Gour-Maybe cooks...Bon Appetit's Lemon Honey Tart with Salted Shortbread Crust

Every now and again, I read a recipe that looks so delicious, I am in my car on the way to the store before I even finish reading it. Most of the time I am creating and adapting on my own, but when the genius minds of Bon Appetit magazine decided to do a WHOLE SECTION on salty desserts, they had me hooked. The recipe that stuck out to me was this amazing, vibrant  Lemon-Honey Tart with Salted Shortbread Crust. It didn't hurt that it's "citrus month" at my local grocery store, and I had access to all sorts of fabulous citrus fruit. I followed the recipe to the "t" and got great results. The only variation was using a scalloped tart pan rather than a smooth edge. Click here to read the recipe on their website. This tart is so bright and lemony, it's the perfect antidote to the grey skies and winter blues. I will definitely be using this crust recipe for a variety of tarts going forward. The shortbread is a nice alternative to the flaky tart crust that is my go-to. Hope you love it too!

Not Your Mama's Lasagna

Oh Lasagna, you are my casserole exception. Ok, there's ONE more exception - King Ranch Chicken Casserole - which we will get to later. But only these two! I love variety, so to get me to eat the same thing all week - it better be freaking good, and this lasagna has it all: cheesiness, meltiness, meatiness, spiciness. It's. Soo. Good. Now I know I am a fan of easy gourmet, and on Gour-Maybe, I try to keep the focus on simple ways to achieve amazing results, but this IS easy. If you set aside about 3 hours, you should be good, nothing skill-wise is required more than stirring and chopping and layering and you are done cooking for the week, so kick your feet up and watch Downton Abbey or The Bachelor (or in my case, both) - whatever floats your boat.   I serve mine with a classic homemade Caesar salad. One note - the seasoning that I have put in the recipe is a guideline and a starting place. Please adjust all of this to fit your palate - more spicy, less spicy. Do you LOVE sage? Add more! I won't take it personally. I made this Sunday, and I'm about to go dig in. So if you are in need of a great recipe for a week or a crowd, try this! Read all the details after the jump.

Easy Homemade Tartar Sauce

After coming back from Australia over the holidays, and being on a two week seafood bender, one thing stuck out - we were missing some sauce love! There was lots of aioli, but it was mostly bland - almost just a straight "mayo" as we'd call it,. One thing you can count on in the South when you order seafood is a good, flavorful cocktail sauce (if you want a good store-bought version, check THIS out), and a good tartar sauce. I have to say, I was missing that savory, zingy flavor. I mean I love mayo, but you can only eat so much! Because I'm a sucker for anything rich and delicious, I always have to have homemade tartar sauce with my otherwise "healthy" seafood. So I decided to make a batch to keep on hand for upcoming seafood needs. This couldn't be easier and takes about 10 minutes. I like a little garlic flavor, but you could easily omit garlic. You can do ahead and keep for about a week in the fridge. This recipe also doubles and triples easily. Read all about it, after the jump!

Mindblowing Lobster "Mac & Cheese"

Shells and vegetables after straining stock

lobster sauce thickened with heavy cream. try not to drink it.

lobster finishing it's cooking process in beurre monte

Ok, so who doesn't love macaroni and cheese? I don't think there's a bad way to make it, but since this is Gour-maybe, we are making blend of a traditional mac and cheese and a Thomas Keller mac and cheese interpretation. Let's start by saying it involves lobster. That you cook. In butter. Let's also say that the sauce base is so good, so lobstery (a word that should be invented just to describe this dish) we were eating it with spoons before forcing myself to keep cooking at stop eating. How did this recipe come about? My boyfriend is a traditional guy and loves mac and cheese, and as this was his birthday side, I thought I would try not to push it by making something too abstract. So I set out to make Keller's recipe a little less Keller and a little more me. I used shells instead of orzo, added additional white cheddar, chives and breadcrumbs, and spiced it up with a little bit of cayenne. I would never be so crazy as to say it's BETTER because I don't think you can do better than The French Laundry, but I will tell you that if you love lobster, cheese, butter and awesome sides, this is going to be tough to beat.