New Weekly Article - Making the Ordinary Extraordinary || Home By Design || Kim Kroner || (800) 961-1328

fried_quail.tif | Selling your home during fall | Kim Kroner | Kim Kroner NVAR Multi-Million Dollar Top Producer

deviled_eggs.tif |Selling your home during fall | Kim Kroner | Kim Kroner NVAR Multi-Million Dollar Top Producer

bourbon_sundae.tif | Selling your home during fall | Kim Kroner | Kim Kroner NVAR Multi-Million Dollar Top Producer

Beet-Soaked Deviled Eggs

These deviled eggs are a showstopper. Colored pink by the leftover brine of pickled roasted beets, they're filled with fluffy egg yolks mashed smooth with a little bit of quality canned albacore tuna. You could incorporate all sorts of smoked or preserved fish here—smoked tuna, salt cod, smoked salmon—but you'll notice I only make a minor addition so the briny fish flavor is intact, yet subtle. I also want to taste the beautiful flavor of sulfurous, creamy egg yolks. Your choice of garnish could likewise be diverse. One of my favorites is smoked paprika.

Makes 24

12 large eggs

Brine from a 15-ounce can of pickled roasted beets

¾ cup + 3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon canned or smoked tuna

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon smoked paprika, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

¼ teaspoon salt + more for boiling water

Fill a medium saucepan with water and set it to boil on high heat. Add a few good pinches of salt. Maintaining a boil, and with a wide spoon, very gently lower the eggs into the pot. Set your timer for exactly 13 minutes and allow to cook at a rolling boil. Meanwhile, prepare a medium bowl with ice water.

Once the timer has buzzed, drain the eggs and lower them into the bowl of ice water to shock. Leave them to sit in the ice water until cold, about 7 minutes or so. To peel eggs, tap the flatter end first, finding the air bubble, then continue to peel under a thin stream of running cold water. You can do this without the running water, but it simultaneously quickens and cleans the process.

Add the strained pickled beet juice to a wide bowl. Submerge the whole peeled eggs and allow them to rest for about 1 to 2 hours, depending on the depth of color you prefer. One hour will brightly color the outside edges, leaving the inner bright white. Two hours will deeply color the white throughout. Make sure to gently move the soaking eggs around a bit in the brine to avoid white spots from eggs touching one another.

Once the eggs are dyed, add the mayo and tuna to a medium bowl. Mash with a fork until the tuna is fully incorporated and broken down to a smooth paste. Scoop the yolks from the pink whites and add these too, along with the mustard, smoked paprika, vinegar, and salt. Again, mash with your fork until soft and smooth. If your mixture is not smooth enough, push through a fine mesh strainer. Season to taste with more salt and smoked paprika.

Spoon or pipe the creamy yolk mixture into each egg half and garnish with more smoked paprika.

Grilled Green Beans

Green beans often appear in a variety of delicious preparations throughout the year: creamy green bean casserole; steamed with toasted almonds; roasted with bacon and onion, or tossed in basil pesto pasta. But during the late summer harvest when entangled, bright green piles of skinny, pole beans are presented, and their seasonal beauty begs for a new twist on our old, go-to recipes. I've found a crave-worthy solution in grilled green beans. The simple act of grilling can transform a green bean into something wonderfully new. Be warned; it takes a bit of patience. The beans must collapse and develop a dark char, but I guarantee they will turn your dinner guests into green bean fiends. I’m confident these beans will disappear quickly from the platter alone, but they are also delicious with a dipping sauce. Try blending mayonnaise with a couple of anchovy fillets and mustard, garlic, capers, and olive oil to taste.

Serves 4 to 6

1 pound fresh green beans, ends snapped

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon fennel pollen

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Marinate for at least one hour in the refrigerator.

Heat the grill or grill pan to medium-high. Add a single layer of green beans across grate. Turn beans occasionally, charring on all sides. Cook until green beans have dark grill marks and start to collapse. Serve immediately.

Buttermilk Fried Quail

I consider fried chicken quintessential summer food. I’d even risk burning the roof of my mouth for that piping hot first bite. The crispy crust and dark meat are irresistible. So, what if we could exaggerate that part of the experience? I’ll let you in on a little secret: we can! And quail is the answer. An entirely dark meat bird, quail’s small size increases the surface area of the crunch and its quick fry time means little risk of meat drying out while it cooks through. Why mess with a classic? For a new classic, of course.

Serves 2 to 4

Wet brine:

4 semi-boneless whole quail

1½ cups buttermilk

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

Dry Coating:

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon cayenne

16 tablespoons shortening

kosher salt

Pat quail dry and place in a large bowl or zip-top plastic bag with buttermilk, salt, pepper, and paprika. Turn gently to coat quail and arrange so quail is submerged in mixture. If mixed in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

Mix dry ingredients together and place in a paper bag or shallow bowl. Remove one quail at a time from the refrigerator; shake off excess buttermilk and place the quail in paper bag with flour. Shake to coat and then place each quail on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature, uncovered.

Heat shortening in a large cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed saucepan. Shortening should be very hot and flour should sizzle when added to pan. Carefully lower quail into melted shortening (now oil); cook about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove quail and drain on a wire rack over a paper towel–lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt while still warm. Serve with sweet pickles, if desired.

Lemony Dill Potato Salad

Most every American grew up eating potato salad, regardless of geography. And in most cases, there was little deviation from the standard: egg and mayonnaise-laden boiled potatoes with sweet pickle, celery, parsley, and oftentimes bacon. It’s a solid classic. But this version is decidedly different, possibly blasphemous, and totally delicious. This is a potato salad I admire for its sheer simplicity. I like a dressing that is just creamy enough to coat—never gloppy. The potatoes, which are the focal point, aren’t overwhelmed, but instead lightened and brightened by the soured cream, fresh lemon juice, and zest. The dill adds a perfect earthy counter balance.

Serves 4

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons crème fraîche

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

¼ cup grated raw onion

1 teaspoon fresh dill

kosher salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring to a simmer and cook to fork-tender; drain and briefly run under cold water to cool. Drain and cut into bite size pieces.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Gently fold in chopped potatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

Bourbon Bananas with Ice Cream and Smoked Sea Salt

Created in 1951 at Brennan's Restaurant in New Orleans, Bananas Foster was developed by Chef Paul Blange for Richard Foster, a frequent customer and member of the New Orleans Crime Commission. Often a tableside performance with flaming alcohol, this showy dessert quickly became a favorite in steakhouses across the country. The days of flambéed desserts for the sake of showbiz (think Cherries Jubilee, Crepes Suzette, Bombe Alaska) may have passed, but our penchant for tender bananas bathed in warm caramelized sugar and served over rich ice cream has not. A plain banana split simply pales in comparison. Now, more than sixty years after the dessert’s origin, I've updated it with an alternative alcohol and skipped the fiery spectacle, but the one ingredient that reinvents this classic is smoked salt. The traditional flavors remain, but the new smokey nuances play off the nutty sugar and hints of vanilla in oaky bourbon. And with the subtle crunch of flaky sea salt, this divine end to a meal is a recipe worth revisiting.

Serves 2

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 bananas, sliced into quarters lengthwise

2 tablespoons bourbon

2 scoops vanilla ice cream

smoked sea salt

Heat butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and vanilla and whisk to dissolve. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until just bubbling. Add bananas and gently turn to coat, cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Add bourbon and cook, simmering for another 2 minutes, until syrup thickens and bananas are warmed through. Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of smoked sea salt.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2013

Simple Dishes Made Special

Written and Photographed by Brenda Crow

The more I cook, the more I conclude that simplicity really is a gorgeous understatement on the plate. I’m hardly a cook who seeks out fifteen-minute dinners, eats replacement meals, or thrives on the easy-as-pie approach. When it comes down to it, I love cooking, so spending less time in the kitchen is not often the goal. But even though I look for the adventurous, I often find that for many foods, simpler is better. When you have that right ingredient, whether it’s a perfectly ripe peach or a vivid, smoky paprika, it doesn’t pay to overcomplicate in the kitchen. These lovely foods are fully capable of speaking for themselves. In some cases, ordinary ingredients have the power to transform even the simplest dishes. This collection of recipes is based on that premise. You’ll find well-worn recipes here that look (and taste!) ever so different just by the addition or substitution of something special. The next time you consider a dish that’s in your permanent rotation, think about how you could change just one element and transform it into something new.