The Lost Art Of Lefse Making Step By Step Food

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.

CHRISTMAS LEFSE

Steps:

• Place potatoes and salt into a pot and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Measure in the butter and cream and mash until completely smooth. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Use your hands to shape the potato mixture into four even logs about 6 inches long. Cut each log into 4 or 5 pieces. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, roll out each portion as thinly as possible. Flip the dough over frequently and add more flour as needed. Adding too much flour can make the lefse tough so be careful.
• Heat a lefse grill or griddle over medium heat. Cook one at a time until the lefse are golden brown with darker brown bubbles on each side, flipping over once. Use a flat lefse turner if you have one. Stack finished lefse on a plate or tray and cover with a tea towel to keep them from drying out. Once the lefse are completely cool, wrap in plastic to keep it moist.

LEFSE

Steps:

• Wearing surgical gloves, steam red and white potatoes with skin still on them, until tender. Remove from steamer and cool. After steamed potatoes cool down, remove the skins and mash really well. Rinse 5 cups of the potatoes and mix with dried potatoes, flour, salt, powdered sugar, butter, and margarine with a pastry blender and knead well.
• Preheat an electric, teflon-coated griddle to 500 degrees F. You can also use a large, nonstick pan heated over high heat. Shape dough into golf ball size balls and roll in flour. Cover, and refrigerate for 3 hours, or overnight. Remove balls and slam on well-floured board. Use a notched rolling pin with a cloth cover to flatten and shape balls into very thin circles. The thinner you roll the circles out, the better. Use fresh flour on both cutting board and rolling pin after each ball has been flattened.
• Cook flattened balls on the griddle for 8 to 10 seconds on each side. Brush excess flour from lefse after baking and lay between 2 layers of dishtowels. Brush remaining flour off of grill each time. Package in zip lock bags and freeze or refrigerate immediately.

THE LOST ART OF LEFSE MAKING (STEP-BY-STEP)

Steps:

• SPECIAL EQUIPMENT.
• Potato Ricer.
• Electric Lefse Pan (or substitute electric griddle or nonstick griddle).
• Lefse Stick (substitute long wooden handle of spoon or even better, an unused wooden paint can stirrer).
• Grooved Lefse Rolling Pin (regular pin can work).
• Canvas covering for your rolling pin is also desirable.
• INSTRUCTIONS:.
• Night before making lefse, peel, dice (1 inch pieces or so) and cook potatoes in boiling water until tender (about 20 minutes). Drain and return to still warm cooking pot over just turned off burner to allow potatoes to let off any extra steam so they don't have extra water.
• Rice potatoes with potato ricer over butter/margarine until you have added 8 cups riced. Add sugar, salt, and vegetable oil. Stir until everything is melted.
• Store mixture overnight in cool spot covered with paper towel.
• Next morning, rice the mixture again through your potato ricer into a large bowl. Divide riced mixture into two batches.
• Sift and mix one cup flour into one batch. Place the other in refrigerator until later.
• Divide the batch you have added the flour to into 1/4 C to 1/3 C patties (smaller amount is easier for beginner). Keep two or three patties out for rolling. Refrigerate the remaining patties on a cookie sheet (keeping them cool helps with rolling with as little flour as possible, the key to really thin lefse).
• Heat your Electric Lefse Pan or if using griddle to medium heat.
• Flour rolling pin and board (if possible cover them with canvas and then flour). Roll each pattie as thin as possible, using flour as needed to prevent sticking, but as little as possible. Turn over once when rolling, lightly flouring board again.
• Using your lefse stick, place stick on left end of lefse. Flip dough over stick and roll to right to roll up lefse on stick.
• Place it on right side of Lefse pan or griddle and unroll. Lefse will begin bubbling and lightly browning. The more "bubbling " the more tender it will be. Use stick again to turn over and cook other side.
• Remove lightly browned round from lefse pan or skillet with lefse stick, fold round into quarters and let cool on paper towels. Overlap each folded round slightly as you let cool to prevent edges from drying out.
• Once finished with first batch, Mix one cup flour into remaining riced mix and repeat as above.
• Let lefse cool completely before wrapping in plastic wrap and refrigerating or freezing in plastic bags.
• Spread with butter, sprinkle with sugar, and warm slightly in microwave to eat in the traditional way.