour a glass of Prosecco and it's a


Merry Christmas Morning everyone.