Shrimp Puffs

I told my friend Tami that I would post the recipe for these Shrimp Puffs (on the right side of the platter above) that I made for our Valentines gathering with the foodies. I'm finally able to check that off the list of things "to do".

I found the original recipe on epicurious.com, one of my favorite sites for recipe searches. It was from the November '04 issue of Gourmet magazine and they called them Mini Shrimp Cornets. I tweaked it a little bit and call them Shrimp Puffs....mostly because the process of fussing with them to turn them into cornets wasn't something I was remotely interested in doing. Here ya go Tam!

MINI SHRIMP PUFFS

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, I didn't bother with unsalted, used regular butter

1/4 c finely chopped onion

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, coarsly chopped...if they're too coarse it makes the puffs hard to fill so keep that in mind.

2 tablespoons med dry Sherry

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, I used 1/2 tablespoon dry tarragon because fresh was not available

1/2 teaspoon salt, I would cut this back next time..maybe even eliminate it.

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 17 1/4 ounce pkg. frozen puff pastry

all purpose flour for dusting

1 lg egg

1 tablespoon milk

parchment paper

Melt the butter in a skillet and saute the onion for a few minutes until opaque, do not brown. Transfer the cooked onion to a bowl to cool.

When onion is cool add chopped shrimp, Sherry, tarragon, salt and pepper - mix well.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the puff pastry to a 12 inch square. Cut the pastry into squares, I made them quite small because I wanted to make them into bite sized appetizers...the smaller they are the more challenging they are to make - next time I would cut them into 2 inch squares. I have made them larger and they're a lot easier to handle.

Working quickly so that the pastry doesn't dry out, put approx. 1 tsp (or more) of the onion/shrimp mixture in the middle of each square, fold the square over to make a triangle and press the edges closed. Try to get as much of the shrimp/onion mixture as you can into each puff so they're tasty...you don't want them to be skimpy! If you're concerned about the pastry drying out as you're filling them you can put a layer of plastic wrap over the pastry and top that with a damp towel. As you assemble the triangles, set the completed puffs on a cookie sheet that is covered with a layer of parchment paper. Whisk together the egg and milk to make an egg wash, gently brush the top of each triangle with the egg wash, this will give them a nice gold color when you bake them. I topped the egg washed puffs with a tiny bit of Italian Vignalta herbed salt, to kick up the flavor and make them look pretty. That's probably why they tasted overly salty to me, I would cut back the salt in the shrimp filling next time and still top them with the herbed salt.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 400 degrees. With a spatula gently lift off the parchment paper to platter and serve warm.

Note: You can make these up to three days ahead and freeze them. Assemble the triangles omitting the egg wash, freeze them in a single layer, once frozen transfer them to a airtight container. Do not thaw before brushing with egg wash, bake as directed.