Scandinavian Potato Lefse Food

BASIC LEFSE: NORWEGIAN POTATO FLATBREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 175 F. Peel the potatoes, making sure that no peels or eyes remain. Coarsely chop them into 1-inch pieces.
• In a stockpot, bring water to a boil and add the potatoes. Boil them until they are fork-tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Drain the boiled potatoes well. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bring them into the hot oven for 15 minutes to dry them further.
• Remove the potatoes from the oven and pass them through a ricer . You need them to be finely riced, so twice through the ricer might give you a better texture. You should have at least 4 cups of riced potatoes.
• Mix in the heavy cream, butter, sugar, and salt.
• Mix well and place the potato dough in the refrigerator, covered, to chill overnight.
• Preheat a lefse griddle or your skillet of choice to 425 F. You need a very hot surface to properly cook the lefse. Use a pastry blender to cut the flour into the chilled potatoes, or vigorously knead the flour in until you have a smooth dough.
• With the help of an ice cream scoop, divide the dough into 16 to 20 biscuit-sized balls.
• Generously flour a pastry cloth or board and a rolling pin. Roll out each piece of dough into a 12-inch circle, dusting with more flour as needed.
• Carefully lift the circle with a lefse stick or the handle of a flat wooden spatula. Transfer it quickly to the griddle.
• Cook the lefse on the griddle until brown spots begin to appear.
• Flip and cook the other side.
• Remove the cooked lefse to a plate lined with a damp clean cloth to cool. Cover with another damp cloth. Continue to cook the remaining dough balls until you've used all of the dough.
• Serve the lefse smeared with butter to taste and a sprinkle or two of sugar.
• Enjoy.

NORWEGIAN POTATO FLATBREAD (LEFSE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line an oven-safe skillet or baking pan with aluminum foil.
• Poke the potato skin all over with a knife and place on the prepared pan.
• Roast in the preheated oven until very tender and easily pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Let sit until cool enough to handle but still very warm.
• Scoop potato flesh out into a bowl. Mash smooth with the back of a spatula until there are no lumps left. You can also use a potato ricer. Add the butter and mix until it disappears. Add the salt, sugar, and cream; mix until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
• Mix in flour in several additions until the dough is able to be kneaded by hand. Add enough flour to form a soft, but not too sticky, dough. You need to be able to roll it out fairly thin without it falling apart.
• Wrap dough with plastic and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
• Divide dough into 8 portions. Dust each with flour and roll out onto a well-floured kitchen towel to 1/8-inch thick, or thinner.
• Heat a very lightly buttered nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Cook the lefse in the hot pan, poking the surface lightly with a fork, until golden brown blisters form, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Stack on a plate as they're cooked and keep covered with a towel. Serve warm.

LEFSE II

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix by hand sour milk or buttermilk, corn syrup, sugar, soda, cardamom, and flour until mixture becomes a soft pliable dough.
• Divide the dough into 12 or so pieces. Roll out each piece until about 1/8 inch thick.
• Bake on a lightly floured griddle over very low heat for 12 to 15 minutes per side. Serve warm with your favorite cheese or jam.

NORWEGIAN POTATO LEFSA

Steps:

• Peel potatoes and place them in a large pot with a large amount of water. Bring water to a boil, and let the potatoes boil until soft. Drain and mash well.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine 8 cups mashed potatoes, cream, butter, salt, and sugar. Cover potatoes and refrigerate over night.
• Mix flour into the mashed potatoes and roll the mixture into balls about the size of tennis balls, or smaller depending on preference. Keep balls of dough on plate in the refrigerator.
• Taking one ball out of the refrigerator at a time, roll dough balls out on a floured board. To keep the dough from sticking while rolling it out, it helps to have a rolling pin with a cotton rolling pin covers.
• Fry the lefsa in a grill or in an iron skillet at very high heat. If lefsa brown too much, turn the heat down. After cooking each piece of lefsa place on a dishtowel. Fold towel over lefsa to keep warm. Stack lefsa on top of each other and keep covered to keep from drying out.

NORWEGIAN LEFSE

Steps:

• Cover potatoes with water and cook until tender. Run hot potatoes through a potato ricer. Place into a large bowl. Beat butter, cream, salt, and sugar into the hot riced potatoes. Let cool to room temperature.
• Stir flour into the potato mixture. Pull off pieces of the dough and form into walnut size balls. Lightly flour a pastry cloth and roll out lefse balls to 1/8 inch thickness.
• Cook on a hot (400 degree F/200 C) griddle until bubbles form and each side has browned. Place on a damp towel to cool slightly and then cover with damp towel until ready to serve.

LEFSE - SCANDINAVIAN POTATO CAKES

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients and form into 2-inch balls.
• Roll out like pie crusts and bake on a dry, no oil griddle like you do a pancake on medium heat for 2-3 minutes each.
• You may wish to dust off any extra flour before cooking so they do not to burn.

LEFSE - SCANDINAVIAN POTATO FLATBREAD

Steps:

• When potatoes are cool enough to handle, add salt and butter; mash.
• Chill.
• Mix baking powder with a small amount of flour and add to potatoes.
• Add enough flour so that the dough can be rolled very thinly on a floured board.
• Roll only a small portion at a time.
• Cut into quarters and bake on a hot (400F), lightly greased griddle, browning lightly on both sides.

SCANDINAVIAN POTATO LEFSE

Steps:

• Mix all but the flour while hot.
• Cool.
• Add 1 cup flour at a time, enough to roll out.
• Divide dough into balls about the size of tennis balls.
• Roll balls out on floured board.
• Fry the lefse in a grill or in an iron skillet at very high heat.
• Serve with a little butter, or anything else you might want to wrap up in it.

MOM'S NORWEGIAN POTATO LEFSA

Steps:

• Heat cream and shortening until shortening is melted. Cool and then add to riced potatoes. Sift flour, sugar and salt and add to potato mixture. Take a piece of dough as for pie crust (I use a piece a little smaller than a tennis ball), Roll the dough in a circle on a floured cloth rolling as thin as possible.
• Using a lefsa turner (a long thin stick) to lift the rolled lefsa dough, bake on top of a lefsa or pancake griddle that is pre-heated to 425 degrees F. Bake until light brown on both sides. Serve warm or cooled spread with butter and sugar and rolled up.
• Cut into one-fourths, for serving.

INSTANT POTATO NORWEGIAN LEFSE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan or pot, bring the water to boil and add the milk, butter, sugar, and salt. When the milk has come to a boil, add the potato flakes and stir until smooth. Pour the potatoes into a large bowl and refrigerate.
• When ready to make the lefse, take out 2 cups of potatoes at a time and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of flour and stir until it becomes a workable dough. Flour a counter surface and roll the dough out as thin as possible. Cut individual slices with the a round cookie cutter, or the top of a medium sized glass.
• Add about 1 tsp oil to a skillet pan and cook the lefse for about 3-5 minutes, or when brown blisters start to form on the top. Flip and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
• Continue to cook the individual slices until the potato dough is gone. You may be able to cook several lefse at a time if you have a large enough skillet, if not cook one at a time. Any leftover cooked lefse may be refrigerate and used for about 3-5 more days.

LEFSE

Steps:

• Peel and Cook potatoes in boiling water till done; mash with a potato masher or electric mixer, till smooth.
• Measure out two cups of the mashed potato and set whatever you have left over aside (we will only be using 2 cups of potato for this recipe, you can season the left over mashed potato and have it for dinner! ).
• Combine mashed potatoes, milk, salt, sugar, and butter to it, then then mash together again until it's all blended.
• Put your finished mashed potatoes into a sealed container and chill in the fridge till cold (about 2 hours); The mashed potatoes must be cold and then will be slightly stiff.
• Measure out your 1 1/2 cups flour; add 1/2 cup of that flour to the mashed potatoes and stir to try to incorporate.
• Again, from that 2 cups, sprinkle flour on a flat surface to keep the lefse dough from sticking to the counter; Put the chunk of mashed, floured potatoes down into the middle of the floured area; Knead it for about ten minutes, gradually incorporating another half cup of flour; After it has a whole cup of flour in it, it will feel much doughier and nothing like mashed potatoes anymore.
• Seperate dough into 8 equal pieces, and roll each piece into a ball.
• Spread more flour out onto your surface - the best way to avoid sticking is to flip the dough over every time you take a roll on the rolling pin, sprinkle a little more flour under it, and then roll the other side.
• Always keep your rolling pin well floured, too; You want really thin pieces here, absolutely no thicker than your average flour tortilla, otherwise they won't cook all the way through and will taste a little doughy - They should work out to be about nine inches diameter.
• Once you have all eight pieces rolled out, heat up your frying pan or griddle and grease it slightly only if it isn't non-stick; Flip one of the uncooked lefse into the pan and quickly unfold any creases that might have happened with the spatula; only turn lefse once, and do it when you see air bubbles forming under the lefse.
• It won't need to cook for as long on the other side, but bubbles will form again (harder to see this time, careful not to leave it on too long and burn it!) you can just pick it up with the spatula and check underneath.
• Serve warm sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon or with some jam.

LEFSE

Steps:

• Place potatoes in a large saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until tender, 10-12 minutes. Drain. Press through a potato ricer or strainer into a large bowl. Stir in cream, shortening, sugar and salt. Cool completely. , Preheat griddle over medium-high heat. Stir flour into potato mixture. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 6-8 times or until smooth and combined. Divide into 12 portions. Roll each portion between 2 sheets of waxed paper into an 8-in. circle., Place on griddle; cook until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove to a platter; cover loosely with a kitchen towel. Repeat with remaining portions. When cool, stack lefse between pieces of waxed paper or paper towels and store in an airtight container.