Regime

After several weeks of rampant excess, I suggested to my co-revellers that because we were going to have petit sale, a porky lentil dish, for lunch tomorrow that we should have a light dinner with refreshing glasses of water as the beverage. In principle, everyone was in agreement.

It’s the asparagus season and I bought a kilo (2 lbs) of the white variety to roast with herbs and shallots. Le Parret did mention that this was not the traditional French way to prepare asparagus. I patiently (not) told him that of course it wasn’t the French way because I was American and he had to expect that it would be different, and that France doesn’t have a patent on food preparation. The wine-less meal probably had our nerves a little bit on edge :D

Anyway, I served the asparagus with a warm lemon sauce, fresh baguette and butter. M. Parret thought they were very good, if different, and had 3 helpings. I counted ;)

For dessert we had succulent, sweet mandarins from Spain. Yes he asked, but deciding to let sleeping Americans lie, peeled his mandarin and ate it without a murmur.

This was a delicious, fresh and healthy meal. I don’t know why we looked so sad :D

White Asparagus with Lemon Sauce

2 lbs white asparagus, trimmed and peeled

3 small shallots, thinly sliced

2 tbsp mixed fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, rosemary)

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup white wine

1/2 cup cream

1 1/2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

In a large bowl, mix the asparagus, shallots, herbs, salt and olive oil together. Preheat the oven to 450 F, place the asparagus mixture in a roasting pan and roast for about 30 minutes, stirring about 3 times.

In the meantime, make the sauce: Boil the wine down to half the volume, then add the cream and cook, stirring until the liquid is thick. Stir in the butter, lemon juice and parsley, continuing to cook for 1-2 minutes.

Place the asparagus on individual plates and pass the sauce.