Acorn - Rosemary Johnnycakes, A Simple Delicacy

This post is my contribution to the Wild Things Round Up - it's Acorn month! Brought to you by Hunger and Thirst

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November brings a nice bumper crop of wild nettles. Which, in my house, gets to become one with homemade chicken soup. And to accompany the soup, what could be more appropriate for this season of nuts? Acorn Johnnycakes!

I can't take a whole lot of credit for these, however I will say that I am proud of helping to cultivate a wee bit of primitive skill and resourcefulness in my kiddos. My twelve year old son came up with these luscious and simple cracker-cakes. We were completely blown away by how delicious they were, with the richness of the acorn meal, the crispy fried outside, and the soft, warm inside. The crunchy texture of the yellowdock seeds adds another layer of interest and wild nutrition.

Acorn Rosemary Johnnycake Recipe: 

(Makes about 10-14 cakes)

• 3 C Flour (of choice - whole wheat, almond, etc)
• 1/2 C ground Acorn Four/Meal
• 1/2 C Yellow Dock seeds, whizzed in a food processor
• 3 cloves fresh garlic
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• oregano and/or rosemary to taste (about 1/2 tsp)
• 1 tsp, approx, of  Salt
• 1 tsp approx, of baking soda

Add enough filtered or well water, or almond milk, to create a malleable dough, like play dough

Create thin patties, as though you were going for crackers. Fry them in a cast iron pan with a layer of unrefined coconut oil, on medium heat. Flip them once like you would a pancake. They will get toasty on the outsides and rise a little bit due to the baking soda. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on the tops just before removing them from the pan. 

Eat them warm! They are not so good once they have rested. But when they are warm ... ooohh la la so delicious! We ate them with big globs of goat cheese. m m m

Foraging friends ;)

Freedom in an hour

My desperation for spring greens peaked this afternoon. I thought I was going to implode. So with a little hope I put on my rain jacket, grabbed my scissors and bowl, and took the great liberty of a nomadic hour in the hazy, drizzly day to forage my yard for the first edibles. 

Most of them are hardly picking size, and relatively few are above earth yet. I took it slow, combing back and forth for the little patches reaching up into the rain, long enough to clip. Freshly cool and wet, the vitality radiating from these densely nutritious spring greens is evident even before the first bite. Taking my sweet time to acquire a full bowl, leaf by leaf, is a gift. 

The bitters are not that bitter yet - but rather the perfect amount of bitter, imparting clarity and energy. The dandelions are supremely edible, the garlic mustard a burst of flavor. The bedstraw is succulent and deliciously mild, and the violets are slippery and crisp. Little rosettes of ground ivy add flavor and health, Comfrey shoots add more flavor and softness. My chives are up so they got a haircut too. 

There is scarcely another action, with maybe the exception of homeschooling my children, that gives me quite this level of deep abundance. In one hour I have a bowl of the most nutritious, vital, organic, as-local-as-it-gets, FREE food. The dressing and olives and feta paled in comparison, I may as well eaten the greens without (but the oil and vinegar were herbal infused:), and they help assimilation). 

What's additionally miraculous to me, is that I can do the same thing all over again, every day, for the next two or three months, if I want to. They will just keep growing, and then they will bud, and then flower, and then seed, and make more shoots...... and the simplest miracle of living on Earth I can take into my very body in every moment of gathering and tasting and swallowing. 

The season for foraging is my freedom; my liberty. In fact, it is everybody's liberty. 

Who needs lettuce?

When you have Sassafras, Violet, and herbs? I suppose I cheated with the dressing ....

And the feta :)
YUM