“The black sesames have now
been toasted and cooled. So I’m going to
add them in this. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll do it over again.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Hey, I’m Sue Li. I’m here in the New York Times
cooking studio to make you My matcha and black
sesame shortbread. Why do I like to be a
part of Cookie Week? I love the attention. Thank you. But I also really
like making cookies. I do this a lot,
just in general. I’m here to make you a
shortbread once again, Just like I did the year
before and the year before That. Part of the reason is
that shortbread dough Is very forgiving when it
comes to making designs. So matcha and black sesame
go really well together. There’s a bit of bitterness
from the matcha and a little Bit of nuttiness from
the black sesame. I think the colors
are great together. And so obviously,
the flavor is going To be great together too. O.K., it’s very easy. You just make the dough, pat
it together, and you roll it. You’ll see. Let’s make the matcha dough. So you want your
butter to be soft. I think this is a good
indication of how soft it is. You take your finger
and you press it down. It makes an indentation.
Just dump it into your mixer. You want to cream it with
the sugar until it’s fluffy, Which is roughly
three minutes. I feel like everybody should
just be really good at making Shortbreads by now if
you’ve been following along. No? Well, this time,
I toned it down. This time, it’s just
a little magnetic. I’m trying to be a
little more reserved. I am 42 now. Can you believe? I cannot believe I’m
getting older like that. We’re going to scrape the
sides of the bowl and add The egg yolk. O.K. So we’re going
to make our dry mix, Which is 2
tablespoons of matcha. 2 tablespoons might seem
like it’s a lot of matcha. But it really helps
with the color And make it really look
saturated and also amplify The flavor a bit more. And salt — it’s
a large pinch. I don’t think the type of
matcha you use matters. You can use any
matcha you want. Also, don’t use a
super fancy matcha. Save that for drinking. And start beating on low. I just paddle it for maybe
20 seconds to 30 seconds Until it comes together. You don’t really want
to overbeat your dough. So you just want to take your
spatula and mix it together. Scrape it onto a
piece of parchment. I just use my hands. And I pat it into a
roughly 6-inch square. It doesn’t have to be exact.
We’re not taking out
rulers this time. And everything’s going to
be O.K. I didn’t center it. And it’s driving me
crazy a little bit. And now, I’m going to
put this in the fridge. And I’ll see you
in two minutes. So now, we’re going to make
the black sesame dough. First, you need to toast
your black sesame seeds. Spread them into
an even layer. We’re going to toast the black
sesame seeds until they are Fragrant and toasty, which
is roughly seven to eight Minutes. I do recommend that you buy
and toast the black sesame Seeds yourself. I think it’s just nuttier. It’s strong. It tastes stronger to me. Also, you don’t know when they
toasted the black sesame seeds When they’re pre-toasted. I don’t know how long
it’s been on the shelves. O.K., it’s now
been eight minutes. They’re very fragrant,
delicious, toasty. And we’re going to let it
cool for about five minutes, 5 to 10 minutes before we
put it in the food processor. So you don’t want them to be
hot when you put them in here. Because hot seeds or
nuts make the mixture Become a paste rather than
granules, if that makes sense. I’m not trying to make tahini. I’m trying to make
broken-up sesame seeds. So it’s really important
that they’re cooled down. And I’m going to pulse it
with the sugar and the salt. We’re going to do long
pulses, three to four seconds, Maybe 20 to 30 times. If you lose count, it’s O.K.
I’ll just show you what I want It to look like.
So let me take a look. I’ve lost count. So you basically want it
to look like wet sand. And I think the visual
indicator is a very dark tweed Blazer. Don’t get so close. You’re going to see my pores. We’re going to go back into
the stand mixer where we just Made the matcha dough. I didn’t wash anything. The black sesame sugar
mix is already so dark, You’re going to
end up seeing gray. Add the butter that is soft. So right now, you’ll
see that it’s dark gray. Once it emulsifies
with the butter, It’s going to become a
light gray, a heather gray. I think this is about right. So I didn’t add an egg yolk
in this dough because I think That the seeds
are quite fatty. I did that on the other doughs
to compensate for the fact That there’s added oils
from the seeds here.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “So here’s the matcha
dough we just made. I’m just going to center the
dough because it was bothering Me that it wasn’t centered. We all have control issues. We’re going to pat this
onto the matcha dough, Make a fairly even layer. I gave you a measurement
in the recipe — 6 inches. It’s O.K. You don’t really
have to follow 6 inches. You don’t need to
get a ruler out. Everything’s going to be fine. And then you’re going to
chill it for 20 to 30 minutes.
So we’re going to cut this
dough into four even strips. Another cut here. And then you want to alternate
your dough like this. So the colors are sesame,
matcha, sesame, matcha. I’m now going to take
out another clean piece Of parchment and
roll this dough. And it just appears. And then we’re just
going to pat it together. And I use my parchment
to help me roll it. I use it to press it down. Now, I’m going to
take out a ruler. It doesn’t have to be exact. We’re not taking out
rulers this time. I take the parchment and I’m
going to use it to help me Make a log. And then just keep rolling. And it helps you make
a nicer round log. People around me — Do you see the urge? I really want to
pick up a ruler. I can’t help it. You should just — I won’t do it. I’m not doing it. I’m not doing it. This is when I
think you do need To chill your shortbread
right before you bake. They should not be super warm. Because you want them
to hold their shape And not spread out. These are cookie logs that
Rebecca prepped earlier, A couple days ago. Because truly, you do want
your doughs to be chilled. And we simply have
not had enough time
To chill the
doughs that I made. And she wrapped them
in plastic wrap, Which is also great. And you can do
this to roll it. It’s very satisfying. Remember year 1 when I
made the chocolate orange Pistachio shortbread? I was like, cut
it when it’s cold. I take it back. You want it to temper
for just a little bit So you have cleaner cuts. If you cut it when it’s cold,
it just makes jagged edges. I’m so sorry about that. So we’re going to cut this log
into roughly 1/4-inch-thick Slices. If you feel like your dough
isn’t the perfect smooth Round, because obviously,
it’s flattened on this edge Because I’m putting
pressure on it, Just put it between your
hands and reshape it. Totally fine. No one’s ever going to know.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Let’s go bake some cookies. You bake the cookies
for 13 to 15 minutes. So the cookies are done. I’m going to use the –” “What is that?” “I don’t know. It’s what I found. Now, we’re going to taste it. And you know what? It’s not even just coming
up with a recipe that’s The pressure, it’s the eating
on camera that’s the pressure. O.K., I’m going to do it.
It’s really good. I just don’t want you guys
to watch me bite into food. But O.K. It’s very nice. It’s very subtle because
it’s not too sweet. But it has all the
flavor components That I think you’ll
really like. The dough itself frozen
can last for three months. Plan ahead of time. Make all the doughs ahead. If you can make
them ahead, great. Spend a whole
day making dough. And then spend a whole day
baking so you can really Be efficient with your time. Wow, look at that. This is for me?” “Yeah, this is for you.” “Thank you. I forgot the most
important tip. Go to the New York
Times Cooking page To look for your
cookie recipes. Do I have to eat
it on camera?” “You absolutely do not.” “Cool. Thank you, guys. Happy holidays.” [MUSIC PLAYING]
Have you ever wondered why most of the Vinaigrettes in the grocery store are made with 10, 20, sometimes even almost 30 ingredients? I remember growing up in Provence watching my mother whipping vinaigrettes before every single dinner. She would mix in a giant bowl, delicious extra virgin olive oil, a robust aged vinegar (the flavor would depend on the main dish), sea salt and pepper and voila! I decided to do the same thing for my family and friends more than 20 years ago here in this beautiful country. And Provence Kitchen® was born. Stay tune for more articles and wonderful family recipes..
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