Asparagus with lemon sauce

I hope everyone is having a great first weekend of spring. My body decided to celebrate the new season by catching an awful sore throat/ear ache —a great new beginning if you ask me. Yesterday I thought I was feeling better and made the tragic mistake of telling everyone so. Needless to say I woke up in the middle of the night with a worse pain in my throat than the previous two days. So much for feeling better.

Regardless of that, I've decided to celebrate the arrival of spring with a wonderful asparagus recipe, courtesy of my friend Emily of EZ Recipes. Emily and I met in 2001 on sunny Bonita Beach, Florida. I will make a very long story short: we were drinking at my friend Kevin's house and I am pretty sure I was doing something immensely goofy which prompted Emily to ask Kevin "Where have you found her?" (I'm sure she meant it in the nicest of ways, right Emily?) To which Kevin replied: "In the dumpster, by the beach." It wasn't entirely true —I swear I don't normally go through the trash in random public places, but I had inadvertently dropped my ring in said trash can that day and was trying to retrieve it— but it made all of us laugh and created some sort of garbage related bond (the inside jokes during that spring of 2001 were all trash themed, as you might imagine).

Nine years later, we still keep in touch, mainly thanks to technology and, lately, thanks to our blogs. When I met her, Emily didn't cook. Not that I can remember anyways. I remember myself cooking at her place and her making the drinks. And I remember us going out to eat tons of junk food (ahhh, to be 21 again!). But I never saw her at the stove. So it was really a pleasant surprise to find out that now she enjoys cooking and wants to share recipes with the rest of the world. This particular one, asparagus with lemon sauce, is very yummy and it's a good variation on the usual steamed or grilled asparagus. I only added a little grated cheese to her recipe  because "someone" in this household has to have cheese on his asparagus (hint: it's not me. And it's not the cat.)

ASPARAGUS WITH LEMON SAUCE

From EZ Recipes

1 1/2 lbs. asparagus, tough ends removed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 egg yolks
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook the asparagus in a tall pan of lightly salted, boiling water for 7- 10 minutes.

Drain well and arrange the asparagus on a serving dish.  Reserve about 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Blend the cornstarch with the cooled, reserved cooking liquid and place in a small pan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook over a gentle heat.  Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Beat the eggs yolks thoroughly with the lemon juice and gradually stir into the sauce.  Cook over a very low heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce is fairly thick.  Be careful not to overheat the sauce or it may curdle.  As soon as the sauce has thickened, remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring for 1 minute.  Taste and season with salt.  Leave the sauce to cool slightly.

Stir the cooled sauce, then pour over the asparagus.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. Sprinkle with cheese if you must.