Tyler Florence's ecipe is my favorite. I will mention do not be shy with the SP in this one.......

Creamed Spinach
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

.Prep Time:5 minInactive Prep Time:--Cook Time:15 minLevel:
EasyServes:
4 to 6 servings. Ingredients
ÂExtra-virgin olive oil
Â1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Â1 onion, minced
Â2 garlic cloves, minced
Â2 pounds fresh baby spinach, stemmed
Â1/2 cup heavy cream
Â1/2 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg
ÂSea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Heat a large pot over medium heat. Drizzle with a 2-count of oil, add the butter, and stir it around so it melts. Saute the onion and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach in batches, pushing it down with a wooden spoon to help it wilt. Keep adding more spinach when there is room in the pot. Cook the spinach until it is dry, then lower the heat and add the cream and nutmeg. Stir and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

I also like the cream/butter white sauce type creamed vegetables instead of the cream cheese versions. I use this very simple recipe most of the time, although I've been known to add parmesan cheese. Kind of gilding the lily...

CREAMED SPINACH

3 tbsp. butter
2 c. finely chopped cooked spinach
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 c. cream
Salt, pepper, nutmeg and trace of sugar

Melt butter. Add cooked spinach. cook 3 minutes. Sprinkle with flour. Stir well. Add cream. Cook 5 minutes. Season to taste.

Annie

A traditional-style creamed corn is a lot of work but well worth it. First, with a small sharp knife, cut a vertical cut through the center of each vertical line of corn kernels on each ear. Then hold the cob upright on a shallow bowl or platter and with the dull side of a heavy knife, scrape downward on the cob to release the creamy interior of the kernels, leaving the kernel husks on the cob.

Simmer the resulting mash with butter, salt and white pepper, adding cream at the end just long enough to heat it through. I like it without the cream because the "milk" released from the kernels is smooth enough for my taste.

I make a white sauce using milk but no cream ( 2T butter....sautee 2 T fine chopped onion...add 1 T flour, cook 3 minutes and slowly add 1 1/2 cups milk, whisking, bring to a simmer and cook 3 minutes)
Then I add "whatever"...about 2 oz cream cheese is good...and some parmesan.
Or for spinach I like a few grindings of nutmeg, add some sherry to the cream sauce for carrots or mushrooms.
Then I cook the veggie in a steamer basket and add to the sauce.
Linda c

I use a Velouté sauce instead of milk or cream, and for the broth I use the cooking liquid from the vegetable. For spinach, I sauté a bit of minced onion, add some minced garlic and sliced mushrooms and sauté that for a few minutes before adding the spinach. When the spinach has cooked down a bit (I cook it covered), I remove everything to a colandar and save the liquid that I press out. I use that liquid as part of the stock for the Velouté sauce. I never add nutmeg to spinach - that would ruin it for me.

I have yet to make creamed corn, although I love corn, but I don't like cream in sauces (or milk, for that matter).

Lars

Interesting, many different approaches.

My standard method has been to cook corn kernels in some butter, milk and 1/2 & 1/2. Then run about 1/4 of the corn kernels, plus optionally some onion, shallots or garlic, through the food processor and add it back to cook with the rest. This avoids having discernible onions etc in the end product. Then salt and white pepper.

This borrows from ruthanna's approach of getting thickness from the corn itself.

I am making a corn pudding tonight rather than creamed corn but the recipe uses the same "slit and scrape" technique I described above. I thought you'd like to see how creamy the texture of the uncooked corn is without anything else added to it. You can also see the outside shells of the corn kernels left on a scraped cob.

My apologies for the lighting in the photo.

Ruthanna, the breadth of your cooking knowledge amazes me. I is only recently that I learned about the creamed corn you described. You nailed it. Creamed corn is also called fried corn and it is a very special dish.

It's interesting that you are using the slit and scrape method in preparing corn pudding. I used that method in preparing corn for a corn and cod chowder recently. Your photo is very instructive.

I made creamed spinach not long ago, basing it on a white sauce similar to what others described. It was pretty good.

Jim

Well, I've made creamed corn and creamed spinach a few times since starting this thread.

For the creamed corn, I tried a variant of ruthanna's approach and it worked very well indeed. Thanks! I like a toothier creamed corn, so I cut some of the kernels off the cobs, and slit/scraped the rest. A bit of encouragement during cooking with the potato masher helped.

For the creamed spinach. I reverted to butter, heavy cream, and about 1/4 package of cream cheese. Minced shallots, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Tasty. I mean to try the flour approach sometime too.

Another creamed spinach tonight, it turned out well enough to mention.

Three heads spinach, trim wash and dry. Mince 1/2 onion and 4-6 cloves of garlic. Sweat onion and garlic in olive oil and butter, then add and cook down spinach in batches, removing each batch to a bowl when well wilted. In now-empty pan, deeply brown a fair mess of sliced mushrooms in some butter, remove mushrooms, deglaze pan with tasty liquor of your choice - I used Grand Marnier but Amaretto would do nicely - then add 1 cup 1/2 & 1/2, whisk and reduce for a bit, then remove sauce to a bowl. In again-empty pan, melt about 4 oz of cheese, I used Brie but any creamy cheese would do. Add back spinach, which has been drained, you can discard the liquid. Stir over med-low heat to mix cheese and spinach. If needed, thicken sauce with flour or cornstarch, or heavy cream if you're feeling decadent. Add sauce, and mushrooms, to pan. Stir in 1 cup toasted and slivered or chopped almonds, or some other nut - but if you used Amaretto, do match it with almonds.

This isn't a classic creamed spinach, but is tasty. My neighbor and I, both doing the bachelor thing this week, had this with - naturally - steaks.

Creamed veg and steak, they're like Sonny and Cher, Sandy and Danny, the Phantom and Christine.

Here is my tip to contain all the flying corn kernels that can result when scraping fresh corn.

I use an old, smallish tube pan (I have a hard plastic one that came with a microwave oven, but never made microwave angel food cakes with it!) I'm sure a metal one would do as well, as long as you don't mind potentially nicking the pan or dulling the knife.

Anyhow, place the pointy end of the corn in the center opening of the tube, (it should fit snugly if the pan is not a huge one) and scrape away. MOST of the kernels will fall into the pan!

Also if you can blanch corn for a minute and not affect the recipe, blanching makes it a tad less messy too.

Love any creamed veggies! When do we eat!

Acey, great tip!

Glad you thought so!