Berghoff Restaurant Creamed Spinach

From the Berghoff Family Cookbook. This recipe was secret until after the restaurant closed in 2006. It was the only dish in the restaurant that was not made completely from scratch--they always used frozen spinach.

• Ready In: 25 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 5 cups

Ingredients

• 2  cups half-and-half
• 1  cup milk
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  chicken base
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, plus more for garnish
• 1⁄4 teaspoon  granulated garlic
• 1⁄8 teaspoon  celery salt
• 4  tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (about 2 1/2 cups)
•  salt and white pepper, to taste (optional)
•  cooked crumbled bacon (to garnish) (optional)

Directions

1. Place half-and-half, milk, chicken base, Tabasco sauce, nutmeg, garlic, and celery salt in a medium saucepan and heat just until simmering.
2. Remove from heat, but keep warm.
3. In a separate medium saucepan, heat butter over medium heat.
4. Whisk in flour.
5. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.
6. Slowly whisk warm milk mixture into butter mixture a little at a time, whisking constantly.
7. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until very thick.
8. Stir in spinach and simmer for 5 minutes.
9. Season with salt and ground white pepper if desired.
10. Garnish with bacon and additional nutmeg, if desired.