Creamed Spinach

Ingredients:

2 c very lightly boiled spinach, barely chopped
2 T butter
1 T+ onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, diced (red, yellow or orange)
1/2 lemon's zest
1 T flour

Or 2 T browned flour

1/2 c hot cream
1/2 t sugar
1 T garlic butter
Grated nutmeg, to taste

Instructions: Saute onions in plain butter until tender. Set aside. Mix lemon zest, flour, cream, sugar, garlic butter, and nutmeg over medium heat. When sauce is hot and smooth, add spinach, pepper, and onion. Heat through, serve.

Notes: Browned flour really is what makes this recipe extraordinary. Browned flour is roasted white flour. As far as I know, you can't buy browned flour. To make browned flour, place flour in hot skillet with no grease or oil. Slowly, over medium heat, stir the flour. After several minutes the flour will start to get darker and brown in color. You know the flour is done when it is a nice light maple color. It should be darker than oak, but lighter than chestnut brown. The flour will have a roasted, nutty, deep flavor to it. Note that browned flour has half the thickening power of regular flour, so if a recipe calls for 3 T flour, you would use 6 T browned flour. Flour can also be browned in a oven set on a low temperature for about 20 minutes, stirring every so often. Watch to make sure the flour does not get to dark otherwise it will have a burnt, bitter taste to it. Browned flour can be used in place of regular flour in any recipe, so make up about a cup's worth and store it in a tupperware. Not to be used in baking.

Generally, I am not a creamed spinach fan. I like food with texture. I dramatically altered this recipe; the original called for the spinach to be blended, so instead I barely chop it. This is a fun recipe to make too, especially for the holidays, because it is so colorful. The mix of the colors of the spinach, the golden onions, and the vibrant bell peppers really makes a statement at the dinner table.

In order to not over boil spinach, just follow these simple steps. Wash spinach and set aside. Bring about 4 cups of water to boil, turn off heat. Place spinach in a bowl, pour water over spinach - just enough to cover. Cover with a lid or a plate and set timer for 5 minutes. Halfway through, turn the spinach over so the topmost spinach is now on the bottom. When the 5 minutes are up, immediately run spinach under cold water or place in strainer in a bowl of ice water. Make sure that the cold water penetrates all the way to the center of the bunch of spinach. This will remove the hot water from the spinach and stop it from cooking. Once chilled, squeeze excess water from spinach and run a knife through it once or twice. That is all the chopping it should need. Repeat with any extra spinach until all spinach is lightly boiled and shocked.