Spinach and Mushrooms in a Cream Sauce

Happy New Year! Are you ready for 2015?  I don't know how I feel about this year.  I thought 2014 was going to be a fantastic year, and it was.  

I hope this year brings a big change or an exciting adventure.  

I went to Nashville last Thanksgiving.  We planned on eating at a famous restaurant, but learned we needed to wait a few hours because we had no reservation.  Instead, we found a well rated restaurant on Yelp.

I ate this delicious, creamy spinach dish, among other things.   This is my attempt to recreate it at home.  It isn't spot on, but it maybe a little more delicious.  My version is just as flavorful but more creamy and cheesy.  That means it is a little less healthy too.

To make this I used 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoon flour, 1 1/4 cup milk, 8 ounces baby crimini mushrooms, 1 garlic clove, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 1/2 cup munster cheese, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, salt, pepper, hot sauce, 1/3 cup cream cheese, and 10 ounces baby spinach. 

I melted the butter and sautéed the minced garlic for a few minutes in the butter.

I added the sliced mushrooms and sauteed them for a few minutes.  

I added the flour and cooked it for 2 to 3 minutes until the flour was a little brown.

I added nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

I gradually added the milk.  I added a little bit and stirred until it was incorporated into the flour mixture.  I stirred until there were no lumps of flour.  I added more milk and repeated the process until all the milk was gone.

I added the mustard and a few dashes of hot sauce.

I added the cream cheese and munster cheese.  There was no rhyme or reason to the cheese combination I used.  It was what I had in my fridge.  

I add the spinach once the cheese had melted into the sauce.

I removed the pan from the heat once the spinach had wilted down.

This is one of the more impressive dishes I have created without a recipe.  It is one of my favorite vegetable dishes on my blog too. 

The sauce was creamy and smooth.  There were so many enticing and savory flavors that combined into a appetizing dish.

The garlic and mustard were strong flavors while the nutmeg and hot sauce were more subtle.  I wouldn't change a think about this recipe.

If you make this, you'll enjoy it.