Wash the leaves in cold water; shake out each leaf, and heap them on a colander to drain.
SPINACH.
TO BOIL SPINACH.
Put the leaves into a kettle to boil twenty minutes; then uncover the saucepan so as to boil the juice nearly away; turn the spinach into a colander; drain them into a hot vegetable dish, in which is butter, salt, and black pepper; turn it into the butter and salt; serve it with poached eggs on the top.
CHOPPED SPINACH WITH EGGS.
After spinach is boiled and dried, chop it in the saucepan very fine with a knife; set it over the fire again to dry; stir in butter, salt, and black pepper; break in two or more eggs; stir them with the spinach and let them cook until it looks quite dry; serve it in a hot vegetable dish.
SPINACH SOUFFLE.
Boil and dry spinach; chop it very fine in the saucepan and let it dry; stir in two tablespoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of salt, and one half teaspoonful of black pepper; let the butter be absorbed. Beat the yolks of two eggs in a large bowl, beat the whites to a stiff froth, mix them well into the yolks, stir in the hot seasoned spinach with a fork, and bake it in a hot buttered dish in a quick oven until the top is well browned.