Eggs Hussarde

from Brennan's restaurant in New Orleans

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
8 slices Canadian bacon
(or ham)
8 Holland rusks
2 cups Marchand de Vin sauce
(recipe below)
8 poached eggs
(recipe below)
2 cups Hollandaise sauce (recipe below)

Method:

Melt butter in a large sauté pan and warm the Canadian bacon over low heat.
Place 2 Holland rusks on each plate and cover with slices of warm Canadian bacon. Spoon Marchand de Vin sauce over the meat, then set a poached egg on each slice. Ladle Hollandaise sauce over the eggs; serve.

Marchand de Vin Sauce
6 tablespoons butter
1⁄2 cup onion, finely chopped
11⁄2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
1⁄2 scallions, finely chopped
1⁄2 cup boiled ham, finely chopped
1⁄2 cup mushrooms, finely chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups beef stock1⁄2 cup red wine
11⁄2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1⁄2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
salt and black pepper

Melt the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven and sauté the onion, garlic, scallions and ham for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, reduce the heat to medium and cook for for 2 minutes. Blend in the flour and cook, stirring for 4 minutes, then add the Worcestershire sauce, beef stock, wine, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Before serving, remove the bay leaf and add the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Yields three cups

Poached Eggs
11⁄2 quarts water
2 cups vinegar
8 large eggs
Bring the water and vinegar to a boil in a large saucepan. Crack the eggs one at a time and drop them gently into the boiling water, being careful not to break the yolks.
Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, moving the eggs several times with a spoon to cook them evenly.
When firm, remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and place in a pan filled with cold water until serving.
4 servings

Hollandaise Sauce
1 pound butter
4 egg yolks
11⁄2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
11⁄2 teaspoon water
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, skim and discard the milk solids from the top of the butter. Hold the clarified butter over very low heat while preparing egg yolks. Place the egg yolks, vinegar, cayenne and salt in a large stainless steel bowl and whisk briefly. Fill a saucepan or Dutch oven large enough to accommodate the bowl with about 1 inch of water.
Heat the water to just below the boiling point. Set the bowl in the pan over the water; do not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl. Whisk the egg yolk mixture until slightly thickened, then drizzle the clarified butter into the yolks, whisking constantly. If the bottom of the bowl becomes hotter than warm to the touch, remove the bowl from the pan of water for a few seconds and let cool. When all of the butter is incorporated and the sauce is thick, beat in the water.
Serve the Hollandaise immediately or keep in a warm place at room temperature until use.
Yields 2 cups.