> i tried one. it was bitter. yuck.
that's cuz of the tannic acid content. you CAN make cookies and breads from
acorns as well as other goodies...below are some, as well the "how to" of
taking care of that tannic acid:
Acorn
To Shell:
Acorns are best shelled with a nutcracker or a pair of pliers. Simply grip
each nut the long way and pinch, then grip it the short way and pinch.
Presto!
Out pops the clean, white kernel.
To Grind:
Put a cup of shelled acorns in a blender, fill the blender's container up
with
water and whiz away at high speed for a minute or two.
To Leach:
Pour the acorn pulp into a dish towel lined colander. Place the colander
under slow running water and work the pulp around with your hand for about
five
minutes. The water now runs clear. Taste the meal. If bitter, continue
rinsing. The meal should taste rather bland. Press out the excess liquid
and
store in the refrigerator or freeze until ready to use.
To Use:
The possibilities are endless! Add acorn meal to mush, stew, or soup. Use
it in turkey dressing. Substitute acorn meal for corn meal or use it to
replace part of the flour called for by your favorite bread, cake or cookie
recipe. If you do substitute, cut down a bit on the usual amount of liquid
and
shortening, as the acorn meal is high in both vegetable oil and water
ACORN POUND CAKE:
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup acorn meal
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. soda
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Blend sugar, eggs and acorn meal together in a bowl. In another
bowl, sift salt cream of tartar and soda Stir the second mixture into the
first (a small amount at a time) alternately with milk. Add vanilla and
beat
well. Pour into an
oiled and floured circular pan (8 inch in diameter) and bake at 350 : for
about
1 hour. No need to make frosting
======================================
Acorn Bread
Acorn Snacks
Acorn Coffee
Acorn Bread
1 cup Acorn meal
1 cup Flour
2 Tbsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1 cup Milk
3 Tbsp Oil
Sift together, acorn meal, white flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In
separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, and oil. Combine dry ingredients and
liquid ingredients. Stir just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Pour into a
greased pan and bake at 400F. for 30 minutes.
Acorn Snacks
3 cups water
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup lemon juice
6-8 Tbsp curry powder
1 heaping Qt (already processed to get the tannins out) ACORNS
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp seasoned salt
Boil 2 1/2 cups water. while this boils put another 1/2 cup of water in
blender
w/ garlic, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup curry powder. Blend till smooth. Add
this
to boiling water along w/ acorns. simmer for 5 minutes.drain acorns and in
baking dish, mix them w/ olive oil, salt, and the rest of the curry powder.
Roast at 300 for 45-90 min. stirring often, till acorns are dry and well
roasted, but not hard.
Acorn Coffee
acorns
cracked wheat
water
Select plump, round, sweet acorns. Shell and brown in oven. Grind
in a coffee mill and use as ordinary coffee.
Hull out a half cup of small acorns. Add a half cup cracked wheat.
Mix. Roast in your oven. Pound in a mortar. Boil with water to
get your coffee. Add honey, molasses, or brown sugar to sweeten.
=========================================
Acorn Meal
Acorn Bread
Acorn Stew
Acorn Griddle Cakes
Acorn Meal
Acorns
Water
Make meal by grinding dry, raw acorn kernels (after shelling). Mix with
boiling water and press out liquid through a cheesecloth. With very bitter
acorns, repeat this process several times. Spread meal on a tray and
thoroughly dry in oven at 250F.
This meal will cake during the drying process. Regrind using a food chopper.
Then, seal in containers, preferably glass jars.
Note: All acorns contain tannic acid or tannin. This is what causes the
bitter taste, the same as the soft brown lining in pecans that we have all
tasted if we have cracked open pecans and eaten them raw. The white oak
family has less tannin than the black oak family. The white oak family
acorns I have tried are White Oak, Burr Oak, and Club Oak. There are many
varieties. White oaks have rounded leaves. Black oaks have pointed leaves.
Squirrels go for white oak acorns first. They're not dumb. They don't like
the tannin either. Black oak acorns will make you pucker up just like eating
unripe persimmons.
Acorn Bread
1 cup Acorn meal
1 cup Flour
2 Tbsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1 cup Milk
3 Tbsp Oil
Sift together, acorn meal, white flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In
separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, and oil. Combine dry ingredients and
liquid ingredients. Stir just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Pour into a
greased pan and bake at 400F. for 30 minutes.
Acorn Stew
2 1/2 lb Stew meat, cubed
1 1/2 qt Water, or more as needed
2 large Onions, coarsely chopped
-Salt and pepper to taste
2 3 pounds acorns (enough to make 1 cup of acorn meal)
Place meat into a pot with water and onions. Bring to boil, reduce heat and
simmer for 3-4 hours or until meat is very tender. Add more water if
necessary. There should be about 3 cups of broth when meat has been cooked.
Add salt and pepper to taste, and keep the stew warm. Shell the acorns and
grind them in food processor or blender into a very fine meal. With a
slotted spoon remove the meat and onions from the pot and place into a glass
bowl. Add the acorn meal to the broth and blend well. Bring the broth to
boil;
pour it
over the meat mixture and blend well. Adjust seasoning by adding more salt
and pepper if desired. Serve immediately with Indian Fry Bread.
Serves 6.
Acorn Griddle Cakes
2/3 cup finely ground leached acorn meal
1/3 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp honey
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp melted butter
Combine dry ingredients. Mix together egg and milk, then beat into dry
ingredients, forming a smooth batter. Add butter. Drop batter onto hot,
greased griddle. Bake, turning each cake when it is browned on underside and
puffed and slightly set on top. Makes 12 to 15.
========================================
Traditional Venison Acorn Stew
Acorn Stew
Acorn Bread
Acorn Griddle Cakes
Acorn Mush
Traditional Venison Acorn Stew
2 lbs venison, cut up
1 Cup finely ground acorn meal
Cover venison with water in pot or basket; Add hot rocks to simmer
until meat almost falls apart. Remove meat from broth and chop into
fine pieces. Return to pot with liquid and stir in acorn meal. Serve
hot.
Acorn Stew
1 lb stewing beef
1/2 cup finely ground acorn meal (tannin removed)
Salt and pepper to taste
Place beef in heavy pan and add water to cover. Cover with lid and
simmer until very tender. Remove from liquid and cut meat into very
fine pieces. Return meat to the liquid. Stir in the acorn meal. Add
salt and pepper as desired. Heat until thickened and serve.
Ethnic food enthusiasts like to substitute acorn meal for corn meal
when making muffins -- usually using 1/2 corn meal and 1/2 acorn. Some
have substituted 1/2 of the flour in a biscuit recipe with 1/2 acorn
meal. Experiment carefully, remembering that a good portion of the
work performed by flour has to do with the gluten in the floor. Acorn
has no gluten, so you'll have to keep this in mind.
Acorn Bread
6 Tbsp. cornmeal
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp sale
1 Tbsp butter
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 cup mashed potatoes
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup finely ground leached acorn meal
Mix cornmeal with cold water, add boiling water and cook 2 minutes,
stirring constantly. Add sale and butter and cool to lukewarm. Soften
yeast in lukewarm water. Add remaining ingredients to corn mixture,
along with yeast. Knead to a stiff dough. Dough will be sticky. Cover
and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk. Punch down, shape
into two loaves, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. Bake at 375
degrees F for 45 minutes.
A modern Acorn Bread recipe from the book "Cooking with
Spirit, - North American Indian Food and Fact", By Darcy Williamson
and Lisa Railsback
Acorn Griddle Cakes
2/3 cup finely ground leached acorn meal
1/3 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp honey
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp melted butter
Combine dry ingredients. Mix together egg and milk, then beat into dry
ingredients, forming a smooth batter. Add butter. Drop batter onto
hot, greased griddle. Bake, turning each cake when it is browned on
underside and puffed and slightly set on top. Makes 12 to 15.
Recipes found at
http://www.yvwiiusdinvnohii.net/NAIFood/acorns.htm
Acorn Mush
Black oak acorns
Water
Cooking basket
Fire pit
Hot rocks
Tongs
Harvest the acorns in the fall, dry well
Shell and pick off the red skin on the acorn (like a peanut skin)
Find a nice acorn pounding rock or a heavy duty bowl.
With a good sized basalt pestle pound away till the acorn is a fairly
fine grain/powder.
**Important** After pounding the acorns, you MUST leach them to remove
the tannin. Make a sand volcano, flatten the top and make a rim around
the edge. Cover with cheesecloth. Place a thin layer of acorn over the
cheesecloth and using a pine needle branch as a water breaker.
carefully pour cold water over the acorn. The water will seep through
fairly quickly. After a few leaches, taste a bit of the acorn and if
the bitterness has gone away, then it is ok.
In the meantime, make a fire pit and heat the rocks up.
Note: (you gotta have the right kind of rocks!)
Get the cooking basket and put in the pounded acorn. Add water about 2
to 1 ration. Using two poles as tongs or an antler, reach out a rock and
quickly
dip it in fresh water to get the ash off then place it in the
acorn/water cooking basket.
Get another rock. Repeat till the acorn is cooked. (about 5 minutes)
take out the colder rocks.
Note: if you stir the basket up with the rocks you'll wear it out.
Just turn the rock.
Servings:Two
Offered by Cindy ~ Passamaquoddy ~
....who notes the recipe has Miwok origins.
Recipe found at
http://www.nativetech.org/food/acorn.html
--
§Greenings from
http://www.endor.com/~poppy/index.html