Turkey stew with millet

I received a letter. A letter that completely knocked me off my feet. Not one that arrived in an envelope, through the post, sealed up, something you could actually touch. Not that sort of letter. I received it by electronic mail (unfortunately not the Polish post, but a foreign one 😉 and it still knocked me off my feet.

What’s more, it knocked everyone I showed it to off their feet as well (unfortunately I didn’t keep it entirely private, just for myself, but I showed it only to a few people closest to me).

I won’t go back to saying that I no longer have time to cook. That’s no excuse. Nor will I go back to saying that I shouldn’t eat at all, or certainly should eat much less. I won’t even mention that, even when I cook, I can’t keep making something new all the time.

I’ll also skip the fact that my daughter practically lives on a set of 6, perhaps 7 dishes. Breaded pork cutlet, chicken breast, turkey strips, pancakes or other crêpes, and of course her latest favourite, pizza. I was right — six. Not even seven.

But I received a letter after which, no matter how or where I looked… no excuse would do. A letter to me, a letter about cooking, from someone I didn’t know at all. It wasn’t a comment under a post. It wasn’t a Facebook like. It was a proper letter, a long one. Quite long. An electronic letter. A letter after which it would have felt wrong not to cook.

Dear Marcin… I discovered “Prymitywna Kuchnia” today at about 17:00 while searching for a recipe in my browser (I don’t even remember which one — it’s 23:30 and I’m still here with you) — suddenly I found myself in another world!!! (…)

So wrote Joanna, a stranger to me. Further on, after an embarrassingly generous string of compliments:

I read food blogs, and I admit that the introduction to a recipe rarely catches my attention — where it came from, how, why, and what do I care??? With you it’s the opposite — I was reading your “introductions” aloud to my husband…

Dear Joanna. I really must apologise for making such a humble stew to share my delight at your letter. Perhaps it’s further proof that cooking doesn’t always have to be about flavour and sophistication.

But I’d like you to know that it really was lovely. So thank you, and I wish you perseverance in cooking for your husband, in passing on the joy of cooking to your son, and all the best. The best stew, I mean. In everything 🙂

And it’s a good thing you wrote, because otherwise I’d have completely lost my touch.

At a glance:

Preparation time: about 50 – 60 minutes

Serves: two generous portions

Calories: on a nearly empty stomach, light as a dove

Ingredients for turkey in sauce with millet:

• 300 grams of turkey thigh meat (that is, from the turkey’s leg; mine was boneless, so a fillet 🙂
• half a large onion (or one medium one)
• 3 garlic cloves
• fresh parsley (two sprigs)
• a boil-in-the-bag sachet of millet (that’s 100 grams)
• 2 tablespoons of 12% sour cream
• a few whole mixed peppercorns
• ground black pepper
• salt
• olive oil
• hot red paprika powder

Recipe for turkey thigh stew with millet:

I washed the turkey meat thoroughly. I trimmed off the fat and all the membranes, then cut it into small pieces, 2 – 3 cm across. In a medium pot I heated olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and added the meat. I immediately salted it and added ground black pepper and hot red paprika powder (as hot as you like). I added three peeled garlic cloves cut into chunky pieces. I mixed everything thoroughly and fried it over a medium “flame”, stirring occasionally.

I finely diced the onion and added it to the pot with the meat. I stirred and fried it for another 3 – 4 minutes or so. The idea is for the meat to brown nicely rather than burn. The same goes for the onion and garlic.

Then I poured about a glass of water into the pot and added the washed, chopped fresh parsley. I also added a few mixed peppercorns. When the water evaporated, I added about another half glass. Altogether, I cooked it like this over a low “flame” for about 35 – 40 minutes.

While the meat was gently cooking, I prepared the millet. I boiled it, drained it and transferred it to a bowl.

But before the millet went into the turkey stew, I poured two tablespoons of 12% sour cream into a mug and added 3 – 4 tablespoons of liquid from the pot. This is to stop the cream curdling when added to the meat. I mixed the contents of the mug thoroughly before pouring them into the pot. I stirred well and let it cook briefly. Finally, I added the millet and mixed thoroughly. The dish is ready. It’s nothing particularly fancy, but it’s simple and tasty. It goes perfectly with something fermented — a cucumber would probably be best. Unfortunately I didn’t have one, but I found this stew went very well with ćwikła, grated beetroot with horseradish. Really good. Enjoy!