Round the Old Oak Tree

Monday, September 05, 2011

There are all sorts of nut trees in my neighborhood, but none so plentiful as oak trees . . . which produce acorns. You can’t drive down my street in the fall without getting pelted by these little nuggets. Despite their wide availability, you don’t really see acorn meats for sale at the grocery store—that doesn’t mean they’re not edible, though. They’re good for you, too: 1 oz. of dried acorns has only a small amount of saturated fat, and they’re a good source of copper and vitamin B-12.

Foraging for acorns is the tricky part—the ones on the ground without the caps are likely to be riddled with worms. And some varieties of oak produce acorns high in tannins, which makes them bitter. I won’t bore you with the details of which oak trees produce the best acorns. Other posts have already been written on the topic of what to look for, how to shell them, and the best way to dry them. The real question is this: after you’ve spent the time to gather and prep them, what the hell do you do with them?

Acorn stuffing
Acorn wine
Acorn bread
Acorn pancakes
Spiced picked acords
Acorn stew

All you have to do is beat the squirrels to the oak trees.