Grasshoppers! If you can't Beat em Eat em!

In case you haven't heard.....  there is a plague sweeping castle valley.  The grasshoppers are at record numbers and aren't expected to peak for a month. 

Thank goodness we have been spared.  every day I have clients coming in and telling horror stories of how they have eaten EVERYTHING in their path.  Nothing is safe not even the cactus and pine trees.

My friend Jean told me of a spray that she is whipping up that seems to do a good job at killing them.  the only caveat is that you actually have to get it on the hopper.

Hopper spray

3 fingers chewing tobacco
1 gallon water
1 C. Listerine
1 C. dawn dish soap.

She says to boil the water and then put the tobacco in the water.  Take it off the heat and let cool to room temperature.   Strain out the tobacco  and then mix in the Listerine and dish soap.  Put in a weed sprayer and go after them!  Jean says the smell is fresh and lovely.  She swears that this concoction saved her annual horseshoe tournament.  The added bonus is that after the first die off her sprinklers came on and it killed off another wave of hoppers.

Now Sue on the other hand took a different approach.  She said that since they eat everything in her garden.... she was going to EAT THEM.  I have to admire her spirit.

There are a few ways to prepare Hoppers, but they almost always start with freezing them, removing the legs and wings, and then cleaning them.

After that you can place them on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven.

Garlic Butter Fried Grasshoppers
1/4 cup butter
 6 cloves garlic, crushed
 1 cup cleaned insects*
Melt butter in fry pan. Reduce heat. Saute garlic in butter for 5 minutes. Add insects. Continue sauteing for 10 - 15
minutes, stirring occasionally. 

 
 
Grasshopper Gumbo
    Ingredients (6 servings):
    1/2 cup lemon juice
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1 teaspoon honey
    1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
    2 tablespoon minced fresh herbs -- parsley, mint, thyme and/or tarragon.
    12 frozen grasshoppers, katydids, locusts, or other suitably sized Orthoptera, thawed
    1 red pepper, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
    1 small yellow onion, cut into 8 wedges
Directions: Mix all ingredients for the marinade in a nonreactive baking dish. Add the Orthoptera, cover, and marinate overnight. When ready to cook, remove the insects from the marinade. Pat them dry, for ease of handling. Assemble each kabob, alternately skewering the insects, tomatoes, and onion wedges to create a visually interesting lineup. Cook the kabobs two or three inches above the fire, turning them every two or three minutes and basting them with additional olive oil as required. The exact cooking time will vary, depending on the kind of grill and types of insects used; however, the kabobs should cook for no longer than 8 or 9 minutes.


Chocolate Covered Grasshoppers
 2 Squares of semisweet chocolate
25 dry-roasted crickets and/or grasshoppers with legs and wings removed.
 Melt chocolate as directed on the box. Dip insects in chocolate place on wax paper and refrigerate.


Fruitcake, Desert
1 cup Cricket or Grasshopper Flour
1/4 cup Cherries, Dried, Chopped
1/4 cup Cranberries, Dried, Chopped
1/4 cup Water
This recipe is very traditional amerindian and does not take into account advances in cooking technology -such as yeast. It
is, however, a wonderful nutrition bar packed  with protein, carbohydrates, sugars, and about 2% fat (better than most
granola). Mix all ingredients together to make a coarse dough. Pull off enough dough to make finger-sized strips and lay
these on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Bake at 350oF for 20 min or until the outside is deep tan (adjusting for the colour of
the flour) and a toothpick stuck into one comes out clean. Cool and serve as nutrition bars for snacks, hiking, or camping or
store for later use.Var. - Add 1/4 c Rolled Oats and a tad more Water to make this more like a granola bar.
Substitute other Bug Flours for slightly differing taste.


If any one out there is  brave enough to try this please let me know.  I would love to hear about it.