Millet in Chicken, Rosemary & Thyme Broth with Shrimp & Radicchio
One of my favorite things to do when it comes to cooking, is to take really simple ingredients- even things that people probably wouldn't necessarily chose to eat... and to turn them into something that people might find hard to resist...
Take this evenings supper for example- a small, bitter radicchio, a cupful of millet, a couple of Spring onions and herbs- and sure, the yummy shrimp... but would you really expect those few meager ingredients to turn into such a heavenly supper? Nope- me either... but they most certainly did!!
This was such a treat and absolutely perfect after a hard days work as there is no more than 5-10 minutes of work involved in making it and between 15-20 minutes of patience for the millet to boil in-between... and that's something all of us can manage, right?
So let me recap- 1 cupful of millet, 5 shrimp, 1 radicchio, 2 Spring onions, 1 sprig of rosemary, 5-6 sprigs of thyme, 1 bay leaf and some chicken broth were the ingredients- it doesn't take much to make a lot when it comes to cooking sometimes!
Millet is not one of those things that people tend to eat these days- and sure enough, it is rather bland in itself... but then so is rice and quinoa if we don't season and flavor them! I bought mine at a local Asian supermarket- it is much less expensive and equally as versatile... and so I decided to see what I could do with it!
The only work involved is in cutting the radicchio into quarters, finely slicing one of the Spring onions and cutting the other one into nice bite-sized pieces- th-th-th-th-that's all folks!
Bring 2 cupfuls of chicken broth and 2 cupfuls of water up to the boil- you don't want the broth to be too rich. Add 3-4 sprigs of thyme, a sprig of rosemary, the bay leaf and the millet, bring back up to the boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer.
Let the millet simmer away for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, but basically, gently boiling until the grains have absorbed all of the broth and have grown fluffy and tender and delicious.
After around 20 minutes, it will look like this- the herbs will have fallen away from their stems and have packed the millet with flavor and most of the broth will have been absorbed. Remove the stalks and the bay leaf, put the lid back on and let it sit and steam dry whilst you quickly fry the shrimp, radicchio and onion.
I tossed the shrimp, onion and radicchio in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter, with a pinch of salt and pepper, over a hot stove...
... and just 3-4 minutes later... this is what they looked like! You can add garlic if you wish and it would have made this probably better still... but this evening I left it plain and simple... also good!
Served up together, with a final sprinkle of thyme and a last touch of pepper, it was simply a delicious combination!
Really, really simple... and simply wonderful! Again... my kinda food! This is what makes me smile! And keeps me well fed! Haha!
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