Chinook Bread

* 1 cup acorn meal
* 1 cup flour
* 2 tablespoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup milk
* 1 tablespoon corn oil
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted but not too hot



1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the acorn meal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Stir well.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and oil, then gradually whisk in the melted butter.
4. To the bowl containing the dry ingredients add the liquid ingredients and stir to combine all, but do not overmix - the batter will be a bit lumpy.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in 400 degree F oven for 30 minutes.
6. Note: If you don't have acorn meal, you can make your own! They're easy to prepare, and similar to chestnuts. Gather your acorns, examining them as you do so; throw away defective ones (cracked, moldy, wormy, etc). Shell the acorns; early in the season (August-September) the shell is usually soft enough to cut through, later season nuts might need a cracker. Boil the raw acorns until the water no longer turns brown (it'll look much like tea), changing water until it's clear. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F and roast the nuts in a single layer on a sheet pan for 90 minutes. Make dry meal by processing them in a food processor until they're a texture similar to regular corn meal.
7. Possible additions: a little cinnamon and/or nutmeg would be very nice in this bread!