Cooking spinach bachelor-type question

Nick said:

I like steamed spinach. How do I get it so it's not runny and wet. In restuarants, it's always
chopped fine and dry, it seems. How can I do this? What do I need? Special chooper? Cheesecloth?
What do I do?

I use a collapsible steamer basket; it's easy to press the water out of the spinach after it
is steamed.

Jill

(Nick) said:

I like steamed spinach. How do I get it so it's not runny and wet. In restuarants, it's always
chopped fine and dry, it seems. How can I do this? What do I need? Special chooper? Cheesecloth?
What do I do?

You need to drain it in a sieve.

"Nick" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I like steamed spinach. How do I get it so it's not runny and wet. In restuarants, it's always
chopped fine and dry, it seems. How can I do this? What do I need? Special chooper? Cheesecloth?
What do I do?

Collapsible vegetable steamer. Available in stupidmarkets, or kitchen gadget stores.

(Nick) said:

I like steamed spinach. How do I get it so it's not runny and wet. In restuarants, it's always
chopped fine and dry, it seems. How can I do this? What do I need? Special chooper? Cheesecloth?
What do I do?

It is usually recommended that spinach be briefly cooked with only "the water clinging to the
leaves" after washing (and draining). Recommendations for frozen are to thaw and squeeze out most of
the water before using in recipes. I can't imagine "chopped fine and dry" spinach unless it's the
raw green. Cooking spinach, like cooking lettuce. will release beaucoup water.

No special chopper. Press in a sieve, a veg steamer (as others have suggested), or for super-dry,
wring in a dishtowel.

(Nick) said:

I like steamed spinach. How do I get it so it's not runny and wet. In restuarants, it's always
chopped fine and dry, it seems. How can I do this? What do I need? Special chooper? Cheesecloth?
What do I do?

Nick,

You'll need a frying pan with a lid, or with something that will serve as a lid -- such as another
pan the same size.

Heat a little oil, maybe a tablespoon's worth, in the pan. Have some chopped garlic ready.

While you are heating the oil, wash the spinach but don't drain it.

When the oil is hot, toss in the garlic, wait a few seconds and toss in the spinach. Give everything
a stir and cover the pan.

The spinach will steam in the available water and will cook in a short time -- less than a
minute, usually.

A little freshly ground nutmeg and salt will finish it off nicely.

David

Frogleg said:

(Nick) said:

I like steamed spinach. How do I get it so it's not runny and wet. In restuarants, it's always
chopped fine and dry, it seems. How can I do this? What do I need? Special chooper? Cheesecloth?
What do I do?

It is usually recommended that spinach be briefly cooked with only "the water clinging to the
leaves" after washing (and draining). Recommendations for frozen are to thaw and squeeze out most
of the water before using in recipes. I can't imagine "chopped fine and dry" spinach unless it's
the raw green. Cooking spinach, like cooking lettuce. will release beaucoup water.

No special chopper. Press in a sieve, a veg steamer (as others have suggested), or for super-dry,
wring in a dishtowel.

Chinese bamboo steamer/chop-chop, just to threaten.

or

Saute w/butter at med heat/1 min.

Cooked longer or so water can be wrung out may as well use canned.

---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =--- ---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =--- Sheldon
```````````` "Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

Nick said:

I like steamed spinach. How do I get it so it's not runny and wet. In restuarants, it's always
chopped fine and dry, it seems. How can I do this? What do I need? Special chooper? Cheesecloth?
What do I do?

Unfortunately if you wash spinach well enough to remove the grit, it holds a lot of water. I suppose
you could dry the leaves in a salad spinner before steaming over (not in) simmering water. My dad
used to press the batch of spinach over the sink between two plates and squeeze hard to remove much
of the water. You could also chop it finely and dry it out in a skillet over low heat to evaporate
the water.

gloria p

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Nick) said:

I like steamed spinach. How do I get it so it's not runny and wet. In restuarants, it's always
chopped fine and dry, it seems. How can I do this? What do I need? Special chooper? Cheesecloth?
What do I do?

Someone here (Dimitri?) suggested using a potato ricer. I use my hands to squeeze thawed, drained
chopped spinach.
--
-Barb 12-17-03: Melba Does Manhattan pix in entirety have been added to my site:
<www.jamlady.eboard.com> "If you're ever in a jam, here I am."

Nick said:

I like steamed spinach. How do I get it so it's not runny and wet. In restuarants, it's always
chopped fine and dry, it seems. How can I do this? What do I need? Special chooper? Cheesecloth?
What do I do?

Try cooking it the way my wife does. I am not much of a cooked spinach fan but hers is pretty good.
She puts a heavy bottomed pan on high heat, rinses spinach under running water, shakes it off to
remove dirt, gives it another rinse and tosses it into the pot without rinsing and puts a top on it.
After one minute she takes it off the heat, stirs it around and serves it.