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Hoser
Admin Group Joined: 06 February 2010 Location: Cumberland, RI Status: Offline Points: 3454 |
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Posted: 15 October 2015 at 03:59 |
We have a bumper crop of acorns around these parts this year.....just wondering if anyone has a recipe for soaking the bitterness out of them, or possibly roasting them...a la chestnuts?
Brook? It's certainly historic food.
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Go ahead...play with your food!
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drinks
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 19 September 2014 Location: male Status: Offline Points: 372 |
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Black oaks and live oaks have a lot of tannic acid, really too much to bother messing with.
White oaks have much less, one swamp white oak near where I used to live had acorns that were eatable with just a good rinse and toasting, however the quality varies from tree to tree even in the same specie. Most people who eat acorns, shell, coarsely chop and either soak in several changes of water or place the nut meats in a net bag and place in running water to leach out the acid. Quite a bit of work. |
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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The way the woodland tribes did it is similar to Drinks' instructions, only they actually ground them, rather than cut in pieces.
Using a special grinding plate---basically a flat rock with hemispheric depressions, they would grind the acorns either in running water, or by pouring water over them. Once the acid was removed they'd dry the meal, and use it pretty much like flour. Soon as I have a minute to spare I'll check my Native American cookery books to see what I can come up with. While I confident Europeans copied this, particularly in times of privation, I have no documentation that they did. |
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gonefishin
Master Chef Joined: 20 September 2012 Status: Offline Points: 1778 |
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Wow, the finished powder (flour) sound delicious...I'm thinking cookies, pancakes and breads right off the bat. Breadings...
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Enjoy The Food!
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drinks
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 19 September 2014 Location: male Status: Offline Points: 372 |
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My experience has been that the acorns do not have much flavor after removing the tannic acid, the required treatment seems to remove the oils and esters that give the nut a flavor.
Toasting helps some,but pecans , walnuts and even almonds have more flavor. |
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Hoser
Admin Group Joined: 06 February 2010 Location: Cumberland, RI Status: Offline Points: 3454 |
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Sure sounds like quite a bit of work for little return.
Perhaps I'll channel my energy in a different direction and just make some sausage instead. Been wanting to try out a recipe for Irish style bangers I found a while back. Thanks for all the info anyway guys.
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Go ahead...play with your food!
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pitrow
Master Chef Joined: 22 November 2010 Location: Newberg, Oregon Status: Offline Points: 1078 |
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Get some pigs and let them eat the acorns, then eat the pigs. Win, win situation!
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Mike
Life in PitRow - My often neglected, somewhat eccentric, occasionally outstanding blog |
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gonefishin
Master Chef Joined: 20 September 2012 Status: Offline Points: 1778 |
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pitrow, that was one of my first thoughts as well.
Actually, I know a few pig farmers that will move their pigs to feed on the fallen nuts in fall time. The other farmer can't move is pigs to the trees, so he pays his kids $1 for every bucket they collect. |
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Enjoy The Food!
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Tom Kurth
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 10 May 2015 Location: Alma, MO Status: Offline Points: 251 |
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Is it right that hogs fed on acorns develop a uniquely flavored meat?
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Best,
Tom Escape to Missouri |
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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Frankly, Dan, it’s only hard, time-consuming work if you use Native American methods. Things are a lot easier in the modern kitchen.
For instance, according to the “Native Indian Wild Game, Fish, & Wild Foods Cookbook,” here’s how to prepare acorn meal: “Make meal by grinding dry, raw acorn kernels. Mix with boiling water and press out liquid through a cheesecloth. With very bitter acorns, repeat this process several time. 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. In modern usage, acorn meal is almost always mixed with flour. Thus: Acorn Bread 1 cup acorn meal 1 cup flour 2 tbls baking powder ½ tsp salt 3 tbls sugar 1 egg beaten 1 cup milk 3 tbls oil Sift together acron meal, white flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In separate bowl, mix together eggs, 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. This is similar to adding other grains to white flour. But, because it’s a quick bread, you can use a higher percentage of “other” meal. I can’t document it, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that the Cherokee supplemented their bean breads with the addition of acorn meal. I know they used acorns. In fact, I have part of one of those grinding plates I described above (part because it had been, unfortunately, hit by a plow before I found it while hunting arrow heads). A similar recipe is this one, for Acorn Pancakes 1 cup acorn meal 1 cup flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 3 tbls sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1 ½ cups milk 3 tbls oil Stir together dry ingredients. In separate bowl mix together eggs, milk and oil. Then, combine dry ingredients with liquid mixture. Spread batter thinly on a hot griddle. When edges begin to bubble, flip and brown on other side. Serve with maple syrup or jelly I'll check with friends who specialize in Native American foodways to see about additional recipes and other uses. |
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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket |
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drinks
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 19 September 2014 Location: male Status: Offline Points: 372 |
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In considering uses of acorns, I do feel changing them into squirrel ,deer and pig is the most economic use of them.
;<) |
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HistoricFoodie
Admin Group Joined: 21 February 2012 Location: Kentucky Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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I used to tell folks I didn't really like venison. But it was the only way I got to eat my parsnips. |
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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket |
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Effigy
Chef Joined: 17 June 2013 Location: New Zealand Status: Offline Points: 633 |
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A bit of interesting history....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgjFsR-c0-Q
Start at 17:10...fattening pigs. |
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Resident Peasant
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