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Tench, Stewed, with Poulette Sauce
Take about two pounds of tench; draw and clean the fish carefully, and remove the grills. Put it into boiling water for three minutes, then remove the scales, and cut the fish into convenient-sized pieces. Mix two ounces of butter and one ounce and a half of flour over a clear fire until quite smooth. Add as much common French wine or cider as will cover the fish, and let it boil for eight or ten minutes. Put with it a small bunch of parsley, a sprig of thyme, a bay-leaf, a moderate-sized onion, and a little pepper and salt. Add the fish, and let it stew gently over a slow fire until done enough, Strain the sauce, and mix part of it with the well-beaten yolks of three eggs in a basin, and pour this to the remainder. Stir it over a gentle fire until it is very hot without boiling, and add a table-spoonful of chopped parsley. Arrange the slices of tench upon a hot dish, pour the sauce over them, and serve very hot. The dish may be garnished with the fried roe, toasted sippets, and a little parsley and horse-radish. Time to simmer the fish, about twenty minutes. Sufficient for two or three persons.