Wild Foods For Survival
This excerpt is from the archives of Gaia's Wheel Newsletters. Reading this article brought back fond memories of Harvest Celebrations where our group celebrated with a potluck and shared recipes. There are plenty of acorns this year, and before I sold the last of my girls, my goats loved them and I would tie them out under a tree and let them forage.
So here is processing info and interesting recipes. I have not taken on this task myself...as it seems the process is pretty time intensive. This time of year I am always busy with other canning. SOME DAY I will, I swear!
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.
