Cooking Millet? Growing Millet?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Due to sensitivity to wheat and the other gluten-producing grains (barley, oats, rye -- phooey!), I have to be careful of what I eat. I can eat corn, rice, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat (don't like!), and millet.

I am wondering if anyone has ways of using millet that they would like to share. I have cooked it up as a hot cereal (rice milk and maple syrup or honey), but haven't really done anything else with it. Has anyone used it as a replacement for rice in more "savory" dishes (as opposed to sweet). I buy the hulled variety from the healthfood stores.

I am also interested in any experience with growing millet. I know it can be grown here in southern Wisconsin, I've seen it listed for sale, at least the "small yellow" variety. I know there are other varieties, such as red, brown (Japanese) and white Proso millet -- all of these get fed to my birds. I'll probably experiment with growing them in containers this next year, but would love to hear any experiences, including keeping wild birds off, that anyone can relate.

I would really like to have an organic source of these seeds for my birds, hence my interest in growing them myself. Whether or not I would hull any for myself remains to be seen. I probably should try cooking up small amounts, unhulled, to see what happens and how they taste. I could try hulling too, but I'm not sure how to go about that, other than lightly rolling with a rolling pin.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), November 24, 2000

Answers

Your question reminded me of a great discovery my brother and I made when we were kids. Dad had a very small fire buring some trash outside the feed shed and he left us in charge. Well, Gary was always one to experiment, so we threw a handful of millet on the fire to see what would happen. It popped! Just like popcorn! It tasted okay too. Just a little on the small side. I'm afraid that is the extent of my knowledge of millet. Good luck.

-- Cheryl (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), November 24, 2000.

Joy, I make a "stew" with millet and winter squash, garlic, and onions. Nothing fancy, and although most recipes say to cook millet for something like 20 minutes, I prefer it very soft, and cook it quite a bit longer. Season with salt and pepper, and add a green salad along side.

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), November 24, 2000.

I can't help you with the millet, though we have thought about trying to grow it, but did you know that the 'experts' have decided that oats (at least is small quantities) may be okay for us who have celiac disease? I've been thinking longingly about a bowl of hot oatmeal ever since I heard that -- maybe I'll try it today!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 25, 2000.

I have thrown in a handful or two of millet seeds into the bread dough as I was mixing it up. Makes for a nice bit of crunchyness, if you like that sort of thing. Makes an especially nice piece of toast!

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), November 25, 2000.

Gee, Kathleen, I wish the "experts" were right, as I like oats and barley better than I like wheat. Unfortunately, the expert I have to believe is my stomach. It says wheat is better than oats. I can actually have a small amount of wheat without terrible effects -- not so with oats. >:-(

Maybe your tolerances will be different. Which just goes to prove again, "one size" does not fit all!

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), November 25, 2000.



When I was a kid, Mom used to grow millet for "on the stalk" chicken feed, just let the birds in when they need a feedin'. Moral of the story is this: birds LOVE millet so if you grow it you're gonna have to make sure you can keep the birds from harvesting it faster than you can. I use it like any other grain, in breads and cereal, pilafs, etc.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), November 25, 2000.

We have grown the white proso before, it is a very easy crop and matures rapidly. We did not have trouble with birds harvesting before we could. It has a stalk that really doesn't hold a bird too well. Of course if you leave it until over mature you really lose it. We harvested with a scythe and stacked it and fed it out all winter to the chickens. It is really easy to hand harvest into a bucket in the field and then winnow it on a windy day. I have quite a few recipes if you are really interested. diane in michigan

-- Diane Green (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 25, 2000.

Joy, I have a recipe for millet and vegetable soup from my Great Grains cookbook. If that's the kind of thing you're interested, just email me and I'll send it to you- or if you think other people would want to see it, I could post it here- just let me know which is better. : )

-- Kristin, in C. Alabama (positivekharma@aol.com), November 25, 2000.

Joy, I just did a search, and these sites might help: www.google.com/search?q=millet+recipes This is a list of sites with millet recipes. It looks like the LDS recipe site might have several recipes that would fit what you're looking for, including breads, casseroles, and soup: www.ldscn.com/pioneer-cooking/millet.shtml Hope this helps- enjoy!

-- Kristin, in C. Alabama (positivekharma@aol.com), November 25, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ