Category: Cooking

Fine Home Dining in July: Napa Valley Cabernet Burgers and Cinnamon Crunch Peach Sundaes

7/13/2015

July 'round here means it's time to make two recipes which reside in my July cookbook: Napa Valley Cabernet Burgers and Cinnamon Crunch Peach Sundaes. These are best made in small stages throughout the course of a day or two. I started in the morning to have everything easily done for dinner at night. Follow along while I make both specialties.

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.

Boil wine and shallots in medium saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 20 minutes.

20 minutes is up. I know from experience that this takes a lot longer than 20 minutes, but I am measuring it so you can see how much over 3/4 c. it still is.

15 minutes later, let's check it again.

Hmmm, closer, but still over the limit.

This is better, still over, but good enough for me.

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. (I use a little less butter, as 2 T. per bun seems a bit much.) Set aside.

I like to get my focaccia at Trader Joe's because the price is right. This stuff can get pretty spendy. If you need 3 packages of it and it's 5 or 6 bucks a package, well you get the idea. But Trader Joe's didn't have it. I have a minimalist Trader Joe's by me, they are always out-of-stock on stuff. Anyways, I went to the local grocery store and settled on this because it was $1.99 a package. They are pretty small. I know I'm going to need 2 packages for sure.

This bread needs to be trimmed to make the edges even.

Spread cut sides of bread with rosemary butter. Grill, cut side down, until golden, about 2 minutes. Arrange bread, grilled side up, on plates.

This is a good time to get the arugula ready as well as the cheese and tomatoes. The best price on arugula is again at Trader Joe's. This bag was $1.99. It will cost double that or more at a regular grocery store. This is a very bitter lettuce but it is a nice counter balance for the sharpness of the cheese and the sweetness of the burgers.

Prepare barbeque (medium-high heat). Mix beef, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup wine-shallot mixture in bowl. (Do not mix this until the last minute. If you mix it ahead of time, it will separate in the bowl or on the plate and there will be wine running everywhere.) 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.

Anyone counting? You are correct, I used extra beef and made this into 6 burgers instead of 4. Some are also a little smaller for people or kids who want a smaller burger.

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.

Top bottom halves with burgers, then tomatoes and arugula. Cover with top halves of bread.

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.

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.)

The cinnamon syrup is done. Now let's move on to the cinnamon crunch. Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine cracker crumbs, butter and 1 1/2 T. sugar in small bowl;

Why am I adding cinnamon? Because I only had regular graham crackers, so I'm turning them into cinnamon graham crackers.

toss to coat evenly.

Spread mixture out on small baking sheet. Bake until golden, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Cool. Did I mention that you'll want to double this part of the recipe? Why? Because it's so good you or your kids will be snacking on it and then there won't be enough for the sundaes later.

The cinnamon crunch is done. Now for the peach part of the recipe. 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.

And here is the grand finale. As always, thank you for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying a fabulous summer!

Fine Home Dining in July: Napa Valley Cabernet Burgers and Cinnamon Crunch Peach Sundaes

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