The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-04-19
Sister Mary:S Kitchen

The wine cupboard of a French cook is a sight to behold. Rows and rows of intriguing bottles with contents ruby-colored, rich dark amber, golden as sunlight, stand there. And all this display, mind you, has nothing to do with drink ing. These wines are for a much more important unprecedented for seasoning, fiavoring, to trans form an ordinary dish into some thing fit for the gods to sample.
 Fish, for instance-just any old fish out of the brook in your back yard or the creek down by the will lows-can be made into dish of culinary delight by the addition of little wine or beer. The beer sauces, incidentally. are a little less dear than the wine ones.
 For fish in beer sauce, take 2 pounds fresh fish, l pint beer. l onion, lemon. l tablespoon minced parsley, 1-2 tablespoon grated carrot, l tablespoon minced celery, 1-8 teaspoon allspice. 2 ta- blespoons crushed ginger snaps. tablespoon butter, Il tablespoon flour.
 Choose a fish steak or fillets of fish. Wipe with damp cloth and rub over with salt. Put into a sauce pan and add beer, onion thinly sliced, lemon, cut in slices, parsley, carrot, celery, allspice and ginger snaps. Simmer over low fire for 30 minutes or until done. Remove fish to hot platter and keep hot. Melt butter and stir in flour. Cook and stir until bubbling and slightly. Drowned. Strain over sauce in which fish was cooked. Cook and stir until boiling. Pour over the fish and serve with boiled noodles.
 Half wine and half beer can be used or use wine entirely if the bitter taste of beer is not liked. Of course the ginger snaps can be omitted but~they do give an un- usual and pleasant flavor to the dish.
 Did you ever praise whole fish such as a large trout or white fish or blue fish or whatever the fish may be? The result is delectable and it's quite easy to do.
 Praised Fish
 Two tablespoons butter, 1-2 cup minced onion, 1-2 cup minced car rot, IA cup minced turnip. 1-4 cup minced celery. tablespoon minced parsley. 1-2 bayleaf. 4 pepper corns, fish, thin slices fat salt pork, white wine.
 Melt the butter in a baking dish or frying pan. Add onion, carrot, turnip, celery, parsley, bayleaf and peppercorns and saute five minutes over low fire. Place the cleaned fish on this bed of vegetables, put slices of salt pork over fish and pour in wine to half cover fish. Cover pan and cook slowly. bast- ing frequently. When fish Is almost done, remove the cover and let the sauce thiclsen. The evaporation will make the sauce thicken but if 1t Is l too thin when the fish Is done. re- move fish and reduce the sauce by cooking rapidly. Or thicken the sauce after straining with butter and flour rubbed together and pour over fish. Do not thlcken the sauce with butter and flour if 1t is not strained.
 I can't tell you exactly how much wine is necessary because the proportions depend upon taste, the size of the utensil and size of the fish. However, use very little 1.quid, cook very gently and baste very often If you want the best re- suits. s
 Fish are also poached in wine. Small fish and fillets are usually poached rather than praised and the process is extremely simple. It can be done on top of the stove, in the oven or a combination of both. | If you have a heat-resisting glass | platter, do 1t in the oven and then i send the dish directly to the table. | tharehv aaYtng dish " ashing.