A Love Affair With Southern Cooking_ Recipes and Recollections - Jean Anderson [133]
5. Combine the sauce with the salsify and turn into the baking dish. Quickly mix all topping ingredients and scatter evenly over the salsify.
6. Slide the baking dish onto the middle oven shelf and bake uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbling and brown.
7. Serve at once as an accompaniment to any roasted meat or fowl.
SPINACH MADELEINE
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
Little did Madeline Nevill know that the recipe she created for her Junior League fund-raiser would become a Deep South classic. The year: 1959. The place: Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The cookbook: River Road Recipes, of which a New York Times reviewer wrote: “If there were community cookbook Academy Awards, the Oscar for best performance would go hands down to River Road Recipes.” I interviewed Madeline several years ago while writing about “Little-Known Louisiana” for Gourmet, never dreaming that she was the Madeline of Spinach Madeleine; the names are spelled differently. I began my trip in “English Louisiana,” staying for three days at Madeline’s stylish Green Springs bed-and-break-fast just north of St. Francisville. After breakfast one morning, she told me that her guests all urged her to come up with a breakfast version of Spinach Madeleine. “I tried, but nothing was as good as the original,” she said, adding that that recipe was something she’d just hit upon nearly fifty years earlier. As for the disparity in the spelling of the name, the very English Madeline confessed that she’d chosen the French Madeleine “because it sounded more gourmet-ish.” Note: One of the key ingredients in the original recipe—a six-ounce roll of jalapeño cheese—is rarely available today, so I’ve reworked the recipe using current supermarket staples. I’ve also trimmed the fat for the calorie and cholesterol-conscious. Tip: This recipe can be prepared in advance through Step 5, covered and refrigerated until about an hour before serving. If you do so, increase the overall baking time by 10 to 15 minutes.
Two 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach (no need to thaw)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow onion
1 medium garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup spinach cooking water
½ cup evaporated milk (use fat-free, if you like)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¾ teaspoon celery salt
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon hot red pepper sauce
6 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, cut into small dice
2 to 3 tablespoons well-drained canned diced jalapeño peppers (depending on how “hot” you like things)
1½ cups soft white bread crumbs tossed with 2 tablespoons butter, melted (topping)
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Coat a shallow 2-quart casserole with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Cook the spinach by package directions, but do not salt the cooking water and do not season the spinach. Drain in a large fine sieve set over a large bowl, then press out as much water as possible. Reserve ½ cup of the spinach cooking water, rounding out the measure, if necessary, with tap water.
3. Melt the butter in a medium-size heavy saucepan over moderate heat, add the onion and garlic, and sauté, stirring often, for 2 to 3 minutes or until limp and golden. Blend in the flour and cook and stir for about a minute.
4. Combine the spinach cooking water, evaporated milk, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, salt, and hot pepper sauce in a large measuring cup; pour into the saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes or until thickened and smooth. Add the cheese, a few pieces at a time, then the jalapeños and cook, stirring often, until the cheese melts. Do not allow the mixture to boil because the cheese may “string.” Mix in the reserved spinach.
5. Scoop into the casserole, smoothing to the edge, and sprinkle the topping evenly over all.
6. Slide onto the middle oven shelf and bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes or until bubbly