There was a period of time, about 5 years ago, when my sil and me were obsessed with making sablés. Thankfully our families were also totally in love with them. The buttery goodness, the crumbly, sand-like texture; we couldn't get enough of it. These delicate, French butter cookies were delicious plain, but it wasn't long before we started experimenting with different flavours. Out of which, our favourite are the Matcha sablés and French Earl Grey sablés.
Since I've always love sweet and savoury combinations, I started dabbling with various, "weird and quirky" flavours. Hae bee hiam (spicy dried shrimp) sablé was one of them, created for Chinese New Year back then. I thought it tastes unique and funky in a good way, but it received mixed reviews from families and friends. Thereafter, I wanted to make laksa-flavoured ones, way before Cookie Museum came up with theirs, but I'm always too lazy to prepare the laksa paste from scratch. So you know... eventually I dismissed the idea.
That's how when I finally got the chance to work with premix laksa paste, Laksa Sablé was the first thing that popped into my mind!
Laksa Sablés (makes about 60-70 5cm fluted rounds)
250g Butter, unsalted
200g Icing sugar
100g Premix Laksa Paste
1 Egg
500g Plain flour
50g Dried shrimp, blitzed
7g Chopped Laksa leaves
Optional
1 Egg
1 tbsp Water
small handful of Sakura Ebi
Preheat oven to 175°C
1. Using a paddle attachment, cream butter and icing sugar till mixture is soft and creamy.
2. Add in the premix laksa paste, mix till combine before adding the egg and mix till mixture is homogeneous.
3. Stir the blitzed dried shrimp and chopped laksa leaves through the plain flour and mix evenly.
4. Add the flour mixture to the laksa butter mixture in a few additions and mix till the dough comes together.
5. Wrap the dough with cling wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least 30mins.
6. On a lightly flour surface, roll out dough to a thickness of about 4mm. Using a 5cm fluted round cookie cutter or other desired shapes, punch out dough and lay them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Optional
7. Beat together the egg and water to form an egg wash and strain it. Lightly brush the sablés with egg wash and place a few sakura ebi on top.
8. Bake 16-20mins, turning halfway, till sablés has browned slightly. Cool completely on wired rack before storing in airtight container.
If you like this recipe and would like to share it, please link to this blog post with its original contents. All recipes are created by me (unless otherwise stated) and require a lot of effort and time to craft. Crediting back is the biggest form of encouragement for me! Thank you! =)
Thoughts: These sablés tasted really good! It wasn't too huge of a surprise for me since I so love the hae bee hiam sablés back then. The main difference is the lovely aromatics that perfumes the sablés. For that, do choose a good premix and fresh laksa leaves.
Although there are still some people who finds it weird, u know... laksa flavour in a cookie... a sweet, savoury and spicy cookie... but it works for me, and I simply love it!
Thanks to our hot and humid climate, I would suggest dividing the dough into a few portions and work with a small amount each time while keeping the remaining chilled. The dough softens pretty fast and this will help keep the dough manageable. Regardless, I still run into the issue of overworking the dough on the subsequent roll outs. I guess this is more or less inevitable if I want to cut out the traditional fluted sablé shape.
My egg wash didn't turn out as pretty as they should be, and the harsh brush marks can be clearly seen in this photo. Perhaps using a non-silicone brush will do the trick next time. Let me know if doing that work out for you guys, otherwise you can leave it out too.
The sablés will last up to a week in an airtight container while the raw dough can keep for as long as 3 months in the freezer.
Try these Laksa sablés and share with us your yummy creations on facebook or tag @whattobaketoday on instagram!
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Lamb racks are not commonly used in our Southeast Asian, Chinese cuisine and because of this unfamiliarity, many of us might be slightly intimidated by it. The situation is made worse when cooking shows typically portray lamb rack as an atas (expensive, high end) ingredient which is tedious to work with and more than often, a complex recipe to cook it with.
Living in Australia made me realised that lamb racks are actually fairly straightforward to prepare; they can be further portioned into lamb chops to make them even more manageable. Like a good cut of steak, a good lamb chop doesn't require too much effort and are definitely suitable for a casual dining setting like an Aussie backyard barbie. With that in mind, I've put together this Japanese flavours inspired recipe that washes down very nicely with a couple of beers.
And with these beautiful New Zealand lamb racks from Pure South, things are even easier! The good people at Pure South frenched the racks before vacuum-packing them, saving me the time and hassle of doing it so. And by vacuum-packing, not only does it retains the quality of the free range, grass-fed meat, it is more hygienic and extends the average shelf life significantly with its oxygen-void environment that limits bacterial growth!
Honey Miso-Glazed Lamb Chop "Lollipops"
2 rack of lamb, frenched, portioned and trimmed if desired
Total bone-in, fats on weight= 920g
Marinade
30g White Miso
50g Honey
15g Mirin
15g Brown Sugar
15g Vegetable oil
8g Ginger, grated, about 1" thumb-sized
10g Garlic, grated, about 3 medium-sized cloves
Sauce
100g Water (adjust to preferred consistency)
15g Brown Sugar (adjust to taste)
optional:
5g Chili powder (adjust to taste)
1. Mix together the ingredients for the marinade and marinate the chops for at least 1 hour. If your chops are thicker than 1", let them come to room temperature before cooking.
2. In a frying pan, over med-high heat, lay the chops, fat side down till fat is rendered and has caramelised (skip this step if fats have been removed).
3. Then cook each side for about 1-2.5mins depending on the preferred doneness and how thick the chops are.
4. Remove the chops from pan. Cover with a piece of aluminium foil and rest for 5mins.
5. While the chops are resting, in the same frying pan, add water, brown sugar and chili powder (if using), adjust to taste accordingly. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce till it has thicken slightly.
6. Drizzle sauce over lamb chops, garnish with spring onion and sesame seeds and serve.
If you like this recipe and would like to share it, please link to this blog post with its original contents. All recipes are created by me (unless otherwise stated) and require a lot of effort and time to craft. Crediting back is the biggest form of encouragement for me! Thank you! =)
Thoughts: Honey Miso is a combination I put together for a corn on the cob recipe a few months ago. It's sweet and savoury and slightly nutty, a combination that's super easy to fall in love with. When we were eating the corncob with our hands, gnawing on it, licking the sticky sauce off our fingers, it made me want to reach out for a glass of beer. 🍺 So when I was conceptualising a recipe for lamb rack, wanting to create a dish that's easy to cook, with crowd-pleasing flavours and suitable for a casual setting, "Honey Miso" pops up straight away and I knew we had a winner because it's gonna be a beer-friendly dish!
The sticky, sweet and savoury sauce, holding the lamb chop in one hand with beer in the other, then tearing a huge chunk of meat off with my teeth. There's something primeval about this experience that so satisfy the carnivorous self in me. This, to me, makes a perfect beer food... Okay, maybe throw in a side of fries/chips/frites, I'll never say no to that too. 😁
Compared to mutton, lamb is milder in flavour, especially so for Pure South's stress-free and hormones-free meat; it doesn't have the strong gamey smell and taste which some people find hard to stomach. That's why good quality cuts of lamb are essential to creating a successful lamb dish. Like mentioned earlier, good quality meats doesn't require much effort and will be delicious on their own. That is half the battle won.
Lamb is a tender piece of meat to work with, hence many chefs recommends serving them medium-rare. That would be my suggestion as well, but knowing our culture, you may chose to cook them all the way through, especially when serving the very young and the elderly. Because even so, they will still remain tender.
Pure South's lamb racks are fairly lean with just a teeny bit of fat which tastes so good after caramelisation. But of course, it can be easily removed for the health-conscious guests. If you're not sure of everyone's preferences, I would suggest doing what I did here, removed the fats for 1 rack and leave it on for the other. Then have them served on different plates, so guests can pick what they want and everyone will be happy!
Beer wise, a fruity pale ale or a lighter lager that's easier on the palate will pair pretty well. Although personally, I'll opt for a dark, malty, almost stout-like ale to balance out the sweetness in the glaze, but my preference has always skew towards dark ale. If any beer enthusiasts try this recipe, do let me know which beer type pairs the best!
So there we have it. A simple recipe with high-quality lamb chops that requires minimal effort and even less time if they are hitting the barbie. And definitely not forgetting to mention that they washes so well with beer. These meat "lollipops" are bound to be a great hit at your next social gathering, kids and adults alike!
Those in Singapore are a fortunate lot. You can now order directly from puresouth.asia and have them delivered straight to your home! Remember to enter the promo code "FARMFRESH2U" enjoy a 10% discount till 31st July 2017! Also remember to like Pure South's facebook page for more lamb racks recipes. Soon you'll find yourself agreeing with what I've mentioned - tender, no gamey smell and super tasty. 1 rack is simply not enough. Try this dish out and share with us your yummy creations or your favourite beer pairing via facebook, or tag @whattobaketoday on instagram!
This is a compensated post in collaboration with Pure South in return for recipe development and my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own and are in no way influenced by the company and/or its affiliates.
All blog posts and photos are properties of WhatToBakeToday (unless otherwise stated). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of these contents, whole or part thereof, without express or written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to WhatToBakeToday with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
