A New GF Flour To Try

Post by **tex** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:34 am

Hi All,

Ever hear of mesquite flour? I don't believe we've ever discussed this before, but mesquite beans are an old traditional food in the Southwest, and parts of South America. Though they're commonly called "beans", they're not a conventionally produced bean - they're the seed of the mesquite tree. The mesquite tree is, however, a true legume, in that it is nitrogen-fixing, as are all legumes. Mesquite trees are very common, from about Central Texas, where I live, and even more so, west and south of here.

Interestingly, archaeological records left by the Anasazi Indians in the Chaco Canyon area of Northwestern New Mexico indicate that mesquite comprises approximately 50% of the archaeological food record, as compared with corn and conventional beans. In fact, it appears that, from the archaeological record, irrigation canal systems were built primarily to grow mesquite for food, fire wood, and building materials. For approximately 2000 years, mesquite meal was an integral part of the daily diet of Native Americans in Southwestern USA, Mexico, and many arid, and semi-arid regions of South America.

Mesquite flour is made by cleaning the mesquite pods, (by washing with water), sorting, milling, and sieving the resulting ground material. It has a distinctive rich flavor similar to mocha coffee, cinnamon and chocolate. When heated in the oven, alone or in mixtures, it releases a pleasant aroma that's somewhat similar to coconut. The most favorable response occurs when it constitutes from 10 to 20% by weight, of the total mix, so these days, it's usually used to provide flavor and aroma in baked goods, rather than for its structural characteristics.

Mesquite flour is gluten-free, of course. In Argentina, bakeries that cater to people who are gluten intolerant, use a mixture of 50% mesquite flour, 25% rice flour, and 25% manioc, (tapioca), flour. The mesquite flour has more protein and dietary fiber than either rice or manioc flour. Tests show that when mesquite flour is incorporated into corn chips at 10% of the mix, both non chip and chip eaters preferred the chips with mesquite. Mesquite also has anti-oxidant qualities.

In cooking, mesquite meal can be used as either a spice, or a flour. As a spice, you can sprinkle mesquite meal on almost anything to add flavor. As a flour, you can mix mesquite with other flours to use in baking. Mesquite flour products can be used as a baking ingredient or a seasoning in many food and drinks, including soups, vegetables, meat dishes, pancakes, muffins, cakes, pie crusts, cornbread, cookies, puddings, and ice cream. To order some to try:

http://www.casadefruta.com/SearchResult ... egoryID=22

Tex

angy · Post by **angy** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:09 pm

heres a uk link too tex!!! quite pricy though...

http://mesquite.gojiking.co.uk/

Post by **tex** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:59 pm

Hi Angy,

Thanks for the link to that site. You're right, it's much more expensive at the UK site. If I didn't make a math mistake, (using 2.20462262185 lbs per kg, and an exchange rate of 1 UK£ = 1.5381 USD), mesquite flour at the UK site would cost $13.26 USD, per pound, whereas at the U. S. site, it costs $9.00 per lb, (or $8.00 per lb, in 36 oz. bags).

Conversely, from the U. S. site, it would cost UK£12.90 per kg, or UK£11.47 per kg, depending on the size of the bag purchased. The prices are 32 to 40 % cheaper, at the U. S. site. That's a lot of difference.

Thanks,
Tex

Post by **tex** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:18 pm

Studies show that despite its sweetness, mesquite flour is very effective in controlling blood sugar levels, in people with diabetes. The sweetness comes from fructose, which the body can process without insulin. In addition, soluble fibers, such as galactomannin gum, in the seeds and pods slow absorption of nutrients, resulting in a flattened blood sugar curve, unlike the blood sugar spikes that follow consumption of wheat flour, corn meal, and other common staples. Supposedly, the gel-forming fiber in mesquite flour, allows foods to be slowly digested and absorbed over a four to six hour period, rather than in one or two hours, thus preventing the typical rapid rise in blood sugar seen with most conventional foods.

http://www.desertusa.com/jan97/du-smesquite.html

Here's a rather unique recipe for "mesquite crackers". These crackers are gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free, and they taste sort of like graham crackers.

Mesquite Crackers

1 c mesquite flour
1/2 c almond meal
2 tbsp sesame and flax seeds
1/2 c coconut oil
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp molasses

Mix all the ingredients into a stiff dough, chill for 45 min, and roll out between two sheets of wax paper, to the thickness of a thin cracker.

Slice into squares or triangles, and lay out on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 6-8 min, and watch closely, because they are easy to burn, if you bake them a little too long.

Tex

starfire · Post by **starfire** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:27 am

Mesquite sounds very interesting. Not only the flour but the tree itself.

Love, Shirley

Post by **tex** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:34 am

Shirley,

Mesquite is a very hardy plant. It grows under harsh conditions that would kill most trees, and, as any rancher can tell you - you can't kill a mesquite tree, unless you go to truly extreme measures. If you cut down a mesquite tree, for example, a dozen or more new trees will sprout from nodules in the roots.

If a meteor were to hit this planet, and totally exterminate all but three species living here today, those three surviving species would be rats, coyotes, and the mesquite tree.

Love,
Tex

starfire · Post by **starfire** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 10:50 am

Sounds like it can be a real boon or a very persistant aggrevation....... a tree that is very useful but you don't want to go planting a lot of them in certain places.

I looked it up and at least it provides some shade and wildlife habitat, unlike the types of Palm trees we have around here. I have yet to discover a use or reason for those things they call trees.

Here in our "community" you even have to trim them to keep them looking "nice" so they require effort without any return at all. What an attitued, huh.

Love, Shirley

Post by **tex** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 11:24 am

One of the biggest problems with mesquite trees is the large, tough, sharp-as-a-needle thorns on the branches. If you drive over one, it's virtually guaranteed to puncture a tire. People who have to drive in mesquite-infested pastures often use tire sealants to try to reduce the number of flat tires they have to deal with, but eventually, many tires will become so full of thorns that they have to be replaced, anyway, long before they are worn out, because there are just too many leaks to try to patch. Even small trees just a foot or two tall, will have thorns tough enough to puncture tires, and they get better with age, of course.

I'm guessing, then, that the palm trees in your neighborhood don't even reward you with coconuts.

Love,
Tex

starfire · Post by **starfire** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:06 pm

Nope, no coconuts, no dates...... nothing edible or shady...... but they don't give us flat tires at least. HaHa

Love, Shirley

angy · Post by **angy** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:49 pm

Aint heard of those trees in scotland!!thats one tough little plant lol!!

artteacher · Post by **artteacher** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:43 am

I'm here to tell you, mesquite trees are tougher than boiled owl. They're horrible nasty dangerous things, especially if you have one in your yard - and messy because they drop pods all over the place and the pods can't be raked up because they slide through the tines of the rake. So you have to pick them out of your gravel or grass by hand. AND then!! when you cut it down it keeps growing back from the roots.

But the flour sounds great!!

Thanks, Tex