Skillet Beef with Lentils

I'm loving my More-With-Less Cookbook that I got at Christmas from Tim.  I bought the cookbook for the Honey Baked Lentils recipe that my mom sometimes made.  If that was the only recipe I ever made from it, the purchase would have been worthwhile ... it is delicious (post to follow soon)!  The cookbook has 5 different lentil recipes, with variations on some, and I plan on trying them all.




So, here is lentil recipe #1 - Skillet Beef with Lentils.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed
2 T butter
2 medium onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lb ground beef
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 T long-grain rice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1 T cider vinegar
cheddar cheese (optional)
corn chips (optional)

Directions
 1.  Bring 1 qt (4 cups) of water to a boil in a saucepan

 2.  Add the lentils and cook for 20 minutes.

 3.  Drain the lentils, reserving the liquid.

 4.  In a deep skillet, saute the onions in butter until soft and then add the garlic.

 5.  Add the beef to the onions and brown well.

 6.  Dissolve the beef bouillon cubes in the reserved liquid from the lentils.

 7.  Add the liquid to the mixture. 

 8.  Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.

 9.  Add the lentils, long-grain rice, sugar, salt, cumin, and pepper to the mixture.

 10.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until lentils and rice are tender and liquid is absorbed.    (I did not cover it because I wanted the remaining liquid to cook off)

11.  Add 1 T cider vinegar.   (This absolutely makes the dish!)

In the end, I found the actual dish to  be quite boring and I wasn't quite sure how to eat it.  It wasn't a casserole and it wasn't a soup, but it looked like something in between ... almost like chilli.  So, I decided to go that route.  I topped a bowl of the lentil/beef mixture with shredded cheddar cheese and ate it with corn chips.  This is the way to go - yum!

Kona Stout Ice Cream

While browsing Strand Book Store one evening, I stumbled upon a book that I knew I needed.  Jenni's Splendid Ice Creams At Home opens to page upon page of ice cream recipes I would never have imagined.  The combinations of flavors are unusual in many cases, but the typical, well-known, comfortable flavor combinations are also represented.

When I opened this Christmas gift, I knew it was time to pull the frozen ice cream canister core out of the freezer, finally!  About a year ago I put it in the freezer thinking I would make ice cream sometime in the next week or two ... it was definitely sufficiently frozen and ready to chill a batch of ice cream.

After leafing through the book, Tim and I made a unanimous decision to make the kona stout ice cream.  Let me just say, Beer + Coffee + Ice Cream = soooooo good!

So, here is our first foray into ice cream making.  While it wasn't the best batch of ice cream ever, we made a few mistakes, it was still pretty amazing!  We now know it is important to chill the ice cream base as instructed, no short-cuts allowed.

Kona Stout Ice Cream
Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 T cornstarch
3 T cream cheese, softened
1/8 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 T light corn syrup
2 T dark-roast coffee beans, coarsely ground
1/2 cup very dark stout beer



Prep
Mix about 2 T of milk and cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry
Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth
Fill a large bowl with ice and water


Cook
Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes.

Remove from the heat, add the coffee, and let steep for 5 minutes.

Strain the milk mixture through a fine sieve (if you have it, line the sieve with a layer of cheesecloth)

Return the ice cream mixture to the saucepan and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until slightly thickened - about 1 minute.

Remove from heat.

Chill

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth.

Add the stout and blend well.

Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freeze bag and submerge the sealed bag in an ice bath.

Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Freeze

Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid.

Freeze in the coldest part of your freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

ENJOY!