April | 2014 | Is this a keeper?

Two weeks ago I was wondering if I would be able to pull off the lefse with no special gadgets and then we come to this week’s recipe and it is about as easy as you can get!…literally: measure, mix, and shape. We are making classic biscotti which are called cantuccini.

This variation uses almonds, cinnamon, and vanilla. It took all I had not to add a little bit of chocolate in there but I figured maybe I shouldn’t mess with it the first time around. I have to say I am glad I went with the traditional recipe! I, of course, have mine in the freezer for after Easter, but everyone else who has tried them has loved them!!…some even without dunking!! 😉 These were worth making because the house smelled SO good while they were baking!

My dough was a little sticky but I just added flour as I kneaded. I would have to say the hardest part of this recipe was cutting the biscotti and keeping them all looking pretty. Otherwise…super easy!! It’s a keeper!

So you ask, what is potato lefse? I had no idea either until I made this recipe. Turns out they are a very thin, crepe like flat bread from Norway. The really interesting part is that they are made almost entirely from potatoes. Talk about resourceful…potatoes that get turned into a flat bread that can be used for bread or a dessert. Who knew! Haha!

These potato lefse come with their own cooking utensils…some from Norway…a dowel for lifting and turning, a round disk for rolling the dough out and sleeves for the disk and rolling pin. I have none of these things and was wondering how I would mange. I don’t even have a potato ricer which they recommend using as well. I am very grateful to my fellow bloggers who answered my post on the P & Q page to help me out a bit. They posted video and encouraged me to improvise..which I did and had amazing results so thank you!!

The dough is pretty basic to make…boil 3 medium potatoes, finely grate (which I used the small holes in my grater which worked perfectly), add heavy cream, sugar, salt and butter. Stir into a smooth mixture which looked a lot like mashed potatoes. 🙂 This is put into the fridge over night un-covered. The next day you add a bit of flour to create the dough. I was a little apprehensive of how sticky the dough would be with all the necessary “sleeves” for everything but I found the dough to be really easy to work with. I just kept my work area well floured and had no problem.

The dough gets divided into 12 balls and then rolled out and cooked on a skillet or griddle. I used my stove top griddle and just a regular spatula..no problem. Instead of the dowel to pick them up I just used my rolling pin the same way you do for a pie crust. These are cooked much like pancakes..just wait for the bubbles and some browning and turn.

As you cook them you are to keep them warm in a towel covered with plastic wrap. I thought that was a little strange but I did it anyway. These are to be eaten warm. They suggest with butter, sugar, and cinnamon which we did. My son also tried one with Nutella on the inside. We all thought they were good…interesting. It is hard not to expect it to taste similar to a tortilla since it looks so much like one but it has it’s own taste and texture. I thought these were a lot of fun to make and I enjoyed the challenge. Not sure I would make them again…but if I had a bunch of leftover potatoes I would now know what I could make to use them up. 😉