Spinach requires close examination and picking, as insects are
frequently found among it, and it is often gritty. Wash it through
three or four waters. Then drain it, and put it on in boiling water.
Ten minutes is generally sufficient time to boil spinach. Be careful
to remove the scum. When it is quite tender, take it up, and drain and
squeeze it well. Chop it fine, and put it into a sauce-pan with a piece
of butter and a little pepper and salt. Set it on hot coals, and let it
stew five minutes, stirring it all the time.
SPINACH AND EGGS.--Boil the spinach as above, and drain and press it,
but do not chop it. Have ready some eggs poached as follows. Boil
in a sauce-pan, and skim some clear spring water, adding to it a
table-spoonful of vinegar. Break the eggs separately, and having taken
the sauce-pan off the fire, slip the eggs one at a time into it with
as much dexterity as you can. Let the sauce-pan stand by the side of
the fire till the white is set, and then put it over the fire for two
minutes. The yolk should be thinly covered by the white. Take them up
with an egg slice, and having trimmed the edges of the whites, lay the
eggs on the top of the spinach, which should first be seasoned with
pepper and salt and a little butter, and must be sent to table hot.