Fight Over The Spoon Creamed Spinach Recipes

CREAMED SPINACH

Steps:

• Melt 1 stick of butter in a pot. Sprinkle in flour and whisk together. Cook over medium heat for five minutes or until light golden brown. Throw in onion and garlic and stir together, cooking for another minute. Pour in milk, whisking constantly, and cook for another five minutes while you cook the spinach.
• To cook spinach, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a separate pot. Add spinach in increments until all incorporated, and cook until wilted but not soggy, about 4 to 5 minutes.
• Season the cream sauce with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add spinach to the cream sauce, stirring gently to combine. Serve immediately.

THE ULTIMATE CREAMED SPINACH

Steps:

• Cook the spinach, covered, in boiling salted water until tender, about 4 minutes. Rinse under cold running water; drain, pressing out all liquid with the back of a spoon. Chop fine.
• In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt 2-1/2 T. of the butter. Stir in flour. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Whisk in hot milk. Cook until thick, about 2 minutes. Add gruyere cheese, the 2 T. finely grated parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and hot pepper sauce. Stir in spinach; remove from heat. Stir in lemon zest; mix thoroughly. Transfer to a shallow, buttered, 4-cup baking dish.
• In a small skillet over medium heat, melt remaining 2 T. butter. Stir in bread crumbs. Cook, stirring constantly, until golden. Spoon crumbs evenly over spinach mixture. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of roughly grated parmesan.
• Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 14 minutes.

CLASSIC CREAMED SPINACH

Steps:

• Blanch the spinach. Bring 1 gallon water to a boil in a large pot. Add a pinch of kosher salt. Place the spinach in the boiling water. After 45 seconds (exactly), remove the spinach leaves with a slotted spoon, spider or tongs and drain in a colander. Let cool completely.
• Use your hands to press the spinach against the sides of the colander. When most of the liquid has been released, squeeze handfuls of the spinach to make sure all of the excess water has been removed. Set aside.
• In a wide, high-sided saute pan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir the flour into the melted butter to create a roux that will look like wet sand. Cook the roux for 3 minutes, stirring continuously to make sure it doesn't burn and it becomes a "blond" color. Add the milk to the roux, whisking vigorously to make sure that the roux completely dissolves into the milk without lumping.
• Turn down the heat to maintain a low simmer. You're making a bechamel sauce, which is the base for the creamed spinach. Next, whisk in the cream and return the mixture to a simmer. Cook the bechamel until thickened and smooth, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Season the sauce with the salt, pepper and cayenne.
• Preheat a small saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and let heat for about 1 minute. Add the onions and season with a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions soften and become translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook an additional minute or two.
• Add the cooked onion and garlic along with the drained spinach to the bechamel, folding to make sure it's completely coated with sauce. Season with the nutmeg. Cook for 2 minutes, then taste the spinach. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and the nutmeg, and/or more cayenne if desired.

DOUBLE-CREAMED SPINACH WITH FRIED ONIONS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the spinach. As soon as it's wilted and tender, drain and run under cold water. When the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out any excess water. If you have used whole spinach with long stems, roughly chop it; you should have 1 1/2 cups of chopped spinach.
• Slice half of the onion into thin disks, and break the disks into rings with your hands. Mix 1 tablespoon of the flour with a bit of salt and pepper, and toss the onion rings in the flour.
• Heat 1 inch of grapeseed oil to 350 degrees F in a large, deep saute pan or Dutch oven. Add a handful of the onion rings to the oil, making sure they have room to move. Fry in the oil until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. (If desired, keep the fried onions warm in a 200 degrees F oven.)
• Finely mince the fennel and the remaining onion half. Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat and glaze it with the olive oil. Add the fennel, onion, garlic and a few pinches of salt, and cook until the onion is translucent; you don't want it to brown. Add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons flour and stir. When the flour has gathered up all the onion mixture, add the Herbsaint and bring to a boil. Let it reduce by half before stirring in the milk to make a bechamel. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook at a low simmer until the sauce thickens to the point where it coats the back of a spoon, and where drawing your finger down the spoon leaves a clear line.
• Pour half of the bechamel into a blender along with 1/2 cup of the spinach. Blend until completely smooth. Add the remaining spinach to the pan with the remaining bechamel, then add the spinach puree. Heat, stirring, and season with salt and pepper. Finish by stirring in the butter, nutmeg and Parmesan. Transfer the creamed spinach to a serving dish, and top with the fried onions.