Perfect Pressure Cooked Millet for VegNews

This past Tuesday I was the guest chef at VegNews magazine for their special Cafe VegNews lunch. You can read more about it on their website: http://http://cafevegnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/award-winning-african-stew.html

I made my prize-winning recipe for Spicy African Sweet Potato and Ground Nut Stew which wasn't very spicy that day. What goes along with it is millet. And I must admit unabashedly that it was the best millet that I've had in a long time.

Here is how I made it. I'd love to hear how it turns out for you.

Basic Pressure Cooked Millet
Serves 4-6

1 1/2 cups millet
2 1/2 cups water
salt, to taste, add after cooking

I heated the pressure cooker over medium heat and added the millet, stirring it often until it began to pop. When I could smell that it was toasty, I added the water and locked on the pressure cooker lid. I brought it to pressure. Turned down the heat to maintain high pressure and cooked it for 10 minutes. I took it off the heat and let the pressure come down naturally, which took about 5 minutes. When I carefully opened the pot, the millet looked great. But I had to travel at least 20 minutes to get to the VegNews office so I just grabbed the cooker and went.

When I was finally ready to serve, I could tell that I had completely nailed the millet. Wooo hooo!

I've found that the key to cooking great grains is to keep them from stewing in liquid. So I add the suggested amount for the first cup and then decrease the liquid by 1/4 cup for each additional cup of grain. It seems to work just about every time.

If you don't eat millet, give it a try. It's the "bird seed" grain that's popular in Japan, China and Africa. It's gluten-free and non-acidic, which means that it's easy to digest. Not expensive either.