I was rereading several accounts of the SW trappers lately including Pattie, Yount and others and decided to give a whack at grinding mesquite pods. In those accounts, trappers in the SW collected pods by the blanket full to feed their horses and traded for mesquite flour or meal for the tribes. After roaming around the Chihuahuan Desert a bit I noticed that we had a bumper crop of them and have been chewing on the pods and squawbush berries on walks with my daughter. After a google search on mesquite flour, I went out and collected a grocery bag full to test it out. I dried them in the oven at 170 degrees to speed up the process and used the very traditional Osterizer blender/metate and plastic colander to sift it. Wasn't particularly difficult. Got about a 1/3 of a gallon of meal or flour out of it. Its quite sweet and nutty tasting, and its supposedly got 12-16% protein in it. I'm gonna add a bit into my two year old's favorite pancake recipe in the morning and I'll let you know what she thinks of it tomorrow. If it works out I may have to go pick a couple garbage bags full of them. Want to try some mesquite and blue corn tortillas, too.

Sean

SACMTNMAN SOUNDS REAL INTERESTING. YOU THINK OF TRYING IT FOR FLATBREAD! MYSELF HAVE DONE SAME BUT WITH PINENUTS, BUT FOUND I HAD TO MIX WITH REGULER FLOUR 1PART TO TWO PARTS FLOUR. WORKS GOOD STILL GET THAT NUT FLAVER.

The panckakes were a qualified success. Need a better sifter than the plastic colander. Still a few crunchies here and there, but the princess ate 2 whole pancakes. Of course they had plenty of oats in there to disguise any pieces of hull left in it. The flour mix I used in the recipe was 1 cup all purpose, 1/2 cup mesquite, and 1/4 whole wheat. When you add a cup and a half of rolled oats to that, it makes a burly pancake that sticks with you.

John, aside from tortillas, I'm going to try it as a full replacement in hoecake recipe which is panfried flatbread. I tried it as pinole and it was darned fine. Pinole is a traditional Mexican/Indian drink where you mix corn meal with milk or water and maybe add a touch of nutmeg. I like your nutflour idea. Might have to try that if we end up with a decent pinyon crop this year.

Sean

Say SacMtnman,

Do you think there are any Mesquite floor brands in the supermarket... No Mesquite up here in the Pac. Nor. WET. Sounds mighty good...

TT,

$9 a pound over the internet.

http://www.casadefruta.com/Sea...t.aspx?CategoryID=22

Sean

So prior to heading home I went out on the West Mesa last night to collect more pods. When you've got a little one sometimes night is the only time you get to do things like this. Thankfully no Border Patrol asking me what I was doing. "Picking beans to make pancakes for my daughter, sir." "Yeah, sure. Please step out of the bushes, son. And keep those hands up." No rattle snakes either. Low year for them. Saw 4 great horned owls and 6 burrowing owls, plus a boatload of bannertail K-rats and some really great spiders. Ended up with about 10# of pods and had had a fine evening wandering around in the desert. Great way to end a trip.

Sean