PORTLAND
FOODIE FINDS
FOODIE FINDS
The Grilled Cheese Grill
By Andrea Slonecker
Imagine a vintage yellow school bus converted into a dining room. Down one aisle the jade green bench seats are turned to face each other with a table in between. A long counter lines the opposite wall with stools tucked under for counter-style seating, and vibrant murals deck the ceiling, walls, and exterior. Outside, umbrella-covered picnic tables dot the well-kept gravel parking lot where the bus is parked. An adjacent Airstream trailer houses a kitchen.
Could there be a more appropriate ambiance for the consumption of grilled cheese sandwiches?
The Grilled Cheese Grill opened a few months ago on lower Alberta Street. A walk-up window concept, outfitted with such imagination, seems a perfect fit for this eccentric neighborhood.
Seventeen grilled cheese sandwiches, plus creamy tomato soup for dipping, are listed on a laminated, annatto-colored menu. “The Classics” are as simple as a few slices of American or cheddar cheese oozing out of two slices of grilled bread. You select the bread, with the option of white, wheat, or one slice of each. They’ll even cut the crusts off if you’re feeling a little nostalgic. Creativity comes into play as you scroll down the menu to find choices like The Jalapeño Popper—grilled white bread filled with roasted jalapeños, Colby Jack, cream cheese, and corn tortilla chips. Sweet selections pair soft cheeses, such as brie and mascarpone, with Nutella, bananas, and cinnamon swirl bread.
In the granddaddy of them all, The Cheesus Burger, a third-of-a-pound beef patty is stuck between two grilled cheese sandwiches, one with melted American cheese and pickles, the other with Colby Jack and onions. Ketchup and mustard are spread on the burger which is topped with lettuce and sliced tomato. Though the bottom “bun” is quickly saturated and soggy from the oozing cheese and meat juices, it’s a must-try menu option.
Regardless of creativity and gimmick, there is nothing gourmet about these grilled cheese sandwiches. No matter what you stuff between two slices of sandwich bread, it’s still just a sandwich. But, sometimes a grilled cheese sandwich, with the crusts removed, is just what you hunger for, and this is the place to get it.
The Grilled Cheese Grill
1027 NE Alberta Avenue
Portland, OR 97211
503-206-8959
grilledcheesegrill.com
Tuesday–Thursday, 11:30am–9pm
Friday–Saturday, 11:30am–2:30am
Sunday, 11:30am–3:30pm
Closed Mondays
Archived Blogs
Could there be a more appropriate ambiance for the consumption of grilled cheese sandwiches?
The Grilled Cheese Grill opened a few months ago on lower Alberta Street. A walk-up window concept, outfitted with such imagination, seems a perfect fit for this eccentric neighborhood.
Seventeen grilled cheese sandwiches, plus creamy tomato soup for dipping, are listed on a laminated, annatto-colored menu. “The Classics” are as simple as a few slices of American or cheddar cheese oozing out of two slices of grilled bread. You select the bread, with the option of white, wheat, or one slice of each. They’ll even cut the crusts off if you’re feeling a little nostalgic. Creativity comes into play as you scroll down the menu to find choices like The Jalapeño Popper—grilled white bread filled with roasted jalapeños, Colby Jack, cream cheese, and corn tortilla chips. Sweet selections pair soft cheeses, such as brie and mascarpone, with Nutella, bananas, and cinnamon swirl bread.
In the granddaddy of them all, The Cheesus Burger, a third-of-a-pound beef patty is stuck between two grilled cheese sandwiches, one with melted American cheese and pickles, the other with Colby Jack and onions. Ketchup and mustard are spread on the burger which is topped with lettuce and sliced tomato. Though the bottom “bun” is quickly saturated and soggy from the oozing cheese and meat juices, it’s a must-try menu option.
Regardless of creativity and gimmick, there is nothing gourmet about these grilled cheese sandwiches. No matter what you stuff between two slices of sandwich bread, it’s still just a sandwich. But, sometimes a grilled cheese sandwich, with the crusts removed, is just what you hunger for, and this is the place to get it.
The Grilled Cheese Grill
1027 NE Alberta Avenue
Portland, OR 97211
503-206-8959
grilledcheesegrill.com
Tuesday–Thursday, 11:30am–9pm
Friday–Saturday, 11:30am–2:30am
Sunday, 11:30am–3:30pm
Closed Mondays
Archived Blogs
What's on My Plate Today
What Do Chefs Know When It Comes To Salmon?
The next time you are in a restaurant with an open kitchen and a counter with a bird’s eye view into the kitchen, take a seat and watch the chef. That’s what I do.
Here you will see high-level kitchen drama and cooking lessons, all in one. Get out your spiral notebook and jot away, or use your iPhone and record the event. I prefer to doodle, draw detailed pictures, and write pithy comments. It’s better than food TV because you get to watch AND eat.
For the most part, restaurant chefs cook differently than home cooks. Just think: they have prep cooks assembling the basics, experienced cooks making core sauces, and everything is ready for the flash in the pan. This is how I learned about pan roasting and translated it to searing and cooking salmon. It’s a brilliant technique and one every interested home cook should know.
What it requires is a heavy-bottomed skillet, preferably cast iron, with a heatproof handle that can go from stovetop to hot oven. In addition, it takes a good fan for ventilation and a pair of thick oven mitts. Beyond that, all you need is a little confidence and sense of adventure.
A cast-iron pan is relatively cheap and a once-in-a-lifetime investment if you care for the pan and keep it well seasoned and dry. I happen to have a set of my grandmother’s cast-iron pans that must date to the early 1920’s. The largest pan, a 12-inch skillet is perfect for four portions of salmon. With the oven set at a blazing 450 degrees and the fan over the range set on high, I slick the pan with a thin layer of olive oil, wait for the oil to shimmer, and arrange the seasoned fillets skin side down in the pan. At this point, I don’t budge the fillets or even sneak a peak until I am sure the skin is browned and crisp, and that takes about 4 minutes. With a wide fish spatula I carefully flip the fillets and transfer the pan to the oven. The drama is over and the salmon roasts to perfection. An instant-read thermometer confirms moist, flaky doneness at about 125 degrees.
While we are aiming for salmon perfection, here is another cooking lesson. I learned about this technique for achieving crisp-skinned salmon several years ago from an article by Thomas Keller (owner of the famed French Laundry and Per Se restaurants) in the Los Angeles Times food section. He writes, “The skin of many fish is exquisite, never more so than when it’s crisped to a delicate wafer-thin crunch accompanying the sweet, soft flesh. Crisp fish skin should taste clean and fresh, with the concentrated flavor of the fish itself. Its colors and design are vivid on the plate. The fork clicks on its surface. It cracks brittlely beneath a knife.”
The critical technique is to remove as much water as possible from the skin of the fish before cooking it. Keller writes: “Remove some of that water mechanically, by drawing a knife blade firmly back and forth over the fish, the way a wiper blade moves across a windshield. The pressure compresses the skin and squeezes the water to the surface, and the knife blade carries it away. Repeat this until no more water rises to the surface.” Periodically wipe the knife blade clean with a paper towel to remove what looks like grayish scum.
It’s salmon season, so celebrate—the fish is bountiful, the cooking techniques are accessible, and the eating is delicious, nutritious, and divine.
Diane
View archived blogs
The next time you are in a restaurant with an open kitchen and a counter with a bird’s eye view into the kitchen, take a seat and watch the chef. That’s what I do.
Here you will see high-level kitchen drama and cooking lessons, all in one. Get out your spiral notebook and jot away, or use your iPhone and record the event. I prefer to doodle, draw detailed pictures, and write pithy comments. It’s better than food TV because you get to watch AND eat.
For the most part, restaurant chefs cook differently than home cooks. Just think: they have prep cooks assembling the basics, experienced cooks making core sauces, and everything is ready for the flash in the pan. This is how I learned about pan roasting and translated it to searing and cooking salmon. It’s a brilliant technique and one every interested home cook should know.
What it requires is a heavy-bottomed skillet, preferably cast iron, with a heatproof handle that can go from stovetop to hot oven. In addition, it takes a good fan for ventilation and a pair of thick oven mitts. Beyond that, all you need is a little confidence and sense of adventure.
A cast-iron pan is relatively cheap and a once-in-a-lifetime investment if you care for the pan and keep it well seasoned and dry. I happen to have a set of my grandmother’s cast-iron pans that must date to the early 1920’s. The largest pan, a 12-inch skillet is perfect for four portions of salmon. With the oven set at a blazing 450 degrees and the fan over the range set on high, I slick the pan with a thin layer of olive oil, wait for the oil to shimmer, and arrange the seasoned fillets skin side down in the pan. At this point, I don’t budge the fillets or even sneak a peak until I am sure the skin is browned and crisp, and that takes about 4 minutes. With a wide fish spatula I carefully flip the fillets and transfer the pan to the oven. The drama is over and the salmon roasts to perfection. An instant-read thermometer confirms moist, flaky doneness at about 125 degrees.
While we are aiming for salmon perfection, here is another cooking lesson. I learned about this technique for achieving crisp-skinned salmon several years ago from an article by Thomas Keller (owner of the famed French Laundry and Per Se restaurants) in the Los Angeles Times food section. He writes, “The skin of many fish is exquisite, never more so than when it’s crisped to a delicate wafer-thin crunch accompanying the sweet, soft flesh. Crisp fish skin should taste clean and fresh, with the concentrated flavor of the fish itself. Its colors and design are vivid on the plate. The fork clicks on its surface. It cracks brittlely beneath a knife.”
The critical technique is to remove as much water as possible from the skin of the fish before cooking it. Keller writes: “Remove some of that water mechanically, by drawing a knife blade firmly back and forth over the fish, the way a wiper blade moves across a windshield. The pressure compresses the skin and squeezes the water to the surface, and the knife blade carries it away. Repeat this until no more water rises to the surface.” Periodically wipe the knife blade clean with a paper towel to remove what looks like grayish scum.
It’s salmon season, so celebrate—the fish is bountiful, the cooking techniques are accessible, and the eating is delicious, nutritious, and divine.
Diane
View archived blogs
Pan-Roasted Salmon with Green Beans, Yellow Pear Tomatoes, and Basil Oil
Brilliantly colored, crisp sautéed green beans are paired with little yellow pear tomatoes, and served with a perfectly pan-roasted salmon fillet. A drizzle of basil oil adds a top-restaurant-quality look and taste to the plate.
View recipe...
Brilliantly colored, crisp sautéed green beans are paired with little yellow pear tomatoes, and served with a perfectly pan-roasted salmon fillet. A drizzle of basil oil adds a top-restaurant-quality look and taste to the plate.
View recipe...
Salmon
In my cookbook Salmon, you’ll find an in-depth section on the different species of salmon, a discussion of farmed vs. wild salmon, and an illustrated section with descriptions on all the basic preparation techniques. Of course, the cookbook has over seventy-five recipes—from appetizers, to chowders, to main-course salads, to entrees, brunch and lunch—the versatility of salmon is astounding.
Beginning Winter 2009
Thursday evenings, January 8th thru February 5th, 2009
(exception: Saturday morning class on January 31st)
Diane's Winter 2009 Food Writing Course is complete.
Please Email Diane if you are interested in her future Food Writing Courses and be on the “first to know” list. Click on Food Writing Course for a complete description of this winter’s course.
The Art of Food Writing is a course designed to take your thoughts, musings, insights, and experiences with food and translate them into marketable works for print. This course is for cooks, food aficionados, students, journalists and authors who would like to learn more about writing on food. Plus, you'll get the "inside scoop" on how to submit a story proposal, how to navigate a contract, how to work with a ghostwriter and other industry tips.
The six-week course begins on January 8th, 2009 and will be held each Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00 PM through February 5th, with the exception of a Saturday morning class on January 31st. Classes will be held at Diane’s home, in the Eastmoreland section of Portland. Highlights of the course include a detailed examination of how to write a recipe, the process of creating a great story or book idea and the research skills involved in developing that idea, writing book proposals, pitching story ideas to newspapers and magazines, finding an agent, blogging, writing for the web, beginning a website, and connecting to professional organizations.
Thursday evenings, January 8th thru February 5th, 2009
(exception: Saturday morning class on January 31st)
Diane's Winter 2009 Food Writing Course is complete.
Please Email Diane if you are interested in her future Food Writing Courses and be on the “first to know” list. Click on Food Writing Course for a complete description of this winter’s course.
The Art of Food Writing is a course designed to take your thoughts, musings, insights, and experiences with food and translate them into marketable works for print. This course is for cooks, food aficionados, students, journalists and authors who would like to learn more about writing on food. Plus, you'll get the "inside scoop" on how to submit a story proposal, how to navigate a contract, how to work with a ghostwriter and other industry tips.
The six-week course begins on January 8th, 2009 and will be held each Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00 PM through February 5th, with the exception of a Saturday morning class on January 31st. Classes will be held at Diane’s home, in the Eastmoreland section of Portland. Highlights of the course include a detailed examination of how to write a recipe, the process of creating a great story or book idea and the research skills involved in developing that idea, writing book proposals, pitching story ideas to newspapers and magazines, finding an agent, blogging, writing for the web, beginning a website, and connecting to professional organizations.
