Mesquite & Corn Tortillas
Food is like fashion: trends keep coming back. In the case of fashion, that’s not always welcome (the current resurgence of 80s-style Spandex pants — c’mon, folks, not a good look then, not a good look now!), but when it comes to food, reclaiming traditional ingredients is a wonderful thing. We’ve gotten so enamored of exotic foods that it’s too easy to overlook our backyard exotica. Heck, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m more drawn to an aged goat’s milk cheese from France than I am to an American Cheddar. (Farm Country Cheese House in Lakeview, Michigan has gone a long way to change that perception, though — they use milk from Amish farmers who let their cows live the way cows should live, and wow, does it make a difference in how the cheese tastes!)
But I digress … back to traditional ingredients. I recently stumbled across a unique-tasting one that’s been used by Native Americans since time immemorial. I’ve only begun to explore its uses and flavor pairings, but so far I’ve found it to be a fantastic ingredient in sweet settings and even a few savory ones. I’m talking about mesquite flour. Yep, mesquite — the same tree that yields wood we like to use when grilling foods also bears pods that can be ground into flour. Like the wood, the pods impart a sweet, caramel-ish, molasses-ish flavor. They’re also a little bit crunchy.
Mesquite flour is absolutely fantastic in cookies (especially ones that involve chocolate) and quick breads with lots of aromatic spices (pumpkin bread, zucchini bread). Just substitute 1/4 of the flour specified in the recipe for the mesquite flour. Its rich caramel tones will accent and highlight your baked good. Besides, not only will whatever you bake taste fabulous, you’ll get to take advantage of the high calcium, iron, and zinc content of the mesquite flour.
You can also use mesquite in savory settings: to make these tortillas, I combined equal amounts of mesquite and corn flour, whisked in a pinch of salt, and added enough cold water to make a dough that was soft/firm enough to shape into balls and then smash into flat circles. All that remained was to heat some butter or ghee to medium heat in a nonstick pan and carefully cook the mesquite-corn tortillas over medium heat until one side and then the other flipped-over side were beginning to brown. The molasses-like flavor of the mesquite deepened with the heat; the resulting tortilla was slightly sweet and crunchy, with a uniquely appealing taste.
The only problem with mesquite flour is that it’s tough to find (although it’s probably more prevalent in the Southwest states than it is in the Midwest region). Online food stores like www.barryfarm.com are probably your best bet.
Happy discovering!
Print This Post
Tags: baking, cookies, desserts, mesquite, mesquite flour, quick breads, tortillas
