Monthly Workshops

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Wild Foods For Survival

Looking through the old Gaia's Wheel Newsletters in the Harvest Celebrations I found this article about acorns. I had been looking for corn dollies as I wanted to share about making them, but this is even a better SHARE! There are lots of acorns this year. My goats love them and I tie them out under a tree and let them forage. I know, I have been told that acorns taint their milk, but we haven't noticed that much at all.
So here is the scoop on acorns. I'm going to try this out over the weekend and I'll keep you posted on my success...er...or not. I think I'll make the pancakes first as it's been awhile since I've treated my guys with any. Now, I don't think I'll let them in on what I used in the recipe until I get a report of how great they taste...or not!
    
 Acorns 
   A few white oaks have acorns sweet enough to be eaten raw or roasted. But, most oaks have extremely bitter acorns. The bitterness is due to the tannins. The acorns must be processed in boiling water to remove the tannins.
   Put the acorns in a pot of water and remove any that float. Boil for 15 minutes. Shell the acorns, chop them up, and boil again. (You can boil them in cheesecloth so you don't lose any pieces.) When the water turns brown, pour it off, add more water and boil again. Repeat until water no longer turns brown. Taste one to see if the bitterness is gone. If not, boil them until the bitterness is gone, then dry them in the oven at a very low heat.
   Acorn meal is made by grinding dry, raw acorn kernels, mixing the meal with the boiling water and pressing out the liquid through a jellybag. This process may be repeated several times with very bitter acorns. The meal is then spread thinly on shallow pans and dried in the sun or a very slow oven. It usually becomes partly caked during this process so
it must be reground, using a food chopper or hand grist mill. Acorn grits can be made by grinding up not quite as fine.
   Both acorn meal and grits are very dark-colored with a sweet, nutlike flavor. A lighter colored meal can be made with cold water leaching or rinsing. 

Harvest: Fall - Nuts
Nutrients (Per 100 grams) 
Calories - 48 Niacin - 0.5 mg. Thiamin - 0.02 mg. 
Calcium - 12 mg. Phosphorus - 314 mg. Vitamin A - 6 IU 
Fat - 0.1 grams Protein - 0.2 grams  
Iron - 0.02 mg. Riboflavin - 0.40 mg.  

Roasted Acorns 
3 cups water
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup lemon juice
6 to 8 Tbsp curry powder  1 heaping quart acorns
(processed to remove tannins)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp seasoned salt  
  
Boil 2-1/2 cups water. While this boils, put another 1/2 cup water in a blender with garlic, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup curry powder. Blend until smooth. Add this to the boiling water along with acorns and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain acorns. In a baking dish, add acorns, olive oil, salt, and rest of curry powder. Roast at 300 degrees for 45 to 90 minutes, stirring often, until the acorns are dry and well-roasted, but not hard. 

Acorn Glaze 
2 cups sugar
1 cup water  1/8 tsp cream of tartar
Pinch of salt  

Put in a small saucepan and boil until you see the very first hint of browning. Set the small saucepan in a kettle of boiling water to keep the contents liquid and dip in whole acorn kernels, which have been pre-boiled as described above, using a pair of tweezers; then place them on wax paper to harden. This improves the appearance as well as the taste of the acorns and they can be served as a confection or with a meal, as a good hearty food. 

Acorn Bread 
Sift together dry ingredients:
1 cup Acorn Meal
1 cup white flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt  Beat together:
1 cup milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons salad oil  

Add this to the dry ingredients and stir just enough to moisten everything. Pour into a greased pan and bake in a 400'(f) oven for 30 minutes.

Or...Acorn Muffins:
You can fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full of the same batter and bake only 20 minutes. 

Acorn Pancakes  
2 cups acorn meal
2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp shortening  1 tsp salt
1 beaten egg  

Mix all ingredients. Cook like regular pancakes. They are delicious, tasting much like rich brown bread 

It's better to regret something you have done, than regret something you HAVEN'T done.

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