Épinards (Spinach) à la Crême (Hot)
Wash the spinach in six or seven waters, so as to prevent its being gritty; put it in a saucepan on the fire, with a very little water and salt; when done strain very dry and chop it up very fine. Warm 2 oz. of butter in a stewpan, put the spinach in, stir till the moisture quite evaporates, then add a very little salt, a tiny pinch of sugar (a very little nutmeg, if liked), a pinch of flour, and 1 large tablespoonful of cream, and let the whole simmer for a quarter of an hour. Then put through a sieve and keep hot. In the meantime, fry in fat some bread cut into fingers, about 2½ in. long and ½ in. square, and plant them in little rows all over the spinach when dished.
Spinach cooked thus is delicious and a very different matter from the stringy green mass generally served.