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My Grandma passed away at the age of 94. She was a wonderful cook and I was lucky enough to inherit her recipes. Many date back to the 1940s and 50s. Grandma prepared them in a charming country kitchen with no running water and most of her produce came from her garden, not from the grocery store. These are made-from-scratch recipes. I wish I had spent more time with her in the kitchen and . . . I wish I had spent more time with her for so many other reasons.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Bread - Lefse - A Norwegian Flat Bread

I remember Grandma making Lefse for special occasions when I was young.  My sister and I liked to eat it with butter and cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top.  I have to admit, I've not had Lefse since becoming an adult.  It is a flat bread that's cooked in a dry skillet or on a griddle.

9 baking potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
About 1 1/2 cups flour


Directions

  1. 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.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine mashed potatoes, cream, butter, salt, and sugar. Cover potatoes and refrigerate over night.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

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