Recipe Redo: Creamed Spinach

I've been making my friend Melissa's recipe for creamed spinach for years but was never able to get a good photo of the finished product. SP has been hankering for a good steak dinner. Unfortunately there aren't any great steak places nearby that offer a consistently good meal, so we decided to make our own dinner at home. We have a fantastic Amish butcher at a local farmer's market so we picked up some steaks and I whipped up this creamed spinach.

Of course I forgot that I wanted to blog the creamed spinach on its own, so this Instagram photo is the best shot I got that night. Trust me, this is a recipe you want to have in your back pocket. It's easy and delicious. The original Emeril recipe calls for fresh spinach, but I always use frozen since finding 2lbs worth of fresh spinach without breaking the bank can be difficult. Frozen is just as good and makes this a side dish I can throw together whenever the mood strikes.

Creamed Spinach
As seen on Alosha's Kitchen, modified from Emeril Lagasse

2 cups frozen spinach
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 - 1 cup heavy cream

Place the frozen spinach in a microwave-safe bowl and cook for a few minutes (will vary depending on your microwave) until just defrosted. Place in a clean kitchen towel and wring out all the excess water in the spinach.

Melt the butter in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, stirring, just until the liquid is released. Add the cream (start with 1/2 cup), salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and cook until the cream is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. You may want to add more cream if it looks dry. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.

Birds Eye Creamed Spinach - Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program

I've been a member of Foodbuzz for years but I only recently started applying for their Tastemaker program. I was finally selected to receive samples of Birds Eye frozen veggies and sides, including this one for creamed spinach:


As my mom will attest to, I am a creamed spinach lover from way back. I was one of those weird kids who loved spinach. And I still do, so I was excited to try this. I cooked it on the stovetop instead of in the microwave, but apparently you can cook this right in the bag. Score one for busy families.


Overall this was really good, but I thought it needed a little sprinkling of salt to make it great. I really enjoy Birds Eye veggies in general, although I have to admit the price compared to my store brand usually dissuades me from buying them unless they're on sale. Even so, I would definitely recommend this spinach and can't wait to try the other frozen sides I received. Thanks Foodbuzz and Birds Eye for the opportunity to try these products.

Breaded Chicken, Rice and Creamed Spinach

SP liked the breaded chicken dinner I made a few weeks ago so much he asked that I make it again.


We didn't have any potatoes and SP felt like couscous (which I don't like) so I made myself some rice instead. I love the creamed spinach so much I always keep a bag of frozen spinach on hand in case I decide to make it. Delicious.

Breaded Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Creamed Spinach

I had some chicken breasts defrosted and a plan to make another dish, but I ended up wanting breaded chicken so I changed things up.


I pounded the chicken to an even thickness then dredged it in egg and breadcrumbs. It got a light fry in olive oil. I also made mashed potatoes and creamed spinach.

Mac & Cheese with Creamed Spinach

One day last week (again, I'm sorry I can't remember which day), I wanted a simple yet comforting dinner. What's more comforting then mac & cheese and creamy, luscious spinach? Not much, in my opinion.


I took the other half of the mac & cheese I made a few weeks ago out of the freezer to defrost. When I got home from work the next evening all I had to do was pop it in the oven and let it cook for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.


The color in this photo is awful, but the buttery bread crumb topping was nicely golden brown and crispy. While it was cooking I decided to make creamed spinach using a recipe my friend Melissa over at Alosha's Kitchen recently raved about.


Just look at that creamy goodness. Again, I apologize for the horrible lighting but I couldn't resist taking a photo of the luscious spinach while it was cooking. I cheated and used frozen spinach because I couldn't be bothered trimming and blanching fresh, not to mention the whole reason I made the recipe was because I had two bags of frozen spinach taking up valuable real estate in my freezer. The frozen mac & cheese somehow fared better then the other half I'd put in the fridge. It was creamy and delicious:


And the spinach. Oh the spinach. There really are no words. I've loved creamed spinach since I was a kid (what kid likes spinach? What can I say, I was a weird child), but my mom always served Seabrook frozen spinach for the convenience factor. Only recently have I started making my own and this is, by far, my favorite recipe. The shallots and garlic add just the right hint of flavor and the nutmeg accentuates the flavor of the spinach. Utterly delicious.

Salisbury Steak, Smashed Potatoes and Creamed Spinach

This Rachael Ray TV Dinner (aka Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy, Smashed Potatoes and Creamed Spinach) is one of our favorite comfort food meals in the cold months. Since I still have a ton of ground beef in the freezer I made this for dinner on Monday:


Everything was fantastic, as always, but the smashed potatoes really made the meal. They were so good I could have eaten a big bowl of them and called it a day. I used red potatoes and left the skins on for flavor, color and texture (and some much-needed vitamins). I also added about five cloves of smashed garlic to the pot as the potatoes were cooking. Once the potatoes were cooked and drained I added the rest of the blue and mascarpone cheeses I had leftover from the caramelized onion and blue cheese orzo I made a few weeks ago, three finely minced scallions, a little salt and pepper and maybe a tablespoon of butter. I mashed everything together and took a taste. Holy cow! These were the best smashed potatoes I've ever made. The tang from the blue cheese, the creaminess of the mascarpone, the mild garlic and onion flavor all worked in perfect harmony. Insanely good.

Salisbury Steak with Wild Mushroom Gravy, Smashed Potatoes, Creamed Spinach

SP asked for Rachael Ray's TV dinner, aka Salisbury Steak with Wild Mushroom Gravy, Smashed Potatoes, Creamed Spinach for dinner this week and it didn't disappoint:


This is one of her meals that we come back to regularly because it's simple and tasty. Now if only I could find those plastic TV dinner trays with the little compartments to serve the meal.

Salisbury Steak with Wild Mushroom Gravy, Smashed Potatoes, Creamed Spinach
Rachael Ray

Potatoes:
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and chunked, 3 large potatoes
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup half-and-half or cream
4 ounces, 1/2 cup garlic and herb cheese (recommended: Boursin)
3 tablespoons chopped chives or, 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Meat and Gravy:
1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon coarse salt and pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons
12 crimini or baby portobellos, sliced
12 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef stock

Spinach:
2 boxes frozen chopped spinach, 10 ounces, defrosted in microwave
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream

Place potatoes in a pot and covered with water. Cover pot with lid and bring water to a boil. Salt boiling water and potatoes. Leave lid off pot and simmer at rolling boil until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

While potatoes cook, combine meat, Worcestershire, onion and steak seasoning or salt and pepper. Form 2 large, oval patties, 1-inch thick.

Preheat large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and the meat patties to a hot pan. Cook meat 6 minutes on each side until meat is evenly caramelized on the outside and juices run clear. Remove meat and cover with loose tin foil to keep warm. Add 1 more turn of the pan extra-virgin olive oil and butter to the pan, then the mushrooms. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper and saute mushrooms until tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

While mushrooms cook, squeeze defrosted spinach dry by wringing it out in a kitchen towel. To a small skillet, add butter and cream and heat to a bubble over moderate heat. add spinach and salt and pepper. Cook until spinach thickens with cream, 3 to 5 minutes.

To mushrooms, add a sprinkle of flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in stock and thicken 1 minute.

While sauce thickens, drain potatoes and return to hot pot. Smash potatoes with a little half-and- half or cream and garlic and herb cheese. Smash and incorporate chives. Add salt and pepper, to your taste.

To serve, pour gravy over Salisbury steak. Serve potatoes and creamed spinach alongside the steaks.

Christmas Eve

Since we do a lot of running around on Christmas Day, SP and I like to spend a quiet evening at home on Christmas Eve. We like to have some kind of seafood for dinner and this year was no exception. I fried up some calamari rings and served it with some of the leftover marinara from Sunday's pizza:


I tossed the rings in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and fried them in hot vegetable oil. Unfortunately I forgot the lessons of last year and crowded the pan, which meant the calamari didn't get that nice golden brown color. They were still good though, especially tossed with the red pepper flakes and chopped parsley.

SP mentioned a recipe from his childhood for Steak Diane and asked me to make that for Christmas Eve. The recipe calls for filet mignon, but after searching three supermarkets we gave up on finding any (it's a rather popular cut of meat for this season). SP bought a few pieces of sirloin and I made the dish using Emeril's recipe:


SP also asked for baked potatoes, which we had with butter and sour cream, and I rounded out the meal with creamed spinach made with frozen chopped spinach, heavy cream, salt, pepper and a little nutmeg.