INFORMATION FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

“Spinach requires close examination and picking, as insects are frequently found among it and it is often gritty. Nothing is worse than spinach when gritty, so likewise there is nothing more troublesome to get quite clean, from its growing so near the earth.

Spinach should be picked a leaf at a time, and washed in three or four waters. Then drain it and put it in boiling water. Fifteen to twenty minutes is generally sufficient time to boil spinach. Be careful to remove the scum.”

COOKING SPINACH
A thin slice of fat salt pork or a tablespoon of bacon fat may be cooked with spinach if preferred. In that case, omit butter. Or cook in ham or corned beef stock, drain, and season only with pepper. Garnish with thin slices of hard-cooked egg, or sprinkle with the yolk of egg pressed through a sieve. Grated nutmeg or mace and a little lemon-juice is a favorite addition with some cooks, and is added when you stir it up in the stew-pan with the butter. Spinach is frequently served with poached eggs and fried bread.

SPINACH BALLS
Boil cleaned spinach till it is quite tender. Drain, press out all the water and mince it fine. Add half the quantity of grated stale bread, a grate of nutmeg, one teaspoon sugar, one gill* of cream, and as many eggs as will make a batter, beating the whites separately. Add pepper and salt to taste. Drop a little of the batter from a spoon into boiling lard. If it separates, add a little more crumb of bread. Drop spoonfuls of the batter, a few at a time, and when they rise to the surface of the fat, they are done. Drain them, and serve very quickly, or they will fall.

*gill – a liquid measurement. Four ounces in the U.S. and five ounces in the U.K.

SOUFFLE OF SPINACH
Cook the spinach until tender. Drain, press out the water, and chop fine. Place one cup of spinach in a bowl and add the yolks of two eggs, one cup of very thick cream sauce, one tablespoon grated onion, two teaspoons salt, and one teaspoon paprika. Mix thoroughly, and then carefully fold in the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Pour into a well-greased baking dish, bake in a moderate oven* for twenty-five minutes, and serve with cheese sauce in place of meat for luncheon.

*moderate oven – about 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit.

SPINACH SOUP
Wash two pounds of spinach well and cook it in one pint of water with one chopped up onion, and pepper and salt to taste. When the spinach is quite soft, rub all through a sieve. Mix one and one-half ounces wheatmeal with one ounce melted butter. Stir it into the spinach, then add one pint milk. Boil all up, and add the juice of one lemon last of all. If the soup is too thick, add a little water. This will make about three pints of soup.

SPINACH DUMPLINGS
Pick and wash two pounds of spinach. add two finely chopped onions, and cook it with without water until quite tender. Drain it dry, then chop the spinach fine. Mix it with three eggs well beaten, the juice of one-half lemon, one ounce butter, and pepper and salt to taste. Add as much wheatmeal as necessary to make the mixture into a soft paste. Form into balls, flour them, drop them into boiling water, and boil them five to ten minutes. Serve with potatoes and gravy.

BAKED SPINACH
Pick and wash thoroughly one-half peck* of spinach. Put in boiling water to which a pinch of soda has been added to keep the color. When very tender, drain, chop fine, and put into a baking dish. Put into a saucepan one cup milk, one tablespoon butter, one teaspoon salt, a dash of cayenne pepper, and a little grated nutmeg. Let this come to a boil, stir into the spinach, and add two well beaten eggs. Bake ten minutes in a quick oven.*

*peck – a measurement for dry volume; two gallons or eight dry quarts. Four pecks make a bushel.
*quick oven – about 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit.

FRIED SPINACH
Take cold spinach left from dinner, premising that it was boiled tender in properly salted water, and that there were three or four poached eggs left also. Chop the eggs thoroughly into the spinach and sprinkle with pepper. Put into a frying-pan a large tablespoon of butter, and when it is sufficiently hot, put in the spinach and eggs, and fry nicely.

SPINACH CREAM
Beat the yolks of eight eggs with a whisk or a wooden spoon. Sweeten it well and add a stick of cinnamon, a pint of rich cream, and three-fourths pint of new milk. Stir it well, and then add one-fourth pint of spinach juice. Set it over a gentle stove, and stir it constantly one way, till it is as thick as pudding. Put into a custard dish some preserved orange in long slices, and pour the mixture over them. It is to be eaten cold, and is a dish either for supper, or for a second course.

STEWED SPINACH WITH CREAM
Boil the spinach till nearly done enough, then squeeze all the water from it. Put it into a stew-pan with a piece of butter and some salt. Stir it over the fire till the butter is well mixed in with it, and add as much cream as will make it of a moderate thickness. Shake it for a minute or two over the fire, and serve it up with sippets* of bread, either fried or toasted.

*sippets – bits of dry toast cut into a triangular form.

STEWED SPINACH WITH GRAVY
Pick the spinach nicely, then wash it well, and put it into a stew-pan with a few spoons of water and a little salt. Stew this till quite tender, shaking the pan very often to prevent its burning. When done enough, put it into a sieve to drain, and give it a slight squeeze. Beat the spinach well, then return it to the stew-pan with some gravy, pepper, salt, and a piece of butter. Let it stew about a quarter of an hour, stirring it frequently. Serve it up either in a dish by itself, or with poached eggs upon it, according to the occasion for which it is wanted.

STEWED SPINACH WITH SORREL
Take spinach and sorrel,* in the proportion of three fourths of spinach to one of sorrel. Pick and wash these very nicely. Cut them a little and put them into a stew-pan, with two or three spoons of water. Keep them stirring over the fire till they begin to soften and to liquify. Then leave it to stew at a distance over the fire for an hour or more, stirring it every now and then. Thicken it with a little flour and when quite done, add some pepper and salt, and serve it up. This will form an excellent sauce to all kinds of meat, or to eat with potatoes. Almost any kind of cold vegetables may be added to this stew. They should be put in just long enough to heat, and mixed in properly with the spinach before it is served up.

*sorrel – common or garden sorrel has a tart, lemon flavor and was popular in the 1800s.

SPINACH SALAD
Take two dozen heads of spinach and wash well. Season with salt and pepper, put in a salad dish, and set away on ice. Take the yolks of three hard boiled eggs, mash fine, add mustard, salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of melted butter. Mix thoroughly, add vinegar and pour over the spinach. Garnish with hard boiled eggs sliced.

Image from Deposit Photos

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