Sel Gris - Portland OR

Sel Gris is in a word, perfection. A small restaurant run by a chef who is ballsy enough to make good food that unapologetically stands for itself. What do I mean by this? Take his entrée, Lamb Two ways. It is a dish of two lamb chops and a small piece of lamb sausage. The lamb chops are simply seasoned with salt and pepper and the sausage is made fresh with just enough spice to enhance the lamb and formed into a patty. Both are cooked to perfection with the understated seasonings serving to enhance the lamb rather than cover it up. Not ballsy enough for you? Ok let’s try desert. Chocolate pudding on top of which sits a warm gooey chocolate cake and on top of that sits a small scoop of chocolate ice cream, to the side of which is a house made truffle. This dessert is apply named, Chocolate, just Chocolate. Still not ballsy enough for you? Want more brass? Ok here it is; I give you the Cookies and Cream. Three different types of cookies served with a Caramel Pot Du Crème. The real balls in this dish are in the Pot du crème. It is placed in a little cup and sprinkled with Sel Gris. So you say, “who cares? Everyone is doing caramel with salt, big deal!” and you of course would be right, everyone is doing a sweet, gooey caramel with a sea salt top; usually covered in chocolate. But here the difference is that the pot du crème is not cloyingly sweet. Actually, it’s just barely sweet enough that you know it’s meant to be dessert. It does not end here however, for the real surprise in this dish is not that it has salt or is not too sweet, but that the addition of salt and the lower sugar content actually enhances the flavor of the caramel, which should not be possible as caramel is basically sugar. But it does and in so doing enhances your perception of what caramel should really taste like. In short, the chef at Sel Gris does exactly as his name sake is known for doing, enhances the flavors of the food without overpowering them.

Cure what ails you

Both Tom and I are sick today, and like every other sick person we are told to "take care of ourselves" and "eat some chicken soup". Unfortunately when I am sick, I just want to curl up in front of the TV and forget the fact that inside my body wages a war of white blood cells and viruses which is causing me to heat up like a turkey in a Thanksgiving oven. So how am I going to get this magical chicken elixir that will cure all my ills? I could go can, premade homemade or just make it myself. This being me, I chose to make it myself and to experiment with my recipe. I am craving a more exotic/spicy version of chicken noodle soup and this recipe is what I came up with. Here is the recipe.

4 Chicken Thighs
6 small garlic cloves
1 small yellow onion chopped (about a cup)
2/3 cup chopped carrots
1/3 cup fennel chopped
1 large bunch kale (about 8 cups)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp cumin seed whole
3 tbs chili oil (preferably with chili’s still in it)
1 tbs sesame oil
2 quarts Chicken Stock, low sodium
1 quart water

Instructions:
Take a large stock pot, I like my large Le Creuset, and place it over high heat. Once it's hot place the chicken thighs (skin down) into the stockpot, add a sprinkling of salt and let them cook for about 8 minutes or until the skin is crispy and a lot of the fat has rendered off the chicken. Turn it over and cook another 6 minutes or so. Once the chicken is browned on the outside and the fat rendered pull the chicken out of the pan and place on a plate.

Pour out all but a tablespoon or two of the fat and put the pot back on the stove. Add the Carrot, Fennel, and Onion, a pinch of salt and sauté until the onion and fennel are translucent. Then add the garlic and cook for another 45-60 seconds stirring to keep the garlic from burning. As soon as you can smell the garlic add the chili and sesame oils and cook for another 30 second. Add the rice wine vinegar and soy sauce and stir together to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the yummy goodness collected there (deglaze if you want to get fancy about the term).

Add chicken stock and water, remove skin and any remaining exterior fat from the chicken and add back into the pot. Bring the soup to a boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmer and cook for 2 hours.

Prepare kale by ripping the leaves off the stalk. Rinse very well and add to the soup. Cook for another 10-20 mins. Soup's Done!!

To serve this soup I boil buckwheat noodles until almost cooked through (a bit before an al dente), drain add the soup and bring to a boil. I transfer this to a bowl and add a tablespoon of chili oil, 1/2 lemon and some chopped cilantro.

This method I find allows me to make a ton of soup and not end up with the disaster of soggy noodles.

If this soup doesn't make me better I don't know what will!!