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April 2006
This e-zine has been designed to inform readers of news, facts, events and updates from Washington's wine country. We welcome your ideas, comments, questions and submissions. Please e-mail them to us at info@winecountrywashington.org. Thank you for reading!
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Beautiful B&B's of Wine Country
Let's start our journey in the midst of a cherry orchard in Yakima where you awake to the smell of coffee and freshly prepared breakfast. Hosts Henner and Karen Krueger await your arrival in their very own German/Italian style. Yes, she's Italian and he's German! They even have separate dining rooms for each nationality!
 The drive into the Orchard Inn Bed and Breakfast provides a wonderful view of the cherry trees. A delight to see in any season, but when the trees are in bloom in the spring, it truly is a vision! The common living room offers all of the comforts of home and each bedroom is newly decorated to represent a wine varietal and of course the cherry room. Each room has a private bath with jetted tubs, a small dining table with coffee and tea service and comfortable queen size beds.
In order to avoid sounding like an Expedia ad, I must say that the most delightful part of my stay at this establishment has been the warm hospitality of this delightful couple. They greet you each morning with a smile and the delicious breakfasts they prepare are not to be ignored. During my week long stay I was served anything from corned beef hash to fresh baked cherry clafoutis, pronounced Klah-foo-tee. (see recipe under Get a Taste of the Destination).
Final word, The Orchard Inn Bed & Breakfast serves as my home away from home for a week out of each year. While my days are busy with work it is so nice to have such a warm haven to come back to each evening and fresh breakfast prepared with TLC to start my day. Visit the Orchard Inn Web site for more details at www.orchardinnbb.com.
Keep in mind, these beautiful establishments have only three to six rooms each which means space is fairly limited. If you are traveling on an event weekend, you will want to call early to get reservations. The choice is yours. As for me, I'll take the gentle hospitality and quaint surroundings of a wine country B&B over a hotel room any day.
Get a Taste of the Destination
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In France, clafoutis is taken seriously for what it is, and isn't (Not Cherry Pie)
If you mix plenty of unpitted black cherries into what may best be described as a slightly thickened crêpe batter, you will have the makings of a traditional clafoutis limousinâa type of batter cake from the farm country of southern central France. The recipe is old but not ancient, probably dating from around the 1860s. The unusual name (sometimes spelled clafouti) comes from clafir, a dialect word meaning âto fillâ. And fill it doesânot least because itâs so good that oneâs tendency is to ask for seconds and thirds. According to Larousse Gastronomique, when the Académie Française defined clafoutis as a âsort of fruit flanâ, inhabitants of Limogesâcapital of the Limousin regionâprotested, forcing the institution to change the definition to the more acceptable âcake with black cherriesâ. Black cherries are the meatiest, juiciest, and sweetest of all cherriesâand theyâre left unpitted because the pits are thought to enhance the flavor of the batter with a perfume faintly reminiscent of almonds. Whole cherries are also less likely to bleed into the batter.
A perfect clafoutis has a deep golden brown crust on both the bottom and the top. And the only way to achieve this is to bake it in a sufficiently hot oven. At too low a temperature, the flour separates from the rest of the batter, settling at the bottom of the pan and leaving a pale custard behind.
Though black cherries are the classic addition, clafoutis is made today with all kinds of fruit. In the Auvergne, next door to the Limousin, where clafoutis is known as milliard, it may contain cherries, grapes, red currants, or prunes.
from Saveur, May/June 1998
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Clafoutis aux Cerises
Recipe for Cherry clafoutis, a type of cherry pudding cake. It is a classic dessert from the Limousin area of France. Pronounced: klah foo tee / oh / suh reez
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INGREDIENTS:
butter and sugar for the baking dish
1-1/4 lb. cherries
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cream
2/3 cup milk
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
3 Tablespoons kirsch (optional)
Confectioner's sugar for dusting
PREPARATION:
1. Pit the cherries.
2. Brush the baking dish with some melted butter and coat it with some sugar. Shake out any excess sugar.
3. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl and make a well in the center.
4. Pour the milk and cream into the well and stir to make a smooth paste.
5. Add the eggs, egg yolks and sugar. Continue whisking to make a smooth batter.
6. Put the cherries into the buttered and sugared pan. Ladle the batter over the cherries.
7. Bake the clafoutis in a pre-heated 350° oven for 30-35 minutes. It should be puffed up and just beginning to brown.
TO SERVE:
Remove from oven. Allow to cool slightly, then dust with the confectioner's sugar and serve.
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