Pepperidge Farm® And Culinary Expert Gail Simmons Celebrate Summer With Warm Weather Recipes

NORWALK, Conn., June 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the first day of summer and the official start to the outdoor entertaining season when hosts and hostesses alike aim to impress their guests with original recipes.  That's why Gail Simmons, judge of Bravo's Emmy-winning show Top Chef, Special Projects Director at Food & Wine magazine, and long-time Puff Pastry fan has teamed up with Pepperidge Farm® to inspire innovative summertime menu selections from the pair's exclusive Puff Pastry recipe collection.

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The recipe collection features an assortment of simple yet impressive options – made with Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry - for entertaining, including three-step recipes and warm weather delights.

"Summer entertaining is as much about the food as it is about enjoying the long nights and warm weather," said culinary expert Gail Simmons. "When planning your menu, it's important to consider items that are not only easy to make, but easy to eat.  With the help of Puff Pastry, any culinary aficionado can create simple and delicious food that is perfect for any outdoor event.  One of my favorite dishes is the Thai Shrimp Spirals. This irresistible appetizer features marinated shrimp wrapped in tender puff pastry."

Thai Shrimp Spirals Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 limes, zested (approximately 2 teaspoons) and juiced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
• 5 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 20 fresh large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
• 1/2 package (17.3 ounces) Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets, thawed
• All-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons water, divided
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400^oF.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the zest and juice from both limes.  Stir in the garlic, ginger, and cilantro.  Divide the mixture into two mixing bowls.  In one bowl, add the one tablespoon of soy sauce and the shrimp. Toss to coat.  Allow to marinade for about 10 minutes.  Set aside the remaining mixture.

Meanwhile, unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface.  Roll the pastry into a 10-in square.  Cut into 20 strips, each about 1/2-inch wide.  Wrap one pastry strip around one shrimp, starting at one end of the shrimp, overlapping the pastry slightly to enclose the shrimp.  Repeat with the remaining pastry strips and shrimp. 

Skewer each wrapped shrimp with one 6-inch wooden skewer.  Place the skewered pastries onto 2 baking sheets.  Beat the egg and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl with a fork to make the egg wash.  Brush the pastries with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.

Bake until the pastries are golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Let the pastries cool on the baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. While the pastries are cooling, make the dipping sauce by whisking the reserved lime mixture with remaining 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon water. Serve the cooled pastries with the dipping sauce.

Gail's complete Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry recipe collection, as well as fun recipes, helpful how-to videos, special offers and Simple Elegance, the brand's monthly e-newsletter, is available at www.PuffPastry.com   Plus, consumers can access more than 350 other Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry appetizer, entrée and dessert recipes that make warm weather —and anytime—entertaining a breeze.

Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets and Shells are available in the freezer section at major supermarkets, grocery stores and mass merchandisers nationwide for a suggested retail price of $4.95 and $3.88 respectively. For additional warm weather recipes and more Puff Pastry news, visit www.PuffPastry.com.

About Pepperidge Farm
Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a leading provider of premium quality fresh bakery products, cookies, crackers, and frozen foods. Among the company's most popular products are Sausalito^® and Milano^® cookies, Goldfish^® and Baked Naturals^® crackers, frozen Puff Pastry, frozen garlic loaves and Texas toasts, and more than 50 varieties of fresh baked breads including Pepperidge Farm^® Swirl, Farmhouse and Whole Grain. The company added Ecce Panis^® gourmet artisan breads to its portfolio in 2009. Pepperidge Farm was founded in Connecticut in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin, an entrepreneurial homemaker who began baking fresh, all-natural bread for her allergy-afflicted son. The company is now a nationwide business with 9 manufacturing facilities and almost 5,000 employees. Pepperidge Farm has been part of Campbell Soup Company since 1961.

SOURCE Pepperidge Farm