Telling the Food Police In Chicago To Foie Off

According to a report by the Associated Press this week, the ridiculous ban on foie gras in Chicago is being treated as such by restaurant owners, the Health Department, and even the mayor himself.

CHICAGO - Five months after the city ordered restaurants to stop selling foie gras, it's liver and let liver in Chicago.

While some fancy restaurants and gourmet shops no longer offer the goose or duck liver delicacy, others are flouting the ban, listing foie gras on their menus and, in one case, framing the city's warning letter.

Evoking Chicago's Prohibition-era past, when a password could gain entry into a speakeasy, at least one restaurant is rumored to be serving foie gras to customers who ask for the "special lobster" dish.

And one place has cleverly skirted the ban by offering foie gras as a complimentary item. (The city ordinance bans the SALE of foie gras.)

The city has sent out but a smattering of warning letters, conducted one inspection and has yet to levy its first fine, making it clear that is has little stomach for sniffing out violators of the nation's first ban on foie gras.

"We need to focus as much as possible on things that actually make people sick and kill people," said Health Department spokesman Tim Hadac. "Our mission is to protect human health and not the health of geese and ducks."

Hadac called the ban the department's lowest priority.

Foie gras was banned in Chicago because of what animal rights activists say is the inhumane way geese and ducks are force-fed to plump up their livers. The penalty: a fine of at least $250. Mayor Richard Daley has called it the "silliest" ordinance the City Council has ever passed. And many restaurants have acted accordingly.

At one business, the owner has treated his warning letter as if it were from a celebrity praising a great meal. "I did frame the letter and put it up on the sales counter," said Doug Sohn, owner of Hot Doug's, a gourmet sausage store.

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Top Chef Open Thread

Since I'm sure a lot of food blog readers watch Top Chef, here's an open thread to discuss tonight's episode. Let's hear it the comments! (Why the picture of Padma? Do I even need to answer that?)

Cheese of the Month: Roomano

Just before new year's, I was in NYC visiting a friend of mine when we stopped at Murray's Cheese in Grand Central Station so I could pick out some cheeses for a new year's eve party. I tried several, including one that was definitely the worst cheese I've ever tasted in my life (sorry, I didn't get the name, unfortunately), but I also tried, and eventually bought, one of the best cheeses I've ever had: Roomano.

It's similar in taste to the very popular Gouda-like Parrano which is found in many grocery stores throughout the country now, however, the nuttiness the two cheeses share is considerably more intense in the Roomano.

In terms of consistency, Roomano is a hard cheese and one you probably won't be shredding. And personally I found that it doesn't really lend itself to being put onto anything either. It flakes easily and, since the flavor is so intense, I enjoyed it most when I ate it cut straight off the block.

If you wanted to work it into a dish, you could pop a couple cubes into a food processor and grind it like Parmesan for a pasta or a gratin. I hope to have a good recipe for you by the end of the month using it.

Buy Roomano from: Murray's Cheese, $15.99/lb, sold by the 1/2 lb. Shop's description:

The Roomano, while similar to an aged Gouda is technically from the cheese family ""Proosdy,"" meaning it has lower butterfat than the required 48% for Gouda (this one has 45%), and its edges are noticeably sharper. The production, however, is still quite small: there is a single manufacturer making 600-800 wheels every 3 weeks. Roomano defines the term “flavor-dense.” Sharp and nutty, this 3-4 year aged pasteurized cows' milk has an intense flavor of sweet-salty butterscotch. Generous white patches are visible throughout the granite paste, contributing an assertive crunch in the mouth. Hard to find even in The Netherlands, you’ll need a heavy knife or parmesan coltello (and perhaps some protective goggles) to work your way into this rewarding, cheeselover’s prize.

Region: Friesland (North)
Country: Holland
Type: Hard
Beverage: New World Red, Beer and Spirits
Rennet: Animal
Milk: Pasteurized Cow
Age: 3-4 years

BBQ Ribs...in the Winter

During the summer, I'm on the grill 3 to 4 times a week, and sometimes more. There's just nothing more primordially fulfilling than throwing a hunk of raw meat on a blazing grill and cooking it to perfection: a crispy char on the outside with a wonderfully juicy center. It's a taste that cannot be replicated in the winter months on one's stove top, no matter how hard one tries. And trust me, I've tried.

Fortunately for grilling enthusiasts like myself, it's been a pretty mild winter so far which has allowed me to do a lot more grilling than I usually do at this time of the year. But if the weather was more typical of the season, Stephanie Witt Sedgwick, writing in today's Washington Post, has devised a way of winterizing, so to speak, a classic summer BBQ favorite: baby back ribs.

Here's her recipe. It is said to feed 6-8 people, with about 3 ribs each, but Stephanie takes into account the fact that that might not be appropriate for "rib people." And since I'm a "rib person," I'm going to try this for 4 people, hopefully sometime within the next week or so. I'll report back, of course, and tell you what I think about it.

Spicy Oven-Braised Baby Back Ribs

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
2 racks (about 2 1/2 pounds each) baby back ribs, separated into individual ribs
About 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, finely diced (about 2 cups)
1 cup (4 ounces) coarsely chopped dried apples
1/2 cup (2 ounces) coarsely chopped dried cherries
1 cup apple cider
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Combine the salt, cloves, cayenne pepper, cumin and brown sugar in a bowl. Rub the mixture all over the ribs and place the spice-coated ribs in a resealable plastic food storage bag. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have ready a large roasting pan (at least 11 by 16 inches).

In a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Working in batches, add enough ribs to comfortably fit in the skillet without crowding. Brown the ribs on the 3 meaty sides; this will take about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer the browned ribs to the roasting pan in a single layer, with one of the meaty sides up. (The ribs will be a tight fit in the pan.)

With the skillet still over medium heat, add the onions and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until they start to soften. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the chopped dried apple and 1 tablespoon of the chopped dried cherries; add the remaining fruit to the skillet, stirring to combine. Add the apple cider and increase the heat to high. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until almost all the liquid has evaporated from the bottom of the skillet; the fruit and onions should still be moist. Reduce the heat to medium and add the crushed red pepper flakes and the chicken broth; bring the mixture to a boil, then pour the mixture over the ribs. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil and transfer to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes, then carefully remove the pan from the oven and remove the foil. Turn the ribs over (so the side that was in the cooking liquid is now facing up), re-cover with the foil and return the pan to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes, then check the ribs. If the meat is tender enough to pull away from the bone, the ribs are done. If not, re-cover and cook for up to 30 minutes or until tender.

Transfer the ribs to a platter. You can now either place the roasting pan on the stove or transfer the cooking liquid and fruit to a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by half. To serve, place 3 or 4 ribs on each plate and top with some of the sauce and cooked fruit. Garnish each portion with the reserved dried fruit.

Welcome to Relish

Welcome to Relish, my new blog about food and, occasionally, wine. It's hard for me to tell you exactly where I plan to go with this site or what you'll see here on a regular basis because, honestly, I don't really know myself. I'm sure there are a lot of food blogs out there in the 'sphere already and, to be perfectly frank, I'm kind of jumping into this world without doing much research.

That being said though, this blog will be an extension of my passion for everything concerning food. I'm by no means a chef, but I do consider myself to be an excellent cook. I follow food trends closely and I like to experiment with unique ingredients and more advanced techniques I'm not familiar with. Thus, I want this blog to be about dialogue. I plan on sharing original recipes, interesting food finds, and tips with you and I hope you'll do the same either through the comments or email.

In terms of frequency, I'm hoping that I can post something new here at least once a day whether it's a recipe, a good wine or beer, or even just a link to an article that I think you might be interested in. And if you catch anything interesting in the paper or on the net that's relevant to this site, please feel free to pass it along.

And finally, there's one last thing, especially for those of you with a sweet tooth: I'm not a big fan of dessert. I almost never bake and I'm not particularly crazy for cake, ice cream, pie, pastry, and, yes, chocolate too. It's just my palate, I guess. But in the interest of appealing to those of you that are into desserts and baking, I am going to try my hardest to throw you a bone now and then. I can't promise much, but I will try.