MORSELS

Art of the Vine returns

1/1/2012

Restaurants pair their foods with wines all the time; it’s one of the most popular fads. But the Toledo Museum of Art takes that idea and does it one better by pairing wines with art.

They call it the Art of the Vine, it’s part of the It’s Friday! evening programs at the museum, and it’s back for another year.

The first one of the year will be Jan. 13 in the museum’s Cloister, featuring wines made by female winemakers and examining the art made by female artists that will be shown in Libbey Court. Others in the series include:

• Jan. 20, wines made in the Roussillon region of France, in the Cloister, paired with a look at cloister architecture, which for some reason will be in Libbey Court.

• Jan. 27, "Whose Wine is it, Anyway" — the chef will choose the wines for the evening — to be poured in the Cloister, and the art to be featured will be a surprise, shown in Libbey Court.

• Feb. 10, wines with bubbles, uncorked in the GlasSalon, will accompany a look at glass with bubble inclusions, shown in the Glass Pavilion.

• March 9, cutting edge wines (the program is called "Beware the Wines of March") in the GlasSalon, along with studio glass shown in the Glass Pavilion.

• March 16, Irish wines will be sampled in the GlasSalon, followed by a look at Dale Chihuly’s large-scale glass work Campiello del Remer #2, which hangs in the Glass Pavilion.

• April 6, Greek wines will be shared in the GlasSalon, with contemplation of ancient drinking vessels in Libbey Court.

• April 13, Italian wines (GlasSalon) and Italian art (Libbey Court).

Each of the events includes four wines and light snacks. The programs run from 7-9:30 p.m., and are $25, $15 for museum members, plus tax.

For more information, call 419-255-8000.

Descriptive

Sharp-eyed reader Jan Barley found a recipe in Scottish Life magazine that amused her so much, she sent it in. "I’ve never noticed a recipe with such colorful use of words as this," she wrote, and come to think of it, neither have we.

It is a recipe for Cock-a-Leekie soup — stop that snickering, it’s chicken and leeks — and it was included in an article on old-fashioned recipes.

Among other things, it says to take an onion studded with cloves "and place it in the inner intimacies" of a chicken. Once you have added leeks and started boiling it, "anoint with bay leaf, parsley, thyme, and peppercorns."

This you simmer "until the flesh is parting company with the carcase" (that’s the British spelling of "carcass"), and when it is all done, "add a couple of good fistfuls (or the metric equivalent) of pitted prunes."

No wonder they say, "Scotland forever!"

Earth, meet table

Chef Bradford Thompson grew up picking blueberries and trapping lobsters in Maine, so naturally he now specializes in food from Jamaica.

The James Beard Award-winner and protégé of Daniel Boulud, among others, will bring his talents, and possibly some jerk sauce, to the next Earth-to-Table dinner at the Culinary Vegetable Institute in Milan, Ohio, on Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m.Now the chef and co-owner of Jules Gourmet Foods, Chef Thompson will offer a dinner featuring winter herbs such as rosemary and thyme. The menu begins with appetizers of roasted and raw beets with baby arugula, spiced pecans, and almond milk; sunchoke soup with twice-baked Jerusalem artichokes, black truffle, and sage; frissee and duck "lardons" with poached eggs, petite radishes, and sherry-maple vinaigrette; or beef tartare with celery root, horseradish shoots, and chervil mousseline.

The entrees begin with cured and roasted duck breast with braised red cabbage, turnips, and ginger-bergamot glaze; and go on to include sweetbreads fricasse with crosnes, emerald lettuce, and cider; and rosemary-salt-crust baked Arctic char with shaved fennel and spiced red wine glaze.

For the vegetables — it’s at the Culinary Vegetable Institute, so you know there will be vegetables — include a choice of wild thyme and duck fat-roasted fingerling potatoes; caramelized romanesco cauliflower with grilled Meyer lemon and mint; gratin of sweet potato and apples with spiced rum and pomegranate seeds; and roasted mushrooms with winter herbs and candied garlic.

Still hungry? The desserts will be red carrot cakes with whipped coconut cream or salted caramel, dark chocolate, and cashews. It sounds like a very fancy Snickers bar.

The cost is $75 per person, plus tax and tip. Seating is limited, and reservations are required at 419-499-7500.

Items for Morsels may be submitted up to two weeks before an event to food@theblade.com.