Tonight we're having a beef-and-rice dish I adapted from a stew meat recipe.
1 - 1.5 lbs ground sirloin (or other good ground beef)
2.5 C beef stock
1/2 C red wine
1 - 2 Tbsp Worcestershire
1 - 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 - 2 sprigs fresh thyme
salt & pepper
1.5 C rice
Brown the beef in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven with a good tight-fitting lid (you can use a little olive oil, or butter, or bacon fat; you can add chopped bacon to this if you like, which is very good). Don't use a skillet. Add the stock, wine, Worcestershire, and fresh herbs, and season. Let simmer for half an hour or so.
Add the rice and stir. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
It's a nice gloopy comfort dish.
The rice will absorb all of most of the liquid, so it's almost like a risotto, but much faster and easier, really. Makes great leftovers.
(To make it with stew beef, which is my preference but the hubs prefers ground, use 2 - 3 lbs of stew beef. Brown in batches, and scrape up the fond when you add the liquids. Simmer for 2.5 - 3 hours before adding the rice [but cut the rice to 1 1/4 cup]; the rice still cooks for 30 minutes.)