Napa Valley Cabernet Burgers comes from a July 2003 issue of Bon Appetit and is James McNair's recipe. I usually double this recipe, but the following is for 4 servings. You can easily make twice the amount by 2x all the ingredients.
Ingredients
1 750 ml bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon
1/4 c. minced shallots
9 T. unsalted butter at room temperature
2 t. golden brown sugar
1 T. minced fresh rosemary
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef (15% fat - I have used lean in the past however)
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1 c. packed grated extra-sharp white cheddar cheese
4 4-1/2 inch squares focaccia, cut horizontally in half
8 large tomato slices
2 c. arugula
Boil wine and shallots in medium saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 20 minutes. Add 1 T. butter and brown sugar, whisk until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Mix remaining 8 T. butter and rosemary in small bowl. Set aside.
Prepare barbeque (medium-high heat). Mix beef, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup wine-shallot mixture in bowl. Form meat into 4 5-inch squares or rounds. Brush grill rack with oil. Grill burgers until brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn burgers and brush with wine-shallot mixture. Continue grilling burgers until cooked to desired doneness, turning and brushing occasionally with wine-shallot mixture, about 4 minutes longer for medium-rare. Sprinkle with cheese after last turn and grill until cheese melts.
Spread cut sides of bread with rosemary butter. Grill, cut side down, until golden, about 2 minutes. Arrange bread, grilled side up, on plates. Top bottom halves with burgers, then tomatoes and arugula. Cover with top halves of bread.
Now here is the recipe, step-by-step with my personal photos and commentary.
Cinnamon Crunch Peach Sundaes is from an issue of Bon Appetit, not sure of the date. I think this is Barbara Frenzl's recipe.
1 c. plus 6 1/2 T. sugar
3/4 c. water
6 T. dark corn syrup
3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
6 whole cinnamon graham crackers, crushed to coarse crumbs
4 1/2 T. unsalted butter, melted
6 medium peaches, pitted, sliced into wedges
1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
French vanilla ice cream (or I used vanilla frozen yogurt, just as good IMHO)
6 cinnamon sticks (optional)
Stir 1 C. plus 2 T. sugar, 3/4 c. water, corn syrup and halved cinnamon sticks in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer until syrup is reduced to 1 1/2 c., about 20 minutes. Cool, remove cinnamon sticks. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; refrigerate.)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine cracker crumbs, butter and 1 1/2 T. sugar in small bowl; toss to coat evenly. Spread mixture out on small baking sheet. Bake until golden, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Cool.
Mix peaches, 3 T. sugar, lemon juice and ground cinnamon in medium bowl. Let stand until juices form, at least 15 minutes and up to 1hour.
Place 2 scoops of ice cream in each of 6 bowls. Spoon peaches and juices over ice cream. Drizzle with syrup and sprinkle with crunch topping. Garnish with cinnamon sticks, if desired, and serve.
Again, here is the recipe broken down into steps, with my photos and comments.
toss to coat evenly.