Spinach Cheese Soup/Sauce

Jenn (the cookingest girl I know in SF, and she is from Buffalo) made this for me when she got her new pressure cooker. I didn't use a pressure cooker, but was able to cook the spinach to a close-enough pulp. I also changed the order of some of the steps. Here's what I did: stemmed & washed a package of fresh spinach. Dumped it into a deep pot with a heavy bottom, and cooked it over medium heat, with about a cup of stock. You can use more, or less, depending if you want a soup or a sauce. Meanwhile, I chopped some garlic & sauteed it in olive oil with basil and thyme in a cast iron skillet. Jenn said a bay leaf is key, but I didn't have one, and the result was still delicious. When the garlic was underway, I added two tablespoons of flour to make a roux, whisked it till the flour was toasted, then added a bit of half & half. I quickly pureed the now pulpy spinach, and stirred it into the roux, and dumped in cubes of cheese--maybe 1 1/4 cups--mix of peper jack and extra sharp cheddar. I whisked as the cheese melted. (While this could have been eaten in this exquisite state, I actually went a little further & fried, again in olive oil, a few fresh pierogie (potato and onion, in this case) and served them with the spinach-cheese sauce poured over.)