Acorns make so many recipes better. I’m a vegetarian and I’m pleased to have the extra protein and nutrition. It often takes the place of cheese, probably because acorns are satiating.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
Once thawed, the pre-cooked, pre-frozen acorn meal is excellent to make sandwiches with, use in dips or whatever your imagination can dream up. Sometimes it’s hard to find new cooking ideas, but acorn dishes never fail to delight guests. A bowl of acorn dip brings smiles, and a lot of interesting conversation.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
I usually shell the acorns soon after I’ve gathered them, and fill plastic sandwich bags and put them in the freezer, to leach later. I have two ways of using leached acorns. I either add them to a recipe that needs cooking, or I simmer the thoroughly leached acorns in water for about fifteen minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly, (they can stick to the pan and burn). After they cool, I freeze this water and meal. The freezing separates the mush from the water. Freezing in two-cup size portions, after thawing, (don’t thaw out in the microwave or using heat, you’ll get porridge,) I like to turn them into a kitchen strainer. You can also just squeeze the water out of the thawed acorns, and you now have a fabulous food to cook with.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
In a way, acorns remind me of tofu. They’re a vegetable protein and they need to be ground and prepared using lots of water. The mass of ground acorns looks similar to raw blended soybeans. I found preparing acorns much easier than making tofu. I also put a little note on the refrigerator that reminds me what day I leached the acorns.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
Acorns can be leached in a shorter period by other methods, like constant water running through them, but I like to leach them in the refrigerator for at least a week. Leaching large quantities in big bowls or buckets is fine too, but difficult to keep refrigerated.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
Acorns are nature’s food, unfortunately, in California, the Oaks are falling to the hands of developers and agriculture. It is a great loss. Besides producing tons of food, there’s always the charming silhouette of your favorite oak against the horizon. Acorns can help local economies. They are there for the taking. They’re everywhere! In the parks, on school grounds, along the roads, maybe right outside your door.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
Sho’-kish (Yuki Indian name for this acorn)
Ha’-ha (Concow Indian name for this acorn)
This tree is thought to form a “connecting link” between oaks and chestnuts. Botanists are not considering it a “true” oak. According to several sources, the acorn of the Tanbark Oak was highly prized by California Native Americans. This attractive and slender evergreen grows abundantly along the west coast, from about a 300-foot elevation to 4,000 feet. Growing up to 100 feet tall, it can grow up to six feet in diameter. You may find it growing alongside redwoods and Douglas fir. The oblong leaves of Tan Oak are light green with “rusty hairs” on the underside, medium in size, sharply toothed, not divided or lobed, not bristle-pointed. The leaves are regularly toothed. The oblong acorns are set in shallow cups.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
All the Indian names for this Oak ought to give you a pretty good idea how well loved this tree was and still is. This Oak is deciduous; the leaves are four to six inches long. The leaves are sharp and the lobes are bristle pointed. The acorns reach an inch or so in length, and the acorn cups are heavy and thick. Over and over again, I read that Black Oak acorns make the best bread. I’ve made bread with them and it was good. Once, I somehow got the tiniest bit of peppermint into the recipe, by accident, and it was a surprise how delicious it was.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
Let’s face it… most acorns are hard to crack. Here are my two favorite methods:
Get a large tin cookie sheet and a river rock that weighs a couple of pounds. Watch your fingers and crack away.
The second way is my favorite. Get a Texan Nut Sheller. It will get your acorns cracked. Be CAREFUL. This nutcracker is razor sharp. Literally. So, keep it away from children.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
Some folks turn their nose up to acorns as food, but acorns are to be respected. They sustained Native populations for thousands of years. They are not poisonous but you must leach them first. Added to recipes, they are delicious. Many a dish is made better by the addition of acorns. Gather ‘em, crack ‘em, leach ‘em, cook ‘em and eat ‘em.
Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:
suellenocean 