Asparagus season is about to close. Technically the green or white stalks are available in grocery stores year-round, but the crop is at its best from February until June. Since we're right at the wire, we thought we'd close this installment of Saving Southern Food with an asparagus casserole recipe, even though the recipe Katrina Lewis submitted to our ongoing series calls for canned. When her grandmother served it, that was all that was available.

Atlanta chef and cookbook author Virginia Willis, a member of our Saving Southern Food chefs panel, tried it and pronounced it "a comfort food smash hit." But she also couldn't resist taking advantage of the widespread availability of fresh asparagus to refine the dish, using some lessons she learned in French cooking school.

LOUIE FAVORITE/AJC (ENLARGE)

Thelma Tate's Asparagus Casserole.

LOUIE FAVORITE/AJC (ENLARGE)

Virginia Willis' Chef-inspired Asparagus Gratin.

Family photo (ENLARGE)

Thelma Tate was a giver, according to her granddaughter.

Archive of restoration recipes Anne Quatrano Co-chef/owner of Bacchanalia, Quinones, Star Provisions and Floataway Cafe in Atlanta  Even ketchup was made from scratch  These deviled eggs were made with loving care  Green Congealed Salad is perfect comfort dessert for summer  This spice cake takes extra time, but it's worth it  'Extra special' folks got to eat asparagus casserole  This strawberry cake is well worth the fuss  Sad Cake will put a smile on your face  Mother has real talent for handling hot potatoes  In big family, 'you always had a dessert'

Here are both versions:

The contributor: Katrina Lewis, a schoolteacher who lives in Knoxville. The recipe was prepared by her grandmother, the late Thelma Tate, who lived in Knoxville but was an Elberton native.

The story: "My grandmother and my mother were the cooks in the family. I just shared the eating part. They tried to teach me to cook but I just wasn't all that interested. But my grandmother did teach me to garden. When she got to the point where she couldn't live by herself anymore, she moved in with me and my mother. I always said we were the 'golden girls.'

"My grandmother and I could work together in the garden out in the backyard all day. We had sweet potatoes, zucchini, green beans, onions, peas, tomatoes, peppers and all kinds of flowers. But the one thing she didn't grow was asparagus, and she used that to make one of her best recipes, and that was an asparagus casserole.

"Grandmother worked as a housekeeper, maid, surrogate mother and friend to Dr. Charles Smeltzer and his family here in Knoxville for 45 years or more. Now I don't know if Mrs. Smeltzer taught her this recipe or whether she got it from someone else, but my grandmother would make the casserole for them on special occasions.

"She was a big giver, even if it was a handful of tomatoes. Or she'd hand somebody a jar of chow chow at church. But you had to be extra special to get the asparagus casserole. I remember she fixed it for the principal at my school once and she'd make it for my mother on her birthday. But that was it, unless she made it for Dr. Smeltzer's family.

"When she made it, though, she would only use canned asparagus, at least as far as I knew. Like I said, I don't cook. But to this day I keep a garden. This year I have potatoes, onions, peas, okra and zucchini. And what I plant, I give it away. Or to my mother to cook."

Thelma Tate's Asparagus Casserole
4 to 6 servings

Hands on: 20 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes

Cookbook author and chef Virginia Willis comments that this would have definitely been "company food" and not your ordinary casserole. Recipe tasters all agreed this was a comfort food smash hit — the marriage of soft canned asparagus (not remotely resembling fresh in taste or texture), topped with hard-cooked egg and smothered in cheese sauce is essentially adult pablum, and deliciously so.

6 eggs
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 (19-ounce) cans asparagus, drained
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add water to cover eggs by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once at a boil, cover and remove from heat. Set aside for 10 minutes. Drain and chill under cold running water. Peel and slice eggs. Set aside.

Combine the water and flour in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Place the milk in a medium saucepan. Add the water-flour mixture to the milk and stir to combine. Turn the heat to medium high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 7 minutes. Add cheese and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm over low heat.

In a large casserole dish, place one layer of asparagus. Top with 3 sliced eggs. Pour half the cheese sauce over eggs and asparagus. Top with another layer of asparagus and remaining sliced eggs. Pour remaining sauce over this layer. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top of the mixture. Dot top with butter. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Per serving (based on 4): 419 calories (percent of calories from fat, 62), 24 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 29 grams fat (17 grams saturated), 93 milligrams cholesterol, 254 milligrams sodium.

Virginia Willis' Chef-inspired Asparagus Gratin
4 to 6 servings

Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Chef Virginia Willis created this version, a classic gratin utilizing French techniques. She uses a Sauce Mornay, which is simply a bechamel sauce with the addition of cheese. Low- fat or reduced-fat may be used, but to gild the gratin in what Willis calls "glorious excess," use whole milk and make sure to add the optional egg yolks to the sauce for a truly rich and indulgent version.

1 cup milk
1 bay leaf, preferably fresh
6 black peppercorns
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 pound medium asparagus
1/2 cup water
Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
2 egg yolks, optional
1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the milk, bay leaf, peppercorns and thyme in a small saucepan. Bring to a low simmer over medium heat. Once small bubbles appear around the edges of the saucepan, remove from the heat and let the flavors infuse, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, trim the tough woody ends from the asparagus. Heat the water over high heat in a medium saucepan. Add asparagus and season with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Cover and cook until just tender and bright green, about 3 minutes. Remove the asparagus to a medium baking dish.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute or 2 until foaming to make a roux. Strain the steeped milk into the roux and bring to a boil over high heat, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens. Season with freshly grated nutmeg, salt and freshly ground white pepper.

Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 2 minutes. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the cheese until it melts. Place the yolks in a small bowl. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the sauce into the eggs and stir to combine. (This is called tempering and will help prevent the eggs from cooking in the heat of the sauce.)

Return the tempered yolks to the larger saucepan of sauce and stir to combine. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Spoon the sauce over the asparagus in the baking dish. Top sauce with bread crumbs and dot with remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake until the bread crumbs are pale golden, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Per serving (based on 4): 441 calories (percent of calories from fat, 51), 28 grams protein, 28 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 25 grams fat (13 grams saturated), 372 milligrams cholesterol, 1,222 milligrams sodium.