Trading My Squash Surplus for Mesquite Bean Jelly

If you’ve read this column lately you may recall I’ve been trading my bumper crop of cushaw squash for homemade goodies like beef tallow and honey. Last week I bartered some squash for a unique treat that I’ve never tried before – mesquite bean jelly.

Some readers with property in the Muldoon area brought me a jar in trade last week. This ambrosia-colored delicacy has a nutty, sweet flavor that’s hard to identify. I suppose it tastes like mesquite beans. I’m not sure how to describe it.

Native Americans used mesquite trees in various ways. Of course, the wood is useful for construction and fuel. The sap can be collected and used as a sealant or adhesive. But the tree can also be used for food.

There are several varieties of mesquite in Texas, and all of them are in the legume family, which includes beans and peas. The beans of the mesquite tree are quite valuable to wildlife as a food source. And if you eat them yourself, you can see why. They’re slightly sweet. They can be ground into a flour that can be added to cookies and sweet treats. Native people ground the beans and cooked them into a porridge.

My new friends in Muldoon make them into jelly.

Here’s how to do it.

They said it’s best to harvest ripe beans before they fall from the tree. Once they fall, they often get infested with bugs. They break the pods into smaller pieces and then cover them with a few inches of water in a pot. Turn on the heat and boil the pot for 5-15 minutes, or until the liquid turns yellow. Strain out the pods and boil it down to about three cups.

Add one box of Sure-Jell or fruit pectin powder to the pod juice. Bring it to a full rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Add 4.5 cups of sugar and a ¼ cup of lemon juice. Return to full boil for about a minute, or until the syrup comes off a metal spoon in a sheet. (Do not get this out of order or the jelly will not set up.)

Pour the jelly into sterile canning jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Seal with lids. Boil the cans in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. This should make six 8 oz. jelly jars.

I used some of this mesquite bean jelly as a topping for an appetizer of smoked cream cheese with jalapenos. I placed two packages of semifrozen creme cheese on a stainless steel pan and topped them with barbecue rub and fresh red jalapenos from my garden. I placed the pan in my smoker at about 180 degrees F for about two hours. I then turned the heat up to 225 degrees for about 15 minutes. While it was still hot, I spooned a generous amount of mesquite bean jelly on top of the cream cheese and served it with crackers. This is my new favorite appetizer to go with barbecue. Of course, you can use any kind of jelly or even honey for this recipe. Give it a try.