Traditional desserts week: Lefse
Lefse is a common dish at a Midwest holiday celebration.
The main ingredient is potatoes, and Bea Ojakangas says they must be Russet potatoes. She boils and then rices them before mashing them together with the other ingredients.
“I notice from year to year the potatoes are a little different,” Ojakangas said. “They’re very dry this year. And doesn’t that kind of tell you that that’s the way the weather’s been?”
The potatoes must chill uncovered overnight or for at least 8 hours before rolling out the lefse rounds.
A cloth-covered pastry board and lefse stick are two must-have pieces of equipment.
When the lefse come off the grill, Ojakangas puts them inside a folded bath towel that has a sheet of plastic around it.
“The reason we use plastic is to keep the moisture in because these things will dry out so much,” she said.
She and Lift Host Baihly Warfield enjoyed the lefse with butter and sugar.