I would like to know who the first person was that thought soy sauce, garlic, and apricot preserves were a good combination. Pretty daring, I think. If you watch the cooking competitions on TV, the judges often comment on strange flavor combinations. They whisper about it between themselves. It's usually a roaring success or a crash and burn disaster.
In the Domestic Diva Mysteries, Natasha has some major issues with flavor combinations. In fact, in THE DIVA STEALS A CHOCOLATE KISS, she serves poor Mars a breakfast of eggs poached in grapefuit juice served over sea bass with a peanut sauce. And people wonder why he keeps going over to Sophie's house!
As it happens, I'm very partial to the combination of soy sauce, garlic, and apricot preserves. They are the star ingredients in Dead Man's Bones. The title might sound gross, but it's a favorite recipe around here. And it's great on the grill in the summertime. So when I was casting around for a recipe using shrimp and crescent rolls, this one stopped me in my tracks. I had to try it.
It's actually an appetizer. I found it on a blog called You're My Favorite Today. She calls them Shrimp Puffs and credits Pillsbury with the recipe. I was afraid they might be too wintery since everyone is starting to cook out, but I think they would make a nice appetizer to pass around while the steaks are cooking.
They're super easy to make. The most time consuming part is just cleaning and peeling the shrimp. The rest is a snap. I didn't measure the amount of garlic. I just minced one garlic clove. And I didn't have cream cheese spread on hand, just regular cream cheese. The spread might be easier to spread but I found the regular cream cheese worked just fine. Unless you have a sweet tooth, don't go too heavy on the apricot preserves. But don't skip it, either, because it adds a beautiful glistening glaze.
I bought one pound of large Carolina shrimp. This recipe only uses 16 shrimp, so I cooked the rest. There were only about eight extras. If you have everything but the sesame seeds, you can omit them. I tried it both ways. They do look prettier with the sesame seeds but the taste is the same without them. Oh, and for easy clean-up, I unrolled the crescent roll dough on waxed paper and did the assembly there.
Pillsbury's Famous Shrimp Puffs
by Pillsbury, via You're My Favorite Today
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon (or one small clove) finely minced garlic
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
16 large uncooked shrimp
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/3 cup apricot preserves
Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mash the cream cheese with the soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Set aside. Peel and clean the shrimp.
Unroll the crescent roll dough but leave it intact. There will be eight pieces. Slice each piece lengthwise through the middle so that you have sixteen pieces. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the dough. Place a shrimp on the wide end of each piece and roll it up. Dip in the sesame seeds and place on the parchment paper. Bake 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, microwave the preserves for 20 seconds. When the shrimp puffs come out of the oven, brush with the preserves.
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| Unroll the crescent roll dough but do not separate. Slice each piece lengthwise. |
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| Spread with cream cheese mixture. |
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| Roll one shrimp into each piece starting at the wide end. |
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| Ready to bake. |
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| Pretty apricot preserve glaze. |
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Did I mention that I'm giving away a copy of THE DIVA STEALS A CHOCOLATE KISS? To enter, just leave a comment (hint: click on the word COMMENTS in the line under the Pin It button). Don't forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.
Good luck!
