Lefse is a Norwegian potato-based dish, much like an American pancake, served traditionally at Christmas.
Instructions
Making Lefse
1. Measure 4 cups of mashed potatoes into a bowl. Refrigerate for 24 hours. This will make the Lefse easier to roll out.
2. After potatoes have been refrigerated and before rolling, melt 1 stick of butter or margarine in a medium sized saucepan with 1/3 cup of milk.
3. Add to melted butter and milk, 1 tsp. of sugar and 1 tsp. of salt. Stir well.
4. Pour mixture over cold potatoes and mix. You may even want to remash the potatoes to get any remaining lumps out of them.
5. Then stir two cups of flour into the potato mixture. This will make a will be sticky and soft.
6. Heat griddle or frying pan to 400 or 500 degrees F. No need to oil the pan. Lefse is cooked on a dry, hot surface.
7. Place a heaping teaspoon of flour on the surface where you're going to roll out your lefse. Then take some dough, about the size of a tennis ball and work half of the floor into the dough so that it becomes dry.
8. From the center of the dough, roll outward until the lefse is about the size of a dinner plate. Being careful not to roll the lefse so thin you can't pick it up. If the lefse dough rips when you pick it up, roll into a ball and start again. Lefse should only be rolled once, ideally, so be careful not to repeating rolling process or dough will become dry and tough. If the lefse starts to stick, during the rolling process add a little more flour.
9. Once you have successfully rolled out a lefse, place it on the hot griddle. This may be done by carefully rolling it onto the rolling pin then rolling it onto the griddle. Traditional lefse makers used lefse turners, long flat sticks.
10. Bake Lefse for one minute before turn it. It should be slight brown and "dimples" should strat to appear. Turn let it cook on the other side. While this first piece of lefse is cooking roll out the next piece for cooking.
11. Once the first piece of lefse is done, use the pancake turner to remove it from the griddle. Place it on a clean paper towel (or dish towel). Cover with another paper towel.
12. Repeat this process until all lefse has been cooked. Stacking lefse pieces on top of each other separated by the towels.
13. Spread butter on warm lefse and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. It is now ready to serve.
14. Lefse that is not eaten should be completely cooled before storing. To store wrap leftover lefse in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Leftover lefse can be frozen.
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