Œufs

This is a classic French recipe. Although I found the recipe in Paul Bocuse’s epic tome on French cooking, there is a similar recipe in Escoffier’s Ma Cuisine, published in the 1930s. I would suspect that its history goes back long before then.
I’ve changed the cooking method for the spinach to one that I learned from a different French chef who was preparing a different recipe. The original recipe called for the spinach to be boiled, drained, chilled, squeezed, and then sautéed. I suspect this was because spinach used to be a lot tougher than it is today. Also, the original recipe called for the dish to be cooked in a hot oven. I feel the broiler does a better job of browning the topping without cooking the eggs too much.

œufs pochés à la florentine

3/4 pound	fresh spinach, well-cleaned, leaves only
1 tablespoon	white vinegar
4	eggs
1 tablespoon	butter
1 tablespoon	olive oil
	salt and pepper, to taste
20 grams	fresh bread crumbs
20 grams	freshly grated dried gruyére or parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon	melted butter
sauce Mornay:
2 tablespoons	butter
1 tablespoon	flour
1 cup	milk
1 teaspoon	dehydrated veal stock
	salt, freshly ground white pepper, and nutmeg, to taste
25 grams	freshly grated gruyére cheese
1	egg yolk
1 tablespoon	heavy cream

1.	To start the sauce Mornay: melt 1 tablespoon butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for a while. Whisk in the milk, stock, and seasonings. Set over very low heat and cook for about 30 minutes.
2.	Preheat broiler.
3.	Fill a sauce pan three-fourths full with water and bring to a boil. Add vinegar and reduce heat so that water is just below a boil. One at a time, break eggs into a small bowl and slip gently into water. Poach until the whites appear cooked, but the yolks are still liquid — about 2-1/2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
4.	While the eggs are poaching, add butter and oil to a large, deep frying pan over high heat. When butter has melted, add spinach. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook until barely wilted. Stir a couple of times while cooking. Remove from heat and set aside, covered.
5.	Divide spinach among serving plates. Carefully place 2 poached eggs on top of the spinach. Whisk the cheese into the sauce. Whisk together the egg yolk and cream in a separate bowl. Slowly whisk the sauce into the egg mixture. Spoon some of the sauce over the poached eggs. (The recipe makes enough sauce for 5 to 6 portions.) Combine the bread crumbs with the dried cheese and sprinkle over the eggs. Finally, sprinkle the melted butter over the bread crumbs.
6.	Brown the bread crumbs lightly under the broiler for a couple of minutes. Serve immediately.

Yield: 2 servings.

Source: Paul Bocuse, La Cuisine de Marché, 1998, page 52 (for Sauce Mornay, page 99; for Sauce Bechamel, page 92).