If you haven’t tried Lefse, you have to give it a taste test! Jeg liker lefse. Jeg elsker lefse! Lefse can be eaten many ways. Some people put brown sugar and butter on it. Some just use regular sugar on top of the butter, while some just put butter on. Another common way to eat lefse is to put jam or jelly on it. When I was in Norway in June of 1996, a relative served it to us with a sour cream and sugar mixture spread in the lefse. But I prefer to eat lefse without anything else to change the taste. Putting all that stuff on lefse is like smothering a good steak with ketchup.
Here is a recipe for you to try if you like the challenge of baking something new. This recipe was taken from the Sons of Norway Recipes homepage and was taken out of The Global Gourmet by Concordia Language Villages,Moorhead, Minnesota.
Combine all ingredients except flour; refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Add flour; mix well. Heat lefse or other griddle to 400 degrees. Form dough into long roll and cut into 12 sections. Form each section into a small ball. Roll out very thin with cloth-covered lefse or regular rolling pin on cloth-covered lefse board or other surface. Dust board with flour when turning lefse dough. Bake on ungreased griddle until brown spots appear. Turn and bake other side. Stack lefse between 2 towels to cool. Store in refrigerator in plastic bags. Can be frozen.
Makes 12 lefse
Add lard, salt and 2 cups flour to scalded milk and mix well over low heat. Remove from fire. Sift 2 cups of flour on board, add warm dough and work in flour. Knead well and cool.
This dough can be rolled immediately or kept in a cool place for a couple of days. May be stored in a plastic bag.
Make a small patty, about hamburger size, with even sealed edges as you
would for pastry. Flour board lightly and with a Scandinavian rolling pin
roll patty in all directions, keeping the dough round. Roll lightly,
stretching dough until it is almost as large as the lefse baker. Use
pointed stick to handle dough when it is transferred from the board to the
baker. Brown lightly, prick air bubbles, turn and brown other side. It
may be necessary to change heat control from high to low. This is a soft
bread. Serve with butter, or butter and sugar.
Yield: 6 servings
Note: If you don't have either a Scandinavian rolling pin or a lefse baker, you
can use a regular rolling pin and a griddle. This is like a Swedish
tortilla! Spread butter and sprinkled sugar over the lefse then
roll them up and ENJOY them!
If you really want to impress your friends, put fruit fillings in the lefsa, roll it up, and put some whipped cream or Cool Whip on top. Your friends will think you are a gourmet cook!
After trying lefse, I am sure you will agree that lefse is mighty good to eat. But if by chance you should decide you don't like lefse, just send it to me!!!
