Lefse (Norwegian Potato Pancakes)

[fitfool]

One night while poking around Livejournal, I saw a post about making lefse, Norwegian potato pancakes. I adore potatoes in just about any form so I had to try it out. Luckily, I even had leftover mashed potatoes chilling in the fridge from the day before. Seems to be a holiday tradition to make these. Took a a little over 2.5 hours to get make a batch so I can see why they might limit it to an annual event instead of an everyday dish. I might've used too much flour but the potato flavor was a little too subtle to me to make it worth that much effort for me. Still, they're neat enough that I'll probably make it again in a couple of years. And the fillings work really well with the lefse. mm-mmmmm sugar!
Many thanks to madlori and wereontheroad!






Lefse (Norwegian Potato Pancakes)
recipe by Chef #248178 at http://www.recipezaar.com/139806

12 servings
2 hours 1 hr prep

2 cups of plain mashed potatoes (ideally, use cold mashed potatoes)
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
flour
vegetable oil

1. In a large mixing bowl mix potatoes, milk, butter, salt and 3/4 cup of flour.
   
   
2. Knead briefly on lightly floured board, adding flour to make the dough non-sticky. [For me, it was a pain to get the dough to not be sticky. I kept adding flour, mixing it in, and adding more flour. I'm really not sure how much flour was used in the end but I would guess around 2-3 cups of flour. Even then it was still kinda sticky.]
   
   
   
   
3. Divide dough into 12 equal balls
   
   
4. Roll each ball on lightly floured board into a circle paper thin. [I had to add lots of flour to the countertop and the rolling pin to keep things from getting too sticky. I did however, carefully dust off excess flour once done. I used these tools for rolling out the dough. I didn't have a tapered rolling pin that wereontheroad used but I did have this wooden one without handles. And the spatula was used to carefully scrape the pancakes from the rolling surface.]
   
   
   
   
   
5. Lightly oil a heavy skillet or crepe pan; set over medium heat.
   
   
6. Cook one at a time, until lightly browned, about one minute on each side.
   
   
   
   
7. Stack on a plate with a paper towel in between each one.
   
   
   
   
8. Freeze leftovers, and thaw throughout the year and enjoy a favorite anytime.
   
   Michael made his into a sort of taco. He spread a bit of tamarind chutney on his and filled it with lettuce and grapes. He assures me it tasted good though I remain unconvinced.
   
   
   
   The traditional way to eat these is to spread them with butter, sprinkle on some sugar, and then roll them up.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Original posts:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/food_porn/1871889.html
http://www.livejournal.com/users/wereontheroad/20540.html

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