A Meal Fit for A King...and Queen!

This past weekend we bought a new grill... and what better way to break it in than with the ultimate steak...filet mignon. Ben did a supberb job with the steaks. He wrapped them in peppercorn crusted bacon, seasoned them with salt and pepper...then grilled them over charcoal. I made ultimate baked potatoes, complete with more bacon and loads of pepperjack and sharp cheddar cheese. For the greens, I made one of favorite asparagus dishes...Lemon Asparagus. It's one of my Rachel Ray favorites and dresses up any dish.

To finish off our meal, I made a special request from Ben out of my new Perfect Scoop Ice Cream recipe book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is an ice cream fanatic. It has flavors of ice cream you can make with your home ice cream maker that you can't find any where else...such as Guinness-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream.

Lemon Asparagus

1 lb asparagus, trimmed

1 lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Steam asparagus in 1 inch of water in a saute pan for 5-6 minutes. Drain water, add olive oil, juice of the lemon, salt and pepper.

Guinness-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

7 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

4 large egg yolks

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup Guinness Stout

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the chocolate pieces in a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.

Warm the milk, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. In a seperate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as your stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer over the milk chocolate, then stir until the chocolate is melted over low heat. Once the mixture is smooth, whisk in the cream, then the Guinness and vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refridgerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer instructions.