Œufs en Meurette

Peel the pearl onions and quarter the mushrooms. Cut the smoked tofu into lardons roughly 1cm x 3cm. Dice the onion, carrots and celery, and slice the garlic. Cube the cold butter and refrigerate. Mix the softened butter and flour together with a fork until smooth — this is your beurre manié. Cut the bread into triangles for croûtons.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and sauté the diced onion, carrots and celery for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly golden at the edges.

Add the garlic and tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the purée darkens slightly and smells sweet.

Pour in the cognac and let it bubble for 1 minute, scraping up any bits from the base of the pan.

Add the red wine, vegetable stock and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a brisk simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by roughly half and smells deeply winey and rounded.

Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing firmly on the vegetables to extract every drop of flavour. Discard the solids and bouquet garni.

Return the strained sauce to medium heat. Whisk in the beurre manié a little at a time until the sauce is glossy and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes of gentle simmering.

Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and whisk in the cold butter cubes one at a time, waiting for each piece to melt before adding the next, to build a silky, emulsified sauce. Season generously with salt and black pepper. Keep warm over the lowest possible heat.

In a separate frying pan over medium-high heat, fry the smoked tofu lardons in a little olive oil for 4–5 minutes, turning occasionally, until deeply browned and slightly crisp on the outside. Remove and set aside.

In the same pan over medium heat, cook the pearl onions for 8 minutes, shaking the pan regularly, until golden and tender when pierced with a knife. Add the mushrooms, season, and cook for a further 4 minutes until deeply coloured and any liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat and combine with the tofu lardons.

Fry the bread triangles in the clarified butter over medium heat for 2–3 minutes per side until deep golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and rub one side lightly with a raw garlic clove if desired.

Fill a wide, deep saucepan with at least 8cm of water. Add the white wine vinegar and bring to a gentle simmer — small, lazy bubbles rising from the base, not a rolling boil. Working in two batches of four, crack each egg into a small cup and slide it gently into the water. Poach for exactly 3 minutes for a fully set white and completely liquid yolk. Because the yolks stay liquid, use pasteurised eggs if serving anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immunocompromised.

Lift each egg out with a slotted spoon and transfer to a clean kitchen towel to blot dry. Trim any ragged whites with scissors for a neat finish.

Ladle the meurette sauce generously into four warmed shallow bowls. Arrange two poached eggs per bowl in the centre. Spoon the pearl onions, mushrooms and tofu lardons around the eggs. Prop the croûtons against the eggs, scatter with flat-leaf parsley, and serve immediately.