Food Drinks Bread

A presentation of Norwegian food and beverages and in which county they are consider a speciality. Norway is divided into 19 countys. Each County is divided into different municipality (430 for the whole country).

From Authentic Norwegian Cooking by Astrid Karlsen Scott. Photo by Per Eide and Bengt Wilson

CARDAMOM BUNS (Kardemommeboller)

2 cups (5 dl) milk

1/4 cup (55 g) butter

1/4 cup (55 g) margarine

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1/4 cup (1/2 dl) water, warm

3/4 cup (1 3/4 dl) sugar

1 T sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

6 while cardamom seeds, crushed

7 cups flour

Scald milk. Add butter and margarine and let stand until melted, and milk is slightly cooled. Soften yeast in warm water with 1 tablespoon of sugar added. In a large bowl add remaining sugar, salt, and cardamom. Pour in lukewarm milk mixture. Add yeast, and enough flour to make a stiff dough. Work thoroughly. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double in bulk.

Punch down and shape into balls - the size of ping pong balls. Place 1 inch (2 1/2 cm) apart on a greased baking sheet. Cover with tea towel and let rise until double in bulk. Bake in 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) oven for 5 minutes. Brush with butter while still hot.

ELSE´S COARSE BREAD (Else´s Grovbrød)

2 1/2 cup (6 1/4 dl) water 115 degrees F (45 degrees C)

2 pkgs. active dry yeast

1 T. dark syrup

2 T. margarine, melted and cooled

2 1/2 cups (5 dl) graham flour

3/4 cup (1 3/4 dl) dark rye flour

1 1/2?2 cups (4?5 dl) bread flour

1/4 cup (20 g) wheat bran

3/4 cup (80 g) oat bran

1 T. salt

In a large bowl, add warm water, yeast, and syrup. let stand 5 minutes until yeast dissolves. melt margarine and cool. When yeast has dissolved, add all remaining ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 5?8 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turn once. Cover tightly with lightly greased plastic wrap and set to cool overnight. Remove to a lightly floured surface and knead 2?3 minutes and shape into a round loaf. Place on parchment covered baking sheet.

Dough for decorations:

1/2 cup (1 1/4 dl) water, warm

1/2 T. active dry yeast

3/4 cup (100 g) light rye flour

1 1/4 cups (150 g) bread flour

Egg yolk

water

In a medium-sized bowl, add warm water and yeast. Let stand 5 minutes until yeast dissolves. Stir in enough flour to make a fairly firm dough. Do not begin to knead before as much water as possible has carefully been worked into the flour. If the dough is too firm a little additional water may be added. Cover tightly with lightly greased plastic wrap, and set to cool overnight. To make spike of grain, roll into two ropes pointed at one end. Cut along the edges to form a spike.

Or shape into desired decoration, and fasten to the round loaf with water. Set bread to rise 30 minutes. Preheat over to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Just before baking, brush the decoration only with a slightly beaten egg yolk to which has been added 1 tablespoon of water. Bake on lowest rack 30?40 minutes. Bread is done when internal temperature if 190?205 degrees F (88?96 degrees C). Or tap bread on the bottom, when it sounds hollow, it is done. Watch the decoration so it does not become too dark. Cover with aluminum foil if necessary. Makes one large round loaf.

Tips:

If you would like to display your beautiful creation, leave the bread to dry for 48 hours, with oven doors ajar, and temperature between 140?210 degrees F (60?100 degrees C). The breads must be completely dry, or they could explode. If desired, spray with non glossy lacquer.

Else´s White Bread (Else´s hvetebrød) Follow directions for Else´s Coarse Bread. It is important to dissolve yeast at 104 - 122 degrees F (40 - 50 degrees C) water or milk.

FLATBREAD I(Flatbrød I)

1/2 cup (1-1/4 dl) lard, melted

1/4 cup (1/2 dl) sugar

1/2 cup (1-1/4 dl) oatmeal flour

1 cup (2-1/2 dl) graham flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1-1/2 cups (3-1/2 dl) buttermilk

Unbleached flour as needed

Combine ingredients, adding just enough white flour to make dough workable, but not sticky. Roll out into rounds using grooved rolling pin and a pastry cloth. Cut into pieces and bake on cookie sheet in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for about 8 minutes or until crisp.

LEFSE

6 cups riced or mashed russet potatoes

1 tsp. salt

3 T. margarine or butter

1 T. sugar

2 T. heavy cream or evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

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 girddle 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.

POTATO LEFSE I (Potet lefse I)

3 large baking potatoes

2 T butter

1/4 cup (1/2 dl) heavy cream

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 1/2 dl) flour, or more

Boil the potatoes without peeling, peel and mash while still warm and put through ricer. To get the lumps out, you might have to put them through ricer more than once. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight. Mix in 1/2 cup flour.

Divide into 15-16 balls if you want dinner-plate size. Using a grooved rolling pin with sock, (sock optional), and pastry canvas, roll each ball out as thin as possible. use flour as needed (but not too much), and keep balance of dough in the refrigerator. Bak each lefse on medium to hot griddle, turning until both sides are flecks with brown. Do not overbake.

POTATO LEFSE II (Potet lefse II)

4 cups (9 1/2 dl) potatoes, cooked

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 1/4 dl) whipping cream

1/2 cup (1 1/4 dl) Crisco oil

2 T sugar

1 1/2 cups (3 1/2 dl) flour

Boil and rice potatoes, add salt, cream and oil to warm potatoes. Completely cool the potatoes before adding flour. You can cut down a little on the cream and oil. Making them too rich will make them hard to handle. Mix sugar with flour and add, kneading as you roll them out with a grooved rolling pin. Bake on takke, round griddle.

SMALL POTATO CAKE (Lumpe-potekake-hellekake)

Lumpe tastes delicious with cured meats. many enjoy these potato cakes with Norwegian goat cheese, or butter and sugar. However, the lumpe i remember best from my childhood in Oslo, is when we are pølse med lumpe. A thin sausage, smothered in Idun mustard and wrapped in lumpe. In those days, they were sold at bua--an enclosed market-cart where they also sold drinks and confectioneries. And it would be unthinkable in those days not to find pølse med lumpe at athletic events such as Holmenkolldagen, or when at the beach or even children´s parties.

During one of my first return visits to Norway, after several years absence, nostalgia washed over me when, one sub-zero day in February, my sister Eva and I entered Stortorget, a market place in downtown Oslo. Where we hurriedly purchased, at a market cart, our pølse med lumpe. Just as we remembered they were delicious. We exchanged glances, and agreed we must have one more!

Lumpe is easy to make; with just potatoes, flour, and a little salt. They are made like lefse, smaller, but a little thicker. They can be served in a variety of ways. Before potatoes were cultivated in 18th century Norway, the lumpe were made from barley, oat flour, and water. Later, the potato replaced the water. Lumpe was as a rule eaten dry, except on Sundays when butter was added, and thus on that day became referred to as butter-lumpe. (Many now enjoy new-baked lumpe with butter and sugar with their hot beverage.) All types of flour can be used, wither all of one, or several mixed, but the tastiest and softest result when only potatoes and barley flour is used. A mixture of all-purpose and barley flour also give good result.

2 lbs. (900 g) potatoes

1 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups (3 dl), approximate, barley flour

Boil unpeeled potatoes. Peel, and twice grind, rice, or mash while still warm, until potatoes are smooth and elastic, thus requiring less flour. Add salt during this process, rather than adding it to the water, it increases the elasticity of the potatoes. The more elastic the potatoes, the better the lumpe. Cool.

Add flour to a small portion of potatoes at a time, stir just enough to make a firm, easily-handled dough. Making a lot of dough at once and leaving it stand may cause the dough to become sticky. Cut off slices with a sharp knife. Press these down lightly with the back of your hand, and finish rolling out with grooved rolling pin into 6?8 inch (15?17 1/2 cm) flaps. Doing it this way one needs less flour. Brush off all excess flour before baking.

Place lumpe on medium hot lefse or other griddle and turn often with a pliable spatula. Prick any blisters that form while baking. When done they should be light in color with large, brown spots. If the griddle is too hot they will remain raw inside; if too low, they will be hard and tough. Allow them to dry out for a few minutes, them wrap in a clean towel and cover until ready to be served. They are tastiest when used immediately. They can be served with butter and sugar, or with sharp cheese. As for me, it will always be pølse with lumpe.

POTATO LEFSE

(Potet lefse)

Boil the potatoes without peeling, peel and mash while still warm and put through ricer. To get the lumps out, you might have to put them through ricer more than once. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.....

SMALL POTATO CAKE

(Lumpe)

Lumpe tastes delicious with cured meats. many enjoy these potato cakes with Norwegian goat cheese, or butter and sugar. Lumpe is easy to make; with just potatoes, flour, and a little salt. They are made like lefse, smaller, but a little thicker. They can be served in a variety of ways.