# creamed spinach receipe



## aquatic cow (Jun 26, 2006)

I am about to start serving prime rib at my restaurant and i need a good creamed spinach. I know a great restaurant in San Francisco that has a killer spinach, i even know the owner but,he won't give it up, says it would make Herb Kaen turn in his grave. Any body out their with some help?


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## aprilb (Feb 4, 2006)

This would be for about 4 cups prepared/drained (squeezed dry) spinach.

Saute 1 - 2 strips of fatty bacon until crispy. Drain and crush into mince sized bits.

Remove all but about a TB or so of fat.

Saute about a quarter cup minced white onions (or whatever is mild in your neck of the woods) in the fat until translucent. Remove from fat.

Make a roux using the existing fat and adding more butter as necessary to make the amount you want for that amount of spinach. Obviously my tastebuds aren't yours. I personally like really gooey creamed spinach.

Then add the sauteed bacon and onion...Use a little chicken stock to hydrate the roux and then add cream. Season with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Add a small amount of fresh ground Nutmeg to taste. Nutmeg is surprisingly strong. <wow...:crazy: >

You can adjust the ingredients as you wish. Sauteed mushrooms in this are good as well (you can bake this as a casserole and add a little parm on top and serve with a crusty bread)

<good thing it's dinnertime>

April


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

I don't have the recipe handy, but Lawry's (of seasoned salt fame) steak houses were famous for their creamed spinach. It's similar to the one posted already, but I think it has nutmeg in it. Nutmeg would certainly be good. That recipe appears in several brand name cookbooks that are on the market.


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## nowiamone (Jan 23, 2005)

The Barefoot Contessa (Food TV) had a recipe, rich and decandent, but a little expensive for a restaurant side. It was found on the website, had it at as a guest in someone's house. But yesterday I was on the www.epicurious.com web site, and remembered your post, so threw in "creamed spinach" in the recipe search. Nice assortment, so you might try that.


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## ma facon (Dec 16, 2004)

Spinach is one of those veggies that you cook for a minute or an hour. Reduce fresh cream by 1/2 add spinach until fully wilted , Serve. Or you can start with the onion/bacon/ etc... and take your time with it.:chef: Either way is great.


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## ironchefin'06 (Jun 27, 2006)

I have seen some pretty bad creamed spinach in my days. Some completely flavorless, some sitting in a pool of milky water. I have actually seen some chefs make Bechamel sauce and mix it with frozen spinach. That was enough to make me hurl. It is not difficult to make, but if done improperly it is not worthy of dog food.

Try adding some white wine or cheap champagne to your onions after sauteing. also you could finish with a little bit (and i mean a little bit of Pernod or Anisette). An addition of another cheese like Fontina or Fontinella also adds a different layer of flavor. Use heavy cream instead of milk for richness and crumble some crispy bacon or pancetta lardons on top for a texture contrast. Nutmeg is key and plenty of ground black pepper. Find a basic recipe and add your own twists to it. 

Peace,

Chef Mike


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## dano1 (Oct 23, 2003)

hey, sounds like my cream o spinach soup.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I cook down the spinach (in microwave if one is available) squeeze out liquid.
saute shallots in veg oil, add reduced cream.....there's a cryovac box of Italian cream that is a staple in my kitchen. Salt, pepper, nutmeg.
combine. occasionally I omit the nutmeg and add dillweed, Italian parsley.


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## slydog1227 (Feb 2, 2010)

Here how I just did it and it was great! I used April's recipe above as my starting point. It was really easy, but took a few minutes to get reduced and creamy. I season to taste, so my quantities are just guesses. Suit yourself. This was pretty easy, and pretty darned good!

Cook/brown a handfull of bacon pieces chopped well (I use the Wright's Bacon Ends and Pieces" for cooking. It's good stuff!)

When done:

add 3 green onions, chopped.

Add one big box (or bag) of fresh raw, salad prepared small spinach leaves. (I guess you could use plain fresh spinach... or a box of that yucky frozen stuff if you just have to!)

Add 1 1/2 cups chicken stock and simmer it all on high to cook spinach, and reduce liquid. 

(if you have no stock, shame on you! ...just use 2 or 3 chicken bullion cubes nuked in a couple cups of water for 3 minutes. 
...if your using a box of frozen spinach..you'll probably prefer this method anyway!  ...in which case, you can serve it in an elligant styrofoam cup! ):mullet:

Add a dash of Pinot Noir. Or whatever wine is in your glass at the time. .....mine was Pinot. 

Add about 3 pats of butter while continuing reduction.

Taste stock for saltiness and add salt if needed. Don't over salt!

Add a little shake of black pepper. ....I'm in the south. If it gets salt it gets at least a little shake of black pepper.... nuff said 'bout that!

Continue cooking, reducing, and cream with potato masher if needed. This ain't rocket science....it's a leaf! 

Add about 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream.

Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmessan.

Add some (1/2 tsp???) of fresh ground nutmeg just before serving.

Enjoy!!!  ....we served ours with hot, stone cooked Foccacia bread with Rosemary and olive oil! It wassssss deee'licous! 

Thanks April!


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## chris.lawrence (Oct 19, 2009)

I'm sorry to be a traditionalist but creamed spinach to me, and I enjoy it the most like this; no bacon, no onions, nothing fancy.

Reduced spinach + High fat cream + pinch of nutmeg + salt + pepper.

Heaven!


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## slydog1227 (Feb 2, 2010)

Sounds good to me! And very easy! If I had seen your recipe first that's probably what I would have done! 

Actually, my wife and I had some creamed spinach at Ronnie Grisantis here in Memphis. It was wonderful! I was sort of trying to duplicate it ..from memory.


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## laural (Feb 27, 2012)

The best creamed spinach in San Francisco was at Townsend's - a small restaurant a block from Macy's and Union Square. They served a large bowl of creamed spinach with a hardboiled egg on top. It was a small place, pink and white, and run by older women. Has been closed for a long time. I think it was on O'Farrell or could have been Ellis, between Stockton and Grant.


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## mustaroad (May 15, 2010)

LauraL, dope post. ..and their cuisine fades as a relic of time. (lol...it's  late) 

...where I work we use like 1tsp nutmeg per 8lb of creamed spinach and it's like woopty-do can't even detect it.. Are my taste buds numb or would you guys use more nutmeg than 1tsp per 8lb creamed spinach.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Good tasty Bechamel  (made with 1/2 & 1/2)  with salt, white pepper, nutmeg ,hint of garlic. Mixed with either fresh chopped or frozen chopped cooked spinach which has been squeezed out partially. This is an old steakhouse special side.


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## martib (Nov 21, 2012)

I've been looking for the recipe for Townshend's spinach.  My mother and I used to go when it was served at the large restaurant and then when it moved to the smaller spot.  Do you have any idea how to make it?  I've never found any creamed spinach that even comes close to it although I used to also like Stouffer's Spinach soufflé.  Let me know if you have any ideas.  I still miss being able to go to Townshend's after shopping.


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## helen deines (Nov 22, 2013)

I grew up in San Francisco and ate lunch at Townsend's on a regular basis--creamed spinach and a deviled egg sandwiches throughout my childhood.  Recently I found what is purportedly their recipe for creamed spinach in an old cookbook on my shelf, TOO MANY TOMATOES by Lois M. Burroughs and Laura G. Myers (1976, Harper & Row).

Combine & heat:

1 1/2 cups chopped cooked spinach

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons grated horseradish

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon or nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

I have not tried this yet, but am going to triple it for the Thanksgiving table.

The cookbook is a favorite of mine--a wealth of recipes for all varieties of vegetables.  I recommend it without reservation.

Nice to encounter others with such fond memories of the wonderful food at Townsend's.  It warms this elder's heart.


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## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

Funny you mention creamed spinach, I made this on the fly during service this week (it's not on the menu but we do have spinach on hand). Below is how I did it, for something on the fly I was pretty happy with it but please don't take this as a fine tuned recipe because it wasn't! LOL

Sauteed a good amount of minced shallots in butter, added 1/2 clove mined confit of garlic, added baby spinach and sweated down. Added creme fraiche with chicken stock and reduced down. Salt and pepper generously, a tiny tiny bit of ground clove (didn't have any nutmeg on hand, I would definitively preferred nutmeg but oh well), and a little grated pecorino romano. Tasted good to me and customer said it good.


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## jgraeff1 (Jun 3, 2013)

Blanched spinach drained and chopped
Heavy cream
Worcestershire 
Garlic
Shallots
Good Parmesan 
Salt and vegetable base or a good
Flavored stock

Reduce add roux and good to go best I've had.


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