Creamed Spinach w/ Bacon and Garlic

Creamed spinach is awesome, and doesn't get nearly the press it deserves.  I've liked the stuff since I was 6 -- no kidding -- and it's not hard.  It's also a traditional and sadly disappearing accompaniment with steaks and chops.  

Unfortunately, my attempts lately at c. s. have been lackluster.  Also, I again made the stupid mistake of thinking that a 10-ounce bag of fresh spinach would, when cooked, be a reasonable amount of food.  So I decided to add two other things that usually seem to go with spinach: allium (I often seem to get garlic with sauteed spinach) and bacon (which usually seems to come in the dressing with spinach salads).  

It was not lackluster.  :)  Most measurements are left out, as that's the way I made it: here at EAJ!, we're all about accurate reporting.    

So:

Impromptu creamed spinach

(makes 1 moderate serving or 2 tiny ones)

 

1. Forget to go to the farmer's market earlier in the week to get spinach.
2. Buy a 10 oz. bag of "slummed" spinach at the grocery store.
3. Dice 3 strips of bacon.  Saute; drain; set aside.
4. Mince a clove of garlic; set aside.
5. Meanwhile, put a huge pot of water on to boil for blanching the spinach.  Put a lot of salt in the water.  Stem and wash the spinach (mine had remarkably little sand, but spinach is famous for being gritty).
6. Blanch the spinach for a minute or two. Cool off with cold water and drain thoroughly.  Press out as much water as you can without creating spinach puree.  Chop if you feel it's needed.
7. (I imagine most of you are going to skip [5] and [6].  If you feel like it and skip directly to [8] or [9], let me know how it goes.  Simply wilting the spinach in the pan will certainly speed things up.)
8. Mince half a small shallot; saute in clean pan with a tablespoon of butter.  (I forgot this.  The abandoned shallot, already peeled, was discovered after dinner on the counter.  D'oh.  I also elected to use a clean pan because I thought continuing the saute in some of the fat left from [2] would make things too bacon-y.   But I did save the bacon fat for later use.)
9. Saute the drained spinach in a clean pan with a tablespoon of butter (or in the shallot saute pan), adding more butter if you need it.  Try to get the spinach separated with most of the excess water evaporated, but don't cook the hell out of it, or you won't have any spinach left.
10. Add a tablespoon of butter if you need it (I believe this now puts us at somewhere between 1 and 4 Tb. of butter), and add a tablespoon or so of flour.  Stir and saute for a minute or two.  Hopefully you still have a reasonable amount of spinach at this point, and the spinach is still a pleasant green.
11. Dump in some heavy cream, and cook for 5-15 minutes, uncovered.  The cream will reduce and thicken; the roux you made with the flour and butter will get it pleasantly thick without reducing the cream to, er, butter.  :)  I use the "European" heavy cream the Harris Teeter has, because I'm like that, but please add whatever you have.  I think I used about 3/4 of a cup, but I didn't measure it.  Add more cream if you think it needed, but I'd start with a few tablespoons and add more along.  
12. Add the bacon somewhere in there.
13. Grate in a small amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano.  (I actually did this early in [11]. I think the dish suffered from its being added so early.  But suffering was not what went on later.  It was more like screams of deliciousness.)
14. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, and perhaps a bit of nutmeg.  Feel free to add these anywhere you see fit.  With the bacon, (perhaps) the salted blanching water, and any salt in your butter, you might be fine on saltiness.  The spices can get added where you think it best, but you really should taste the stuff as you go anyway, so you can develop your own sense of what's going on and what needs to be added when.  For instance, adding the bacon after everything is done might appeal to your desire for little crispy bits of bacon.
15. Perhaps you should add some more butter here, but for god's sake, get the stuff on the table before you eat it all with your constant tasting.
16. Serve forth your tiny amount of creamed spinach.  (I had mine with bratwurst.)
17. Enjoy it a lot.  Annoy others by saying how much you like your effort.  Vow next time to double or triple quantities.