Shelly's Recipe

CREAMED SPINACH

Category: Spinach

2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp chicken base, or 1 cube chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce and ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
1/8 tsp celery salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
3 (10 oz) pkgs frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (2 1/2 cups) or 4 (10-ounce) fresh spinach bags trimmed, washed spinach (not baby spinach)
Salt and ground white pepper, if desired
Ground nutmeg and crisp, cooked, crumbled bacon, for garnish

In a medium-size saucepan, heat the half-and-half, milk, chicken base, Tabasco, and seasonings to a simmer. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

In another medium-size saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk well to combine. Cook this mixture for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often. Slowly whisk the heated milk mixture into the butter mixture, a little at a time, whisking constantly until smooth. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens. The sauce will be very thick.

Stir in the spinach and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Serve while hot.

Working in four batches, wash one bagful of spinach at a time in a basin of cold water. Drain in a colander. Place the batch in a 6-quart pot over high heat, cover, and steam. While the spinach is steaming, repeat the process for the other three bags, putting each on top of the spinach in the pot (it will shrink down considerably). Cover and steam until the spinach is wilted and cooked. Drain in a large colander. Press down on the spinach with a spatula to extract as much as possible. Transfer the spinach to a cutting board and chop finely.

Line the colander with a lint-free, clean kitchen towel. Put in the chopped spinach, bring up the ends of the towel, and, as soon as it is cool enough to handle, twist the towel to form a sack and squeeze dry. You should have 2 1/2 cups of cooked, chopped, squeezed spinach.

Stir the spinach into the cream mixture and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring to mix. Adjust the seasonings. Serve hot. Serves 8