Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Spinach (German mode of cooking). — "Spinach,” says the compiler of German National Cookery, “ requires to lie in water a little while, and to be several times rinsed in fresh water. Put it into boiling water with salt; give it eight or ten minutes' gentle boiling, uncovered. If its earthy flavor is objected to, throw it into plenty of cold water when boiled enough, then drain and press it dry ; chop it fine. Make butter hot, throw into it some grated bread-crumbs, then add the spinach. Or make a thick butter-sauce, and stir the spinach into this to get thoroughly hot. Serve garnished with either cutlets, sausages, hard - boiled eggs, sliced, and sippets of buttered toast or poached eggs. If the full flavor of the spinach is liked, simply wash it well, clear it of the large stems, and drain it. Put a piece of butter in a saucepan, and when melted put in the spinach ; cover, and as it shrinks put in more. Let it cook in its own juice. Sprinkle salt over as you put it in.'* Spinach with Eggs. — Boil the spinach till tender. Put it into a colander, and press the moisture from it with the back of a plate. Mince it finely, then put it into a saucepan with a slice of fresh butter and a little pepper and salt, and stir it well till it is hot and dry. Put it on a hot dish, smooth it with the blade of a knife, and mark it in squares. Place as many poached eggs as there are guests on the top of the spinach, or, if preferred, put them round it, each egg on a piece of buttered toast. Serve the whole very hot. If a superior dish is required, the spinach, after being boiled till tender, may be rubbed through a wire sieve, and the pulp mixed with a slice of fresh butter, a table-spoonful of thick cream, and a little pepper and salt. Time to boil spinach, ten to fifteen minutes. Spinach with Gravy. — Take 3 lbs. of spinach. Pick the leaves from the stalks and wash them well in several waters ; drain them, throw them into a saucepan with plenty of slightly salted boiling water, and let them boil for five minutes. Press the spinach, and throw it into cold water for half an hour to preserve the color. Take it out of the water a little at a time, press the moisture thoroughly from it, spread it on a dish, pick out any stalks or straws that may have been left in it, and chop it small. Mix I oz. of butter smoothly in a saucepan with I oz. of flour, add a pinch of salt, and stir the mixture over the fire for three minutes. Put in the spinach and stir it for five minutes. Pour in a quarter of a pint of stock, and when this is thoroughly blended with the vegetable add, a little at a time, half a pint more ; stir the spinach again for five minutes. Lift it from the fire, stir into it till dissolved 1 oz. of fresh butter, and serve very hot. Garnish the dish with triangular pieces of crumb of bread half an inch thick. Spinach when thus dressed will constitute an enjoyable accompaniment to veal or boiled mutton. With roast meat it Spinach, Pur6e of VEGETABLES Sweet Potatoes is best when served plain. Time, altogether, about an hour. Spinach, Puree of, with Butter. —