Eel matelote with red wine, a Loire Valley tradition

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg whole fresh eel, gutted and skinned
• 75 cl Loire Valley red wine, PDO Chinon
• 150 g beechwood smoked pork belly
• 250 g fresh whole white button mushrooms
• 200 g fresh pearl onions
• 1 piece yellow storage onion
• 1 piece fresh sand-grown carrot
• 4 cloves white garlic cloves
• 1 piece tied fresh bouquet garni
• 4 cl grape marc brandy
• 60 g 82% butterfat pasteurized unsalted butter
• 25 g T55 all-purpose flour
• 4 slices sliced stale sourdough country bread
• 4 sprigs fresh flat leaf parsley
• to taste fine Guerande salt
• to taste freshly ground black peppercorns

Method

1. Carefully pat the eel dry with paper towels, then cut it into even two-inch pieces. Season all sides with fine salt and freshly ground black pepper.
2. Peel and finely chop the yellow onion and carrot. Peel the garlic cloves, crush three-quarters of them with the flat of your knife and reserve the last clove whole for the bread.
3. Cut the smoked pork belly into even lardons. Brush the white button mushrooms under a quick stream of water, pat them dry and quarter them. Peel the pearl onions, being careful not to cut into their base so they stay whole during cooking.
4. Heat a cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat with no added fat. Brown the lardons for five to six minutes until they are crispy and have rendered their fat, then remove them with a slotted spoon.
5. In the same hot fat, add the pearl onions and a pat of unsalted butter. Gently roll them around over medium heat for eight to ten minutes until they are deeply golden and tender all the way through, then set them aside with the lardons.
6. Add another pat of unsalted butter to the Dutch oven, increase the heat to high and toss in the mushrooms. Sear them briskly until all their liquid has evaporated and they are beautifully golden, then transfer them to the plate with the rest of the garnish.
7. Lower the heat to medium, add the chopped yellow onion, carrot and crushed garlic to the remaining pan juices. Sweat gently until the aromatics become tender and translucent without browning.
8. Carefully arrange the eel pieces in the Dutch oven on top of the aromatics. Sear the flesh for two minutes on each side, pour in the grape marc brandy and flambé immediately away from the exhaust hood until the flames die out.
9. Immediately deglaze with the Loire Valley red wine to cover the fish pieces, add the fresh bouquet garni, then bring to a very gentle simmer. Cover the Dutch oven and let simmer over very low heat for about twenty minutes, until the tip of a knife pierces the eel flesh without resistance.
10. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the cooked eel pieces so they do not break apart and place them on a warm platter lined with parchment paper.
11. While the fish rests, turn up the heat under the Dutch oven and let the red wine reduce uncovered by at least a third to concentrate the flavors.
12. Mash the remaining softened unsalted butter with the wheat flour in a small bowl using a fork until you get a smooth, uniform paste known as a beurre manié.
13. Strain the reduced red wine through a fine mesh sieve into a clean saute pan, pressing down to extract all the cooking juices, then return to low heat. Whisk in the beurre manié bit by bit while maintaining a constant simmer, until the sauce becomes velvety, glossy and coats the back of a spoon.
14. Toast the slices of country bread in a toaster or skillet to get a very crispy crust, then vigorously rub their hot surface with the reserved garlic clove.
15. Gently return the eel pieces, lardons, mushrooms and pearl onions to the hot thickened sauce for two to three minutes to heat everything through without boiling.
16. Place a slice of garlic bread at the bottom of each warm shallow bowl, evenly distribute the eel pieces and garnish all around it, spoon over a generous amount of the glossy red wine sauce and sprinkle with freshly chopped flat leaf parsley.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

1233.7 kcal

Protein

61.3 g

Carbohydrate

41.69 g

Fat

74.36 g

Fibre

5.58 g

Calcium

115.65 mg

Iron

4.21 mg

Magnesium

95.19 mg