Page 6C
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 2, 2016
BORDEAUX, FRANCE
Centuries-old winemaking gets a modern twist
By KEVIN BEGOS
Associated Press
BORDEAUX, France —
For centuries Bordeaux has
been the corporate center of
French winemaking, known
for luscious wines, elegant
chateaus and shrewd wine-
sellers. Now there’s a new
twist: More consumers want
vineyards to use organic
or
sustainably
farmed
grapes, and so wineries are
responding by mixing tradi-
tion with high-tech quality
control.
The vineyards at Chateau
Haut Laitte offer visitors a
look at both the past and the
future of winemaking. The
vineyards date back to the
1300s, and the stone manor
house was built in the 1700s.
Then in 1990 Daniel and
Florence Cathiard, former
members of the French
Olympic ski team, bought the
chateau and in recent years
began integrating sustainable
and high-tech practices into
their business.
“If you look 20 years ago,
chateaus were not organic or
biodynamic at all,” said Alix
Ounis, who gives tours at the
chateau. But now, more and
more chateaus are going in
those directions.
Smith Haut Laitte now
farms organically, uses oxen
in the vineyards instead of
tractors to avoid compacting
the soil and captures some
winery CO2 emissions to
reduce the global warming
footprint. The Cathiards
also sell grape seeds to their
daughter’s company, which
uses them in natural skin care
products.
Andrew
Walker,
a
professor of viticulture and
enology at the University of
California, Davis, says vine-
yards all over the world are
facing pressure to limit pesti-
cide use, and climate change
is a challenge, too. There are
different views about the best
options, but plant breeders are
working on grape strains with
natural resistance to major
Kevin Begos via AP
This Sept. 24, 2015 photo shows Porte Cailhau in Bordeaux, France. The medieval city gate is open to the public
and features a small historical exhibit inside.
Kevin Begos via AP
Kevin Begos via AP
This Sept. 26, 2015 photo shows Chateau Smith Haut
Laitte in Bordeaux, France. The vineyards date back
centuries but the owners have integrated sustainable,
organic and high-tech practices into their business.
This Sept. 24, 2015 photo shows a fois gras and char-
cuterie plate at Le Wine Bar in Bordeaux, France. The
bar serves local and international wines by the glass
and bottle.
pests and diseases.
But natural doesn’t always
mean low-tech. Smith Haut
Laitte and other vineyards
now use a variety of tech-
nologies to monitor the soil,
the grapes, fermentation and
aging.
Smith Haut Laitte uses a
program called Oenoview to
analyze the perfect harvest
time. Data provided by satel-
lite measures plant emissions
related to ripeness, providing
a digital map of every few
Love refried beans? And edamame?
You’ll love refried edamame
By SARA MOULTON
Associated Press
The irst time I ate fresh
soybeans was, naturally
enough, at a Japanese
restaurant. Known as
edamame, the dish is a
staple of Japanese restaurant
menus.
They were served as
an appetizer, in their pods,
steamed and sprinkled with
salt. It took a little work
to suck the cooked fresh
soybeans out of their pods,
but who cared? I was out
to dinner and in no rush.
Besides they were delicious,
meaty and lavorful. They
reminded me of lima beans
minus the funkiness.
And, big surprise, not
only are they good, they’re
good for you. Of course, all
legumes wear a nutritional
halo, but the one radiating
from soybeans is especially
blinding. They boast more
protein than any other
legume, and they’re a great
source of folate, vitamin K,
calcium, iron and iber.
But the idea of putting
edamame on a home cook’s
menu for a weeknight meal?
It never entered my mind.
Then, several years after
my restaurant revelation, I
noticed a recipe in Gourmet
magazine that featured
frozen shelled edamame,
the beans freed from their
pods, combined with butter
and buttermilk. Who knew
you could buy them already
shelled? Suddenly a new
world opened up.
Following the Gourmet
recipe, I began boiling,
steaming or mashing shelled
edamame according to my
mood. Here, I’ve taken them
in a yet another direction,
reworking my recipe for a
lighter version of Mexican-
styled refried beans by
replacing the pinto beans
with edamame. The inished
product is wonderfully
creamy — smoother than the
creamiest mashed potatoes
— because the beans are
pureed instead of mashed. It
was a real hit with my family.
AP Photo/J.M.Hirsch
For a lighter version of Mexican-styled refried beans, replace the pinto beans with
edamame.
MEXICAN-STYLE EDAMAME
“REFRIED BEANS”
Serve these as a dip for tortilla chips,
spooned into soft or hard tacos, or layered
between quesadillas.
Start to inish: 40 minutes (25
minutes active)
Servings: 6
• 16-ounce bag frozen shelled
edamame
• 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken or
vegetable broth or stock
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup inely chopped yellow onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, preferably
chipotle
• 1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Pepitas (toasted pumpkin seeds) or
toasted pine nuts, to garnish
In a medium saucepan over medium-
high, bring 2 quarts of well salted water
to a simmer. Add the edamame, return to
One caveat: You want
to be sure to cook the fresh
soybeans until they’re soft.
This advice runs counter
to the directions on the
back of the package, which
recommends boiling the
beans for a mere 5 minutes.
For this recipe, that short a
cooking time would leave
them too irm.
By the way, when I
a simmer and cook until soft, about 20
minutes. Drain the edamame, reserving
1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, and transfer
them along with the reserved liquid to
a blender or food processor. Start to
blend the edamame and when they are
inely chopped add the chicken broth
and continue blending, scraping down
the sides as needed, until the beans are
smooth.
While the edamame are cooking, in
a large skillet over medium, heat the
oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring
occasionally, until golden brown. Add the
garlic, cumin and chili powder and cook,
stirring, for 1 minute. Add the edamame
puree and the lime juice. Season with salt
and pepper, then cook, stirring, until the
puree is hot. Remove from the heat and
stir in the sour cream. Serve as desired,
topped with pepitas.
Nutrition information per serving: 170
calories; 100 calories from fat (59 percent
of total calories); 11 g fat (2 g saturated;
0 g trans fats); 5 mg cholesterol; 180 mg
sodium; 9 g carbohydrate; 4 g iber; 3 g
sugar; 9 g protein.
refer to fresh soybeans, I
mean the frozen shelled
guys. At least sometimes,
of course, you’ll be able to
ind them fresh in the pod
at the farmers’ market, and
I’m sure they’re delicious.
But then you’d have to shell
them once you brought
them home, which is pretty
tedious. The great thing
about frozen vegetables is
that not only are they a snap
to prepare, but they also taste
surprisingly fresh. That’s
because they’re harvested
at the peak of ripeness,
then briely blanched, then
quickly frozen. It might
seem counter-intuitive — if
it’s frozen, how can it be
fresh? — but it turns out to
be a great way to lock in their
goodness.
square feet of the vineyard.
“We know in every single
row of the vineyard how ripe
the grapes are,” Florence
Cathiard said in an email.
“We then taste the grapes in
each plot and mark the vines
which will be harvested the
following day.” Then an
optical scanning machine in
the winery looks for imperfect
grapes, and culls them out.
Cathiard says visitors like the
combined focus on sustain-
ability and wine quality.
Smith Haut Laitte offers
a variety of tours, a restaurant
and a 72-room ive-star hotel.
Several companies also offer
shuttle trips from downtown
Bordeaux to the many
chateaus in the area, but be
sure to reserve in advance.
Bordeaux’s old city has
been transforming, too.
Delphine Cadei is married
to a co-owner of Le Wine
Bar, a charming, high ceiling
place with a broad selection
of wines by the glass and
bottle, and luscious fois gras
and pate plates. Her family
is from Bordeaux, and Cadei
says that for a long time the
city was “very dark, and not
a nice place to live.” Parking
lots covered the wide stone
quays along the river, but
those are gone as part of a
citywide makeover.
Tourists have responded,
and Bordeaux is one of the
most popular tourist destina-
tions in France. The old city is
illed with cafes, restaurants,
shops and bakeries, as well
as medieval city gates such
as Port Cailhau, built in 1495.
You can go inside for a small
fee and walk up a tiny, curved
staircase to look out over the
square. The Grosse Cloche
(Big Clock) gate is even
older, and is featured on the
city Coat of Arms.
A huge new wine museum
has just opened, too. La Cite
du Vin was built in a swirling,
rounded postmodern style, at
a cost of over $90 million.
It features historical and
environmental
displays,
tasting rooms and interactive
aroma exhibits, thousands of
bottles of wine from scores
of countries and a restaurant
that gives a panoramic view
of the city.
Date-and-almond balls:
Healthy snack with burst of energy
By MEERA SODHA
Associated Press
In the weeks leading up to the Olympics, I always look
forward to reading stories about what Olympians eat. What
many of the athletes have in common is a favorite healthy
snack that gives them an intense burst of energy.
I don’t see why things should be different for those of us
who watch the games from our couches. Whether you’re
working out or just running around with the kids, everyone
needs a healthy energy pick-me-up, and too often, we resort
to processed foods or chocolate.
These date-and-nut balls are a good natural alternative
and my go-to for energy. They’re a twist on an ancient
Indian sweet recipe called khajur pak, often found piled
high in pyramids in Delhi sweetshops.
They’re superquick to make with no actual cooking
involved — and they’re easy to transport. Although they’re
great for energy, they’re very pretty, too, so I’ve often given
them as gifts or passed them around with coffee after dinner.
Overall, with so many plus points to their name, they’re
an all-around champion of a snack. I love to keep them in
the refrigerator where they irm up and taste a bit like toffee.
Meera Sodha via AP
DATE-AND-ALMOND ENERGY BALLS
Start to inish: 20 minutes
Servings: Makes around 20
• 10 ounces of dates, pitted
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
• 2 ounces chopped almonds
Put pitted dates into a food processor along with
the coconut oil, cinnamon and desiccated coconut.
Pulse a minute or two to inely chop.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl; add the
chopped almonds and knead into dough. If it’s a bit
sticky, rub a teaspoon of coconut oil onto your hands.
Once kneaded, pinch off a piece the size of a
marshmallow and roll into a ball between your palms
and then roll around in the ground almonds to coat.
These balls can be kept in an airtight container for
a month.
Nutrition information per serving: 50 calories;
10 calories from fat; 1 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g
trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 1 mg sodium; 11 g
carbohydrate; 1 g iber; 9 g sugar; 0 g protein.