My work colleagues and I have a monthly alphabet themed potluck lunch. Working our way backwards through the alphabet, we each make something that features that letter. This month, I stepped up to the "L" potluck challenge by making Louisiana Langoustine Etouffee using my friend, Joe's, recipe except no shrimp or crawfish, just langoustine. Langoustine? Yes! It's a sort of cousin to the lobster, shrimp and crawfish...looking almost like a cross between lobster and crawfish or a gigantic shrimp with claws.
I didn't stop there!
I had about 5-6 extra lemons around so I decided to proceed with a second "L" potluck dish and personal indulgent favorite: lemon curd. Yum! I think most chocoholics might pass on a chocolate dessert if it boiled down to that or a lemon based dessert, specifically involving lemon curd. Okay, well, maybe not, but I would!
I usually use Alton Brown or David Lebovitz's recipe but this time I tried out Barefoot Contessa's recipe. After all, Ina Garten is the Northern Yin to Paula Deen's Southern Yang and lemon curd certainly requires butter to be super creamy and smooth.
To accompany the lemon curd, I quickly made up a "shortbread" style butter cookie that I'm only now wishing I wrote down when I was in mad-scientist kitchen mode. It went something like this:
Combine 4 T butter and 1/4 C brown sugar in a food processor and blend until creamy (or use a mixer). To this, add 2 T honey, a pinch of salt, 1/3 C almond flour, 1/4 cup regular flour (though I think all of it can be almond flour), 1/4 C unsweetened flaked coconut and 1 T cornstarch. Process until a soft but slightly sticky dough forms. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, form into a log (mine was rectangular) and freeze for about 15-30 min until hardened. Slice into 1/4 inch thick cookies and bake at 300 F for about 15 min or until light golden brown.
