Someone asked me about Norwegian Cream Bread today -- but I've never made it. I did find one recipe for it so I'll have to try it soon.
Here's a link to the recipe I found. I'll keep you posted when I try it.
Norwegian Cream Bread Recipe
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Lefse, Simplified
After making a lot of lefse every year, I keep looking for ways to make it easier. In my dream world, I'd build a machine that would do it while I watched from my chair! Anyway, until that happens, I've got a slightly simplified version of my previous recipe that you might find easier to make.
5 lbs. russet potatoes
1 large box Hungry Jack potato flakes
1 stick butter
1 cup canola (or other flavorless) oil
1 Tablespoon salt
Cook the potatoes
Peel the potatoes and cover with water in a large kettle (I use an 8 qt. stock pot and fill it about 3/4 full with the potatoes and water in it.). Add the salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are completely soft.
Add the butter and oil to the hot water so the butter melts completely.
Remove from the heat and mash the potatoes without draining off the water. It will look like you're making creamy potato soup.
Now add the potato flakes and mash together until you get fairly stiff mashed potatoes. You can add a little more water, if there isn't enough in the kettle, but be careful not to add too much because you need the potatoes to be quite firm -- not wet or mushy at all.
Now let the mashed potatoes cool until they're approximately room temperature. You can spread them out on a cookie sheet or divide them into smaller batches to speed up the cooling process.
If you refrigerate the potatoes overnight, just let them warm up before using them. The conventional wisdom is to make them as cold as possible, but I find that the lefse tends to crack and break when the potatoes are too cold.
Make the lefse dough
Adding flour to the mashed potato mixture turns it into lefse dough. This step should be done in small batches because you don't want the dough sitting around too long before you use it. If it does, it gets sticky and hard to handle. The dough should be spongy almost like play-dough, but not sticky or sloppy at all.
In a smaller bowl, add about 3 cups of mashed potatoes and add about 3/4 cup flour. Mix it with your hands so you can feel the dough change from wet mashed potatoes to spongy lefse dough.
Do a test ball to see if the dough is mixed to the right consistency. Take a bit of dough and roll it into a ball in your hands. Press it flat in your hands like you're making a hamburger patty. If you see cracks around the edge of the patty, you need to mix the dough a little longer so it becomes more elastic. If you don't see any cracks or maybe just a small one, it's ready to use.
Roll the lefse
Use an ice cream scoop to make each lefse the same size. Scoop a ball of dough and roll it in your hands. Place the ball between two heavy plastic sheets (a freezer bag cut open works great) and press down with a pie plate or clear glass plate until you get a round, flat patty of dough.
Transfer the flattened dough on to a well floured lefse board. Sprinkle with more flour on top and gently roll out the lefse from the center out -- like spokes of a wheel.
Slide the lefse stick under the center of the lefse and lift onto the hot lefse grill (500 degrees).
Cook for 10-15 seconds and flip on the other other side, cooking until small brown spots appear (8-10 seconds). Lefse grills vary in temperature so you may need to adjust your cooking time.
Transfer the cooked lefse onto a cooling rack and cool completely before storing in an airtight zip lock bag or tupperware container.
Keep lefse on the counter for 1-2 days, in the fridge for up to 3-4 days, but freeze it if you need to keep it more than a few days. Frozen lefse thaws out quickly at room temperature. Just take it out in the morning the day you need it.
Let me know how it turns out for you!
5 lbs. russet potatoes
1 large box Hungry Jack potato flakes
1 stick butter
1 cup canola (or other flavorless) oil
1 Tablespoon salt
Cook the potatoes
Peel the potatoes and cover with water in a large kettle (I use an 8 qt. stock pot and fill it about 3/4 full with the potatoes and water in it.). Add the salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are completely soft.
Add the butter and oil to the hot water so the butter melts completely.
Remove from the heat and mash the potatoes without draining off the water. It will look like you're making creamy potato soup.
Now add the potato flakes and mash together until you get fairly stiff mashed potatoes. You can add a little more water, if there isn't enough in the kettle, but be careful not to add too much because you need the potatoes to be quite firm -- not wet or mushy at all.
Now let the mashed potatoes cool until they're approximately room temperature. You can spread them out on a cookie sheet or divide them into smaller batches to speed up the cooling process.
If you refrigerate the potatoes overnight, just let them warm up before using them. The conventional wisdom is to make them as cold as possible, but I find that the lefse tends to crack and break when the potatoes are too cold.
Make the lefse dough
Adding flour to the mashed potato mixture turns it into lefse dough. This step should be done in small batches because you don't want the dough sitting around too long before you use it. If it does, it gets sticky and hard to handle. The dough should be spongy almost like play-dough, but not sticky or sloppy at all.
In a smaller bowl, add about 3 cups of mashed potatoes and add about 3/4 cup flour. Mix it with your hands so you can feel the dough change from wet mashed potatoes to spongy lefse dough.
Do a test ball to see if the dough is mixed to the right consistency. Take a bit of dough and roll it into a ball in your hands. Press it flat in your hands like you're making a hamburger patty. If you see cracks around the edge of the patty, you need to mix the dough a little longer so it becomes more elastic. If you don't see any cracks or maybe just a small one, it's ready to use.
Roll the lefse
Use an ice cream scoop to make each lefse the same size. Scoop a ball of dough and roll it in your hands. Place the ball between two heavy plastic sheets (a freezer bag cut open works great) and press down with a pie plate or clear glass plate until you get a round, flat patty of dough.
Transfer the flattened dough on to a well floured lefse board. Sprinkle with more flour on top and gently roll out the lefse from the center out -- like spokes of a wheel.
Slide the lefse stick under the center of the lefse and lift onto the hot lefse grill (500 degrees).
Cook for 10-15 seconds and flip on the other other side, cooking until small brown spots appear (8-10 seconds). Lefse grills vary in temperature so you may need to adjust your cooking time.
Transfer the cooked lefse onto a cooling rack and cool completely before storing in an airtight zip lock bag or tupperware container.
Keep lefse on the counter for 1-2 days, in the fridge for up to 3-4 days, but freeze it if you need to keep it more than a few days. Frozen lefse thaws out quickly at room temperature. Just take it out in the morning the day you need it.
Let me know how it turns out for you!
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