I simply pluck the seeds from the stems, make sure they are thoroughly dry, then roast them in a 350F oven for 8 minutes or until they are slightly darker and fragrant. The flour is fairly easy to make as well. Curly dock grows all over the Pacific Northwest and is easily spotted in the fall by its rust-colored stalks of flat seeds sticking out above the grasslands. If you want to learn more about this process, I recommend John Kallas’s book “ Edible Wild Plants.” John was who showed me this process and his book is a wealth of knowledge! If you don’t want to go through all of this bother (and I won’t hold it against you), you can often find acorn starch in Asian markets.Ĭurly dock flour is another new favorite of mine. Here is a very quick overview of how I do it: I gather the acorns, shell them, put the freshly-shelled acorns through a meat grinder, dehydrate that meal, put that through a flour grinder with grinding stones, then leach the fine flour in cold water for a day in a shallow muslin strainer before dehydrating it and grinding it briefly one more time to break up the chunks. (And they taste terrible - bitter and very drying in your mouth!) Once they are leached out, however, the acorns are absolutely delicious and nutritious. Fresh acorns contain very high levels of tannins, which are toxic to humans in that amount. It lends a subtle sweetness to baked goods and is fantastic in desserts and puddings (a lot of the nut is starch, so it can be used to thicken puddings in the same way cornstarch is used as long as they are cold-leached.) The downside to acorn flour is that it takes a LOT of processing. It’s nutty, almost maple-like, and has a delicious caramel maple scent. Here’s a little info on both:Īcorn flour is like nothing else. They are made with two of my new favorite wild ingredients: acorn flour and curly dock flour. I’m including several recipes below with different qualities - feel free to pick your favorite or just tuck the conversation starters into your favorite roll recipe. These rolls are designed to be gluten free, but are easily adapted to using normal flour as well. Get to know your family members better! And better yet, once Uncle George goes off on yet another political ramble at the Thanksgiving table, hand him a roll and change the topic of conversation to something everyone can enjoy. Inside each roll is a question designed to promote an interesting discussion. These aren’t just harboring a little trinket, though, they offer the gift of conversation. Why not create your own fun holiday tradition around this idea? I present to you: wholesome gluten free dinner rolls containing a surprise to enjoy. I love reading about various traditions all over the world where things are tucked away in special or not-so-special meals, from the lucky almond in Norwegian Yule rice pudding to the sometimes-hilarious fortunes inside fortune cookies at take-out Chinese restaurants. Slash the top of each loaf and bake for 30 to 40 minutes Or until the bottom of the loaves sound hollow when tapped (the bake time will vary based on the size of the loaves).There is something so exciting to me about finding surprises in my food. Brush the top of the loaves with egg wash sprinkle With some additional seeds (optional). Allow the loaves to rest for about an hour. Place the loaves into prepared pans and cover. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 equal sized portions and shape into loaves. Punch the dough down and scrape out onto a floured work space. Let the dough rest for another 2 hours our until doubled. Knead the dough adding additional flour as needed for about 15 minutes or until you get a smooth, elastic dough (this dough will be rather stiff). The next day add in the ingredients listed under Day 2, perhaps holding back a bit of the flour. This will expand the seeds and make them chewy, which will help bind them to the dough. Let The mixture sit Over night at room temperature. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients listed under Day 1 and cover with a clean towel. The ingredients will make two large or three standard sized loaves. The following is the recipe used for these lovely loaves. This recipe will regularly come up in my bread baking schedule. The loaf has a crisp exterior, soft center, is full of nutrients and even better is really yummy. The bread required two day to prepare but was worth every minute of effort. The one that came closest to what I was looking for is a Norwegian Mountain bread (Fjellbrod) that uses a variety of seeds and whole grain flours. To the point I spent the past few weeks exploring recipes and experimenting with ingredients to cobble together a flavor and chew that would address my need. I have really been missing European breads.
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