Native American Food

[Rintimtin]

That fry bread is good.

 

[InfantryWeaponsOfficer]

Miccosukee Acorn Bread

1 Cup Acorn Meal
1 Cup Whole Grain Flour
2 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoon Raw Sugar/or sorghum
1 Egg
1 Cup Milk
1 Tablespoon Melted Butter


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine acorn meal, white flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
In separate bowl, mix together egg, butter and milk. Combine dry and liquid ingredients.
Mix everything together the batter will be a bit lumpy. Put the batter into greased prepared loaf pan.
Bake at 400 degree for 30 minutes.

Here is how you make the Acorn Meal
Gather a couple pounds of fallen oak acorns. Don't pick them. Toss the ones that are cracked, have holes, moss or mold. Peal the acorns. Boil them 4-5 times using clean water each time. Eventually the water will stop turning brown when the water stays relatively clear you're good to go. Next drain and bake the acorns in the oven about 300 degrees for an hour. A pizza stone is best but a cookie sheet will work. Let them cool then grind with a coffee grinder, food processor or blender

 

[Maze 686]

Anything with blue berries.

 

[shouldazagged]

Food is great history.

It certainly is, and a fascinating study.

Thanks for the interesting posts so far, folks.

Snubby, do you have a recipe for moki-maani?

 

[Waywatcher]

Well, from my deep interest in anthropology, here's a few quick guidelines:

Any Native American recipe that involves beef, dairy, wheat (flour), or pork is not truly traditional. They were all brought over by Europeans.

And lest I be categorized as biased, any "traditional European" dish involving potatoes, tomatoes, peppers (of any kind), or corn is not truly traditional. They are all "new world" ingredients.

 

[jadek669]

When our boys were young we did the acorn bread and also tried the water lily roots. We have a cottage on a small lake that you could drink the water out of so I felt ok doing it. Nothing to write home about though. Wife wrote down the bannack? bread recipe. It sounds tasty..

 

[mick1213]

I grew up on cornbread, made only with plain cornmeal and water. Can be fried or baked in an oven. It's a heavy bread, not for everyone. I enjoy it with greens especially.

 

[sureshotbob]

I asked my wife and she said that they grew up so poor they'd eat what ever they got and were happy to get it. She had 13 brothers and sisters and grew up in a place called the flats in Holton Maine it was where most of the Indians lived it was next to the dump and had one water pump for all the family's. When she was 6 years old her Mom died and her and 3 of her sisters went to live in a convent. She said it was the best thing for them.
Back when I first married her in 1992 her brother was chief for 12 years (elected post every 4 years} and with federal money they bought a old farm and that is now the reservation .Over the years they have built housing and offices I always tease her and say when we retire we can move to the reservation but she say's NO WAY!!
Back when I was young and liked to backpack I had a book called Earth food & Indian medicine. I did try several things such as Arrowhead root and Cattail root, wild Water crest and Indian cucumber also try'd seeping Sumac berries in cold water for a ice tea type drink. I'll have try to find that book as I think still I have it.

 

[jdf1966]

I enjoy watching Andrew Zimmern, though some of the stuff he chokes down is really appalling to me. But he did a program in Appalachia that included a Cherokee family feast featuring ancestral dishes like hazelnut bread, trout cooked with sumac, etc. Looked great, and it was nice to see the meal blessed in Cherokee.

I don't know a lot about Native American food, but would like to know more. I know we have some Indian folks on the forum, and would be glad to hear from you, preferably with recipes.

A woman I used to work with had been married to a Navajo who told her he had grown up eating beans cooked with beef (he preferred a chuck roast) and chilis. I've tinkered with that one for a few years, and in a little while will sit down to a bowl of it with tortilla chips. My version certainly isn't traditional, may not be authentic at all, but it sure is tasty. Pinto beans and boneless chuck short ribs, cooked long and slow, with the addition of a little diced jowl bacon, in a chili beef broth seasoned with herbs and cumin.

Anybody else have any contributions? Anything you remember from childhood, learned from Indian friends, or have researched?

If u can find a pow wow with fry bread , try that, and try to weasel a recipie from the cook,great with anything u like, jam or gravy works well! Have fun!

 

[shouldazagged]

I asked my wife and she said that they grew up so poor they'd eat what ever they got and were happy to get it. She had 13 brothers and sisters and grew up in a place called the flats in Holton Maine it was where most of the Indians lived it was next to the dump and had one water pump for all the family's. When she was 6 years old her Mom died and her and 3 of her sisters went to live in a convent. She said it was the best thing for them.

Your wife must be a very strong lady, Bob. And you can tell her I said so.

 

[Dashriprock]

This place is a mile from my office -- excellent lunch spot:

Home :: Tocabe an American Indian Eatery

 

[shouldazagged]

This place is a mile from my office -- excellent lunch spot:

Home :: Tocabe an American Indian Eatery

I read the menu. Looks great. I envy you.

 

[BearBio]

Although I am not tribally registered, my Grandmother's registry from the Dawe's Roll is on the wall behind me.

Gumbo especially made with file;
anything with corn;
BBQ (from the Caribe Indians =but they used human meat);
any game (except pheasant);
any FRESH seafood==shellfish, boiled shrimp, grilled fish;
unleavened breads;
"Indian tacos" (made with mutton stew)-a staple on the "rez"
Fry bread (i like it with cinnamon & sugar-honey is too sticky).
Indian chewing gum=mint leaves dipped in honey.
jerky
huckleberries
wild mushrooms,
beans, especially dried.
potatoes (yams, camus root, celery root, etc.)
wild rice


When we lived in Sacramento (Yuba City) we went to SF one day along some backroads through the marshes of the East Bay (Suisan Marsh area). We stumbled onto an old cafe/diner that served Farm meals (open Tues-Sat and 6AM til1PM). It was run by a middle-aged Indian couple (one of the Gabrieleno tribes). They had great frybread=we'd go there every couple of months for breakfast. Well, they had their rent raised and decided to close up in favor of doing a booth at pow-wows.

Well, we attended their "closing the doors party" and I ordered frybread. The wife invited the misses into the kitchen and taught her to make frybread. Ummmmm!

 

[snubbyfan]

It certainly is, and a fascinating study.

Thanks for the interesting posts so far, folks.

Snubby, do you have a recipe for moki-maani?

Moki-maani is ground up dry meat, melted fat and ground up dried fruit mixed together and allowed to harden. The meat and fat is usually about a 50-50 mix. It's kinda like Indian power bars. I've never had "real" moki-maani, rather I snack on dried fruit and jerky. My version of moki-maani. Today at physical therapy I snacked on my moki-maani, beef jerky and dried mango slices.

 

[the ringo kid]

The problem with restaurant Buffalo is that since it's lean it's easy to over cook and dry out. We had restaurant Buffalo before and they put so many sauces and stuff on it you couldn't really taste the meat.
We found some ground Bison in the store the other day, it's not a meat you can just set and ignore until it's done. Ya gotta babysit it and take it off the heat just before it's completely cooked and cook it thick to retain the juices. The only spice I put on it is rubbed sage.

The only place around here I know of that serves Bison is a Greek owned place (excellent and expensive too) called: Nikos. They served it cubed-but still was awesome and tasted good-but then again--my Palate aint too high falootin like others may be.

 

[the ringo kid]

I grew up on cornbread, made only with plain cornmeal and water. Can be fried or baked in an oven. It's a heavy bread, not for everyone. I enjoy it with greens especially.

I love it with homemade chili--and a tad of cheddar cheese thrown in.

 

[the ringo kid]

This place is a mile from my office -- excellent lunch spot:

Home :: Tocabe an American Indian Eatery

I recognized several items from the menu--and I have had them before--but called by a different name and made by some folks who moved to Houston from Honduras or El Salvador? I forget which? anyway, they make some of those same dishes but call it Mexican Food. Tell you what? I miss that place greatly. Those folks use a lot of Veggies in their foods--like Corn and such. Man it was all great. Same goes for their variations for Nachos.

Man im gettin hungry just now.

 

[finesse_r]

Are we talking maze and buffalo or what?

 

[Gyrene6891]

My fiance is Cow Creek, a lot of fish was consumed in the PNW.

 

[shouldazagged]

Are we talking maze and buffalo or what?

Maize and bison have been mentioned, yes. So have a number of other things. It's quite a varied picture so far. Interesting stuff.