How To Make Lefse – A la Grandma Chris

For those of you with Norwegian heritage you are likely familiar with lefse. It is a flatbread I guess but it is almost more like a potato and flour tortilla. It is extremely bland but when dressed up with butter and sugar it turns into something special and is usually only served during big family dinners or special occasions.

If you’re craving lefse you better learn to make it or learn to make friends with those who can make it because the stuff you buy from the store is just terrible.

This fall, my Aunt Heather arranged for my Grandma Chris to teach a few family members how to make lefse. The good news? It isn’t super hard, as I feared, but it is time consuming, you need the right tools and you must not try and cut corners. (We doubled the recipe below for our lefse training)

Recipe:

1. 10 lbs russet potatoes (you cannot use red potatoes and just to be safe, don’t use anything but russet)
2. 3 T Salt (for boiling the potatoes)
3. 3 Sticks of Butter (melted)
4. 1 C Cream
5. 1 T Sugar
6. Flour – (lots, you’ll see why)

To make the dough:

• Peel and boil all 10 lbs of potatoes in salted water. Drain. Mix in the melted butter, cream and sugar. Mix but do not mash completely as you would for mashed potatoes.
• Rice potato mixer through a potato ricer into a large bowl
• Take 5 C of the potato mixture and mix, with your hands, a scant 1 1/2 C flour until fully incorporated.

To roll out the Lefse:

Before cooking, turn on your special griddle (Bethany is the brand we used – see equipment needed section), place a bowl with extra flour for dusting near your pastry board that has been prepared with that pie-cloth cover, and make sure you have ample clean, cotton cloth kitchen towels near the griddle in which to place the cooked lefse.

You’re ready to go:

• Make a ball of lefse dough with your hands (see image)
• Coat ball of dough in flour
• Place ball of dough on lefse board that has already been dusted with flour
• Pat the ball down into a small disk to get started
• Gently roll out the dough in a circle
• Take your lefse (wand/stick) and loosen the dough carefully from the board
• Lay down the first half of the dough and then use your wrist and stick to roll out the rest (easy to watch, hard to explain in a recipe, easy to execute)
• Dust with flour and gently roll the other side of the dough, make it thin enough that you can just see a little of the red from the cloth beneath it (shoot for a diameter of over 10″-12″ but don’t go too crazy). You want it to be thinner than pie crust.
• Slide the stick under the dough (again, you are trying to release the dough from the cloth, if you’ve used enough flour, this isn’t hard) and gently lift the dough at the center.

Cooking the Lefse

Have your griddle at 500 degrees (note that all griddles are different so just be sure it’s really, really hot). Your lefse should cook quickly almost less than a minute for both sides.

• Gently place the first half (thinking of lefse as a circle, the first semi-circle) down on the griddle and using the stick to roll the remaining out flat
• When you begin to see bubbles, slide the stick under the center of the lefse, lift, and cook the other side using the same technique as above.

The cooked lefse should look “like paper with brown polka dots”. You must pay attention and you must not let it burn. Do not walk away or try to get the next ball of dough ready. You’re asking for trouble.

Finishing the Lefse

• Slide stick under the lefse at the center and lift
• Place lefse, folded in half, on a dish towel and cover with a dish towel. Dryness is the enemy of lefse.
• Allow to cool while covered

Lefse can be kept in the fridge for up to three weeks according to my grandma. To freeze, allow to cool completely, place in a plastic Ziploc baggie, remove as much of the air as possible (see notes for a trick) and freeze.
Click to view slideshow.

Most pumpkin cream cheese spreads you can buy taste like frosting; way too sweet for anything but dessert (and this is coming from a girl who considers pie an appropriate breakfast). I want to be able to taste some of the tang from the cream cheese and a little bit of the earthiness of a pumpkin, not just have a creamy sugary cinnamony spread on my bagel. So that’s what I came up with. Enjoy!

1 Cup Cream cheese
1/4C plus 2T Pumpkin puree
1T Brown sugar
1/4tsp Ground ginger
1/4tsp Ground cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg

Whisk it all together and enjoy on bagels, crumpets, toast, graham crackers etc.

*Bechamel sauce is milk thickened with a roux (flour and butter) Alfredo sauce is reduced heavy cream and cheese. Both amazingly delicious!

Here in Seattle it’s supposedly the middle of summer, so corn is what I’m craving. It’s pretty damp and rainy so for tonight’s dinner I wanted something warm and filling and here’s what I came up with.

3 Slices of bacon, chopped
1 Small Onion, diced
2 Cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 Cup arborio rice
1/3 Cup white wine
2 Ears of corn, kernels removed from the cob
3-4 Cups chicken broth
3/4 Cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Basil

Preheat a large skillet or pot brown, when the pan is hot add the bacon and cook until it’s crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside.

Add the onions to the same pan and cook until they are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and the rice and cook 5 minutes
more, stirring costantly. Add the wine and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Add the corn and 1/2 cup of the broth, stir until the liquid is absorbed. Add another 1/2 cup of broth and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Repeat the last step until you have added 3 cups of the broth, then taste to test the doneness of the rice. Add more broth if necessary. Stir in the cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the risotto into a bowl and top with the cooked bacon and some roughly chopped basil.

Serves 4-5

1# Tomatoes, diced
1.5# Chicken thighs
1/3 C White wine
3 Cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/8tsp Red chili flakes
1/3C Capers, rinsed

Zest of one orange

Put it all into a crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours, or low for about 8. Use a fork or a wooden spoon to break apart the cooked meat.
Season with salt and pepper. Add the capers right before eatting. Serve over pasta, I recommend lemon-pepper papparedelle from Trader Joe’s.
A little Parmesan cheese or arugula would be nice too. This “sauce” also makes a great sandwich filling!

Yet again, we were too hungry to wait so I didn’t get a chance to take a picture. So if you make this please send me a photo!

1Lb Chicken diced (Thighs or chicken breasts will work)

2T Curry powder

1 Onion, diced

1 Clove garlic, minced

1tsp Ginger, minced

1 9oz of Mango chutney

1/2C Greek yogurt

1C Peas

(Slivered almonds and cilantro optional garnish)

Toss the chicken with the curry powder and let it marinate for a few minutes while you dice the onions, garlic and ginger,  or for a few hours or overnight in the fridge. Heat a large pan over medium, add a little oil and the marinated chicken. Once the chicken is brown on one side, add the onion, garlic and ginger and saute for 1 minute. Stir in the chutney and the yogurt, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Add the peas and season with salt and pepper. Serve over rice, couscous or quinoa.

Serves 4

If you’ve never made a strata before you are missing out on one of the easiest and tastiest brunch items. Super easy to assemble, very forgiving ingredient wise (throw whatever you have in the fridge into it: peppers, ham, cooked bacon, artichokes, any kind of cheese…) and you make it the night before.

1 Baguette, cut into 1in cubes

8-10 Eggs (If you like an eggier dish add the larger amount of eggs)

3/4C Milk (can use any combination of milk, cream, sour cream or 1/2 & 1/2 to make 3/4C of liquid)

1 Onion*, diced

1 tsp Ground mustard

1 tsp Salt

1/2tsp Pepper

1/4tsp Thyme leaves

1/2C Swiss cheese

Butter a 9×13 pan and set aside. Saute onions, mustard, salt, pepper and thyme leaves in a large pan until the onions begin to turn translucent. In a large bowl whisk together eggs and milk. Add the cooked onion mixture and the bread cubes to the egg mixture and toss it all together. Pour it all into the prepared pan, top with the shredded cheese and cover the dish with foil. Let it sit in the fridge over night.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven covered for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and increase the temp to 400 degrees, and bake until golden brown about 15 minutes more.

*If you are replacing the onion with any vegetable make sure you cook it a little first

For me rhubarb has always been a sign of spring. Although the weather here in Seattle doesn’t quite feel springlike to me, seeing this vegetable in the stores gives me hope of sunny days to come. I love the tartness and it’s beautiful pink color, and his recipe plays them both up nicely. I served this for Easter in phyllo cups with a strawberry sauce, it would also be good with fresh strawberries or in a glass of champagne for Mother’s day brunch!

5 Stalks Rhubarb, washed and cut into 2in pieces

2T Butter

1/3C Sugar

pinch of salt

3C Cultured buttermilk

1tsp Vanilla

Place the rhubarb, butter, sugar and a pinch of salt in a 9×13 pan and roast in a 375 degree oven until the rhubarb is soft and the sugar is golden; about 35 minutes. Smash the rhubarb with the back of a spoon, or puree, and cool. Once the rhubarb is cold stir in the buttermilk and vanilla, and pour into an ice cream maker and follow the instructions for your machine.

For the past few years the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission has held a recipe contest for bloggers. Last year I entered a sweet potato pizza,

http://cheflorelei.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/sweet-potato-pizza-with-tomato-chutney/

sadly I didn’t win the big prize but maybe this year! This year there are three categories : kid friendly, vegetarian and sugar free. So here is my submission, no sugar added sweet potato ice cream, enjoy!

4C peeled and diced sweet potatoes, about 2

1/4tsp Salt

1/4tsp Cinnamon

1/4tsp Ground ginger

Pinch of nutmeg

1 1/2tsp Vanilla extract

1tsp Cognac or brandy

2C 2% Milk

1C Heavy cream

Unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder

Toasted, salted and chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease a 9×13 pan with butter. Toss together the sweet potatoes, salt and spices, and pour into the prepared pan. Roast for 35-40 minutes, stirring the potatoes about half way through. Turn the oven to convection or broil for the last 5-7 minutes to get the potatoes nice and brown*.

Place the warm potatoes in a blender, add the milk and cream puree until it is smooth. (optional step:strain through a sieve for an extra smooth ice cream). Stir in the vanilla and cognac. Cool the mixture and follow the instructions on your ice cream maker for making ice cream.

Scoop the ice cream into bowls and dust with the cocoa powder and a sprinkle of salted pecans before serving.

Serves 6-8

*I like them almost burnt

“Americans create enough waste to fill the 90,000-seat Rose Bowl stadium each day—by a conservative estimate, half a pound of food per American per day”

That is insane! So I’ve decided that I’m going to be better about not wasting. Here are a few of his suggestions on how to reduce what you throw away:

-Make a list of what  you have at home so you don’t rebuy something at the store

-When you buy something new, put it at the back of the fridge and move the older stuff towards the front

-Go to the grocery store more often and buy what you know you will use within 2 days. If you normally buy enough for 4-5 meals and you are too busy to cook that food it will go to waste.

-Get over the need to have a full fridge and freezer. (I know that freezer work best when they are full, so fill the empty space with newspaper or empty boxes, I’m not sure if the fridge works under the same principle…)

Check out his website and the book!

http://www.americanwastelandbook.com/

I’m trying to think of this as a fun exercise in creativity. For instance, the other night I had half a pint of sour cream, buttermilk, chicken thighs and a bag of braising greens in the fridge. So I made biscuits,  sourcreamy braised  chicken thighs and sauteed the greens with some hot sauce. A yummy dinner, and now an emptier fridge.

If you have some ingredients that you need help getting rid of, email me and I will help you come up with some meal ideas. I think they do something similar on The Splendid Table (yes, I listen to a lot of NPR)