Lefse--Norwegian Soul Food-- Mmmmmm!

Today I have been baking Norwegian potato lefse [lef'-suh], a popular ethnic food in North Dakota, to sell at a bake sale the Right to Life is having at a bazaar next Saturday.   It's a super fast seller.  I suppose not many want to make it as it is rather tedious and messy to do.  Three lefse sell for $3-4 and I made about 75 of them (in three sessions).   But there is nothing like the taste with a little butter on it or butter and cinnamon and sugar.  When it's hot off the grill and melts the butter it's even better! 

My recipe calls for mixing 3 cups of mashed potatoes, 1/3 c. oil, and 1 t. of salt.   Then mix in 

1 c. white flour with the potato mixture.  Use a heaping 1/3 c. of dough for each piece of lefse.  Work in enough extra flour so that it can be rolled out on a floured board as thin as possible to about 12-15 inches in diameter.   Sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking.  With a long tapered, flat stick, transfer to a large round grill and bake at 400-450 degrees.  Turn when small brown spots appear.  Transfer to large plate and cover with a towel.  One batch makes about ten lefse.  Sounds easy enough, right?   Well, a lot can go wrong! 

Potatoes should not be cooked too long or they get sticky.  They also need to have no lumps or else  holes form while rolling the dough.  Some people rice the potatoes by pressing through a fruit press.  I find this is too difficult so I just mash them well.  Only one batch should be made at a time as if the dough sits too long, the gluten in the flour makes it too sticky.  Then it takes more flour to roll them out and the lefse get tough or crisp.  (They should be pliable.)   Sometimes the dough falls apart which means not enough flour has been worked in.   Small tears can be patched by using a piece sliced from the edge.  The potatoes should be room temperature.  I have tried using  mashed potatoes that have been frozen and thawed in the microwave.  For some reason, the dough then becomes too sticky for good lefse.  I use regular mashed potatoes but some people use potato flakes.  The problem of lumps would be solved using the flakes but the taste might not be quite the same.  I put the grill on one side of the sink so I can whisk extra flour off into the sink so that it doesn't burn on the grill.

Then comes the clean-up--flour on clothes, shoes, floor, counters, window sill, etc.!!  It's good to put away anything on the counter or sitting around that would get flour on it and perhaps wear an apron.