Recipe by Barbara Rose of Bean Tree Farm

Recipe makes 16-ounces, over ice

1 ounce mesquite syrup* (For recipes, see page 50 or 52 in the Eat Mesquite! cookbook)
1 ounce agave syrup
2 ounces tequila
3 ounces beer or kombucha (home-brewed if possible)
3 ounces fresh citrus juice (lemon, lime, grapefruit, experiment!)

Garnish with: salt, a hot chile, citrus wedges, mesquite pod swizzle sticks, as desired.Pour over ice into large, chilled, rim-salted glasses.

*For a more “mesquitey” flavor, increase the mesquite syrup and decrease agave syrup. Experiment and enjoy!

Thanks to Julie Leibach of Audubon Magazine for blogging about our cookbook and eating mesquite! Check out out her posts here:

magblog.audubon.org/new-cookbook-reveals-magic-mesquite-plus-recipe-mesquite-tamales
magblog.audubon.org/recipe-mesquite-margarita

This link takes you to a page with lots of distractions, but stay focused and you will find the recipe you seek and lots of other neat relevant info!

www.instructables.com/id/Locally-Harvested-and-Milled-Hearty-Mesquite-Bread/

Saturday, November 7, 2009,
9 am – 2 pm:
Dunbar/Spring Organic Community Garden, Tucson.
The mesquite pancake breakfast is from 9 am to noon.
The mesquite milling is from 8 am to 2 pm.

Also, the San Martin de Porres Festival will also be going on next door at the Holy Family Church. Check out both events and make a day of it!

At the Dunbar/Spring breakfast we proudly serve mesquite/whole-wheat pancakes made with all organic, local ingredients. The mesquite flour is made from native Velvet mesquite pods hand picked by Desert Harvesters around Tucson – with most of the pods picked from trees planted within the Dunbar/Spring neighborhood. The organic wheat is from Crooked Sky Farm in Glendale, AZ, and is ground just a week before the event. The pancakes are served with prickly-pear syrup, mesquite syrup, organic back yard honey, agave nectar, and sometimes (if we are really lucky) saguaro syrup. There are also a variety of locally-made teas and organic coffee for people to try. The price of the pancake breakfast is $1 per pancake, and you get a raffle ticket with each pancake purchased. Local foods, crafts, teas, and gift certificates are raffled off throughout the event.

There’s also great live music, and a playground for all to play in. If it rains, we move the event just north of the garden to the Dunbar Auditorium.

In addition, local organic and wild foods are for sale. These can include local mesquite flour; prickly pear syrup, jam, and juice; mesquite pancake mix; baked goods; chiltepines; cholla buds; olive oil; cured olives; fresh mole mixes, and more. You’ll also find native herbal medicines and teas, organic Desert Harvesters T-shirts, and rainwater harvesting books for sale. And we try to feature educational sampling booths on other local/native foods such as acorn flour and baked goods.

People can bring the pods that they have harvested (up to 15 gallons) and grind them into flour for an additional donation. This year we will have two hammermills in operation to speed up the milling. The minimum milling fee is $3 for any amount under 3 gallons of whole pods. If you have more than 3 gallons of pods to grind, you pay $1 per gallon of whole pods. The idea is to encourage folks to bring at least 3 to 5 gallons of whole pods (5 gallons of whole pods will provide you with about 1 gallon of fine, edible flour in about 5 minutes of milling). Click here for more on how we run our millings.

The milling/breakfast event is hosted by, and is a fundraiser for, Desert Harvesters.

Directions to Dunbar-Spring Community Garden:
The garden is located at the corner of 11th Avenue and University Blvd. The nearest major intersection is Speedway & Stone. From Speedway & Stone: Go south on Speedway 3 blocks, and turn right on University Blvd. Go 3 more blocks to 11th Ave. The garden is at the northwest corner of University and 11th.

Rita Gibbs

3/4 C butter, softened
1/4 C maple syrup (optional-use for a sweeter cookie)
1/8 C ground flax seed
1/8 C oat bran (or use ground up oats or flour if you don’t have this handy)
1/4 C chopped pecans or walnuts
pinch salt
1/2 C mesquite meal-any variety
3/4 C flour-white, wheat, spelt, etc.
*I use a wheat-free baking mix. It makes the cookies very light.

Roll out 1/4″ thick and cut with a cookie or biscuit cutter.
Bake at 300 degrees for about 10-12 minutes.

Courtesy Desert Tropicals, www.desert-tropicals.com

Mesquite flour will give a delicate and distinctive flavor to your cakes.

2 1/4 c. flour
3/4 c. mesquite flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tbsp. salt
3/4 c. oil or non-dairy margarine
1 1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. milk

1. Sift the flours, salt, and baking powder in a bowl
2. Beat the sugar, vanilla, and oil or margarine in a separate bowl
3. Mix slowly the content of the 2 bowls, and the milk. Beat until smooth.
4. Pour the batter into 2 greased 9-inch round cake pans.
5. Bake for 30 minutes in a pre-heated, 350 degrees F oven.

BRAD LANCASTER
This is a great way to enjoy mesquite without having to grind the pods. Boil mesquite pods in a volume of water twice the volume of mesquite beans along with a cinnamon stick for two hours, let it sit overnight, strain out the solids, then you’ve got one tasty drink which I usually serve chilled!

You can also prepare this like a sun tea, just put all ingredients in a glass jar with lid and set out in the hot sun for a day.

(serves one)
1 tablespoon mesquite flour
1tablespoon saguaro seed meal
1 cup of water
Stir all together and drink before flour settles to the bottom. Milk can be used instead of water.

From Brad Lancaster
These are made with mesquite flour ground from pods harvested from native
mesquite trees planted along my brother’s and my neighborhood’s streets during
our annual tree plantings. Our bees visited the same trees and made the honey.
We like to celebrate the desert’s bounty by giving these holiday bars to our
neighbors (especially those that helped us plant the trees).

1/2 cup of organic backyard honey
1/3 cup of water
3 tablespoons organic butter
1 1/2 cup of organic whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup of mesquite flour or meal
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
touch of nutmeg
1/2 cup of organic nuts
1/2 cup of organic raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 8-inch square pans.
In a large saucepan, slowly heat honey, water, and butter until butter is
melted and honey is liquid. Mix flour, mesquite flour/meal, baking powder, and spices in
a medium bowl. Add to honey mixture and stir until well combined. Stir in
nuts and raisins. Divide batter between pans and spread evenly. Bake for
twenty to twenty five minutes. Over-baking will make the holiday bars very hard.
When properly baked a straw or toothpick will come out clean. Cool in pans;
slice into bars.

From Anastasia Rabin
DRY MIX:
2 cups mesquite flour
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Make as much dry mix as you like and store in a cool dry place for later use.

To make pancakes for two people mix the following WET INGREDIENTS:
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups of liquid (milk, buttermilk, or a milk substitute)

Beat the wet ingredients together, then add a cup of dry mix. Add liquid or mix as needed to get the desired consistency. I like to make my batter thick for extra hearty pancakes. Mesquite burns easily so be careful when cooking. Lowering the temperature of your griddle can help.

From Pearl Mast
Measure the following dry ingredients into a glass jar or other tight container in which the dry mix can be stored. Shake to mix. (I usually double or triple this recipe and mix and store it in a gallon jug.)
1 cup mesquite meal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 and 1/2 teapoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

When ready to make pancakes – In mixing bowl whisk together:
1 egg
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup buttermilk, sour milk, or fresh milk with a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice added

Add a cup of the dry mix to the liquids and whisk all together. Add more milk as needed to thin batter. (I usually end up using about a cup and a half of milk.)

Cook on hot griddle and enjoy with your favorite syrup or toppings.