john and i took a little road trip for the day to topeka because, well, it's there. i want to see as many kansas towns before we move to colorado next year & the state capital seemed like a good one go to. i found a few places i wanted to see at travelks.com (a website i highly recommend if you ever find yourself in kansas) and we took off for the 60 mile trip around 9am. we walked thru the state capital building, i touched a real tiffany window at an amazing little church and we ducked into a sam's store to escape one of kansas's short but scary thunderstorms (after which the sky cleared up & the temperature dipped comfortably). we also found a theater & saw "eastern promises" & had the most surprisingly good movie theater hot dog ever.

of course, i also took note of several interesting sounding restaurants. one of the places on my list was bobo's drive in. we passed the place on the way to sam's around noon and it was packed. after seeing it john agreed that we had to come back for lunch. the restaurant, located at 2300 sw 10th in topeka, is really small and quaint. the inside dining area has 6 or 7 small tables and a counter with about 9 stools. the menu informed us that bobo's has been around for over 50 years but i would have guessed that as soon as i saw the interior. it's all formica & plush pink vinyl but it's not like "wow, this stuff looks 50 years old" because it has been very well maintained. you can tell it's not one of those "retro" places that someone has painstakingly designed to look like a 50's diner... it IS a 50's diner. there is also car hop service but don't expect it to be like sonic restaurants. there is no microphone to place your order into. you pull up & turn on your headlights to alert an employee and then place your order from a large menu at the end of the parking lot. there is much more room for patrons outside than in but i bet space is still hard to come by during lunch or dinner time. we went at around 3pm so the dining room was nearly empty but 3 other couples ate & went during the time we were there.

when we walked in we were surprised to find a crew from the local news station interviewing one of the owners (we ended up being in their report which you can see here). we learned the reason why the news was there is because bobo's is going to be featured on the food network series "diners, drive-ins & dives" which is being filmed as i write this. the owners, tricia & richard, who bought bobo's just 5 months ago were exceptionally friendly and very informative. they, and the rest of the staff, were so friendly, i could have sat there for hours & chatted with them. i know that their warmth & charm will come through when they are profiled by food network.

selection: bobo's has a very simple & traditional menu. there are no surprises here, it's your basic burger & fry drive-in menu. they also serve hot dogs, corn dogs, sandwiches, ice cream & pie. john ordered a double burger, onion rings & a rootbeer. i got a cheeseburger, onion rings and an rc cola because, i mean, seriously... where can you get rc cola anymore? and there's nothing like rc cola. after all the eating & talking we got talked into trying the pie as well.

taste: you can get a burger at a million different places but they usually all taste the same or aren't anything special. you'll have neither of these problems at bobo's. the burgers are simply perfect. the meat is thin (a little thicker than a steak-n-shake burger, for those of you who are familiar) with that irregular, homemade look which makes for plenty of the crispy outer layer & edges that are my favorite part of a burger. if you look at them from the top, they are about the size of your average fast food burger but they are way thicker with all the stuff on top. the burgers come with lettuce, tomato, pickle & mayo and tricia told us the meat is 90% lean. one of the cooks told us he's been there 6 years & when ownership changed, nothing else did. they still make all the food the same. i am not a huge big, fat burger fan so these were perfect for me. they just tasted so good! all the ingredients tasted fresh and you could actually taste the actual fresh beefy goodness.  the onion rings were also incredible. they are hand made from their own recipe (like many of their menu items) and are the best i've had in a really long time. the pie is made by "mama" (who wasn't there at the time) who's been baking for bobo's for over 30 years. i am really not a fan of pie and apple, which is the only kind they have, is probably my least favorite. that being said, this pie was amazing. the crust was perfect, obviously homemade and very flaky. the filling wasn't overpowered by cinnamon or any other flavor like you get with some pies. it just tasted like fresh apples. everything we had was just super delicious. we were both really impressed & glad we discovered bobo's.

service: everyone at bobo's was exceptionally friendly & attentive. we didn't have to wait more than about 5 minutes for our food. it was really cool that the owners were there & so willing to chat with us. the other employees were very nice & funny.

value: our bill came to just over $12 before the tip. this included everything except they pie. they were nice enough to give us that for free!

reheatability: john finished all of his & i had about half my burger left which i finished right when we go home so nothing to reheat this time.

ranch: we didn't have any ranch but we did try the "house" sauce, which richard said they make from, among other things, ketchup, horseradish and tabasco. it was a little hot and definitely different. i really liked it a lot.  i might just have to try & recreate it at home.

bathroom: to be honest, i don't know if they even had a bathroom.  i mean, i’m sure they do, i just didn’t have the need to notice.

everything about bobo's is just great: wonderful food, super nice people, great value, nostalgic atmosphere. i just really wish it was closer so that we could go back again & again. i guess we'll just have to make some excuses to go to topeka! and we'll have to keep watching "diners, drive-ins and dives" on food network so we can see our favorite place in topeka get real famous. and they totally deserve it!

grade: A+

i'm a little embarrassed to say that i was an adult before i had my first gyro. i worked at the st. louis galleria at the one hour photo shop. the store i worked at is no longer there and, i'm sorry to say, it looks like the restaurant where i had my first gyro isn't either (according to the mall's website). i'm a little bummed out by that! it was a great little place called athens cafe. they had a fairly large menu for a food court restaurant but i really just remember they had baklava, greek salads and gyros. there was one girl that worked at there who, i think, had a crush on me because every time she made a gyro for me, it had way more meat that anyone else's. i was about 23 or so at this time & that's a lot of years spent without knowing the yumminess that is the gyro!  just for fun, click here for a little history of the gyro.

probably since i had my first (and every other one until recently) gyro at a greek restaurant, i always thought of gyros as strictly greek food. so, technically it's not my fault i didn't know that the gyro is prominent in a much larger geographic area than just greece... it's all those greek restaurants! so, when we went to a restaurant specializing in middle eastern cuisine, i didn't anticipate getting the best gyro ever. several people had recommended jerusalem cafe to us & we finally went there a couple months ago & then again last week.

jerusalem cafe has been in the historic westport area of kansas city since at least the mid-80's. it is a typical city neighborhood with mostly street parking so it can be tough to find a spot occasionally but we got super lucky both times we went there & a spot was open right in front. the interior of the restaurant is not huge but we didn't have a wait for a table. there is a small smoking section. the atmosphere is casual, friendly and inviting. the kitchen is open so you can see the cooks making your meal from fresh ingredients. they also have a store about a mile away from the restaurant where they have a buffet and small grocery store where i bought the same really cool falafel making tool that they use in the restaurant.  the décor of the café is unique.  the walls are mostly bare brick with framed awards & articles along with posters of jerusalem.  here’s a picture of the partially painted ceiling:

selection: the menu part of jerusalem cafe's website is not working which stinks because i can't remember everything they serve. both times we went, we had the greek salad, falafel, hummus with a ton of homemade pita bread and gyros sandwich. they also serve several different salads, gyros with different meats & ingredients, sandwiches and a bunch of vegetarian dishes. when you order a certain item, it doesn't just come with what you order. for example, the falafel comes with onions, tomatoes, lettuce and tahini sauce. even though the menu just says "gyro sandwich", it's more like a dinner or platter at most restaurants. it comes with salad & yummy jasmine rice. the drink selection is typical soft drinks but the iced tea was fresh and delicious.  i forgot my camera on the second trip and, for some reason, only took a couple on the first trip so i don't have much to look at.  i wish i did! the top picture is our to-go hummus.

taste: seriously, the best gyro i've ever had. the meat is perfectly tender & flavorful. the large pita is filled with a large portion of meat, lettuce, tomato, onion and wonderful cucumber yogurt sauce. the falafel is seasoned perfectly & shaped in (what i thought was) an unusual way. they look like tiny hockey pucks with an indentation in the center. i asked and learned that this was because of the cool tool they use to shape them & drop them in the hot oil. i'm not fanatical about hummus but jerusalem cafe's is so smooth, creamy & delicious. the flatbread they serve with the hummus comes to the table warm & fresh. i'm also not the biggest salad person but the side salad they serve is delicious. it has a greek dressing over fresh greens, red onions, feta and olives. everything we've had has been amazing. there's a pita sandwich with falafel and grilled veggies that i want to try next time.

service: we had the same waiter both times we've gone (and he said he's there every day but wednesday) and he is just awesome. on our second visit, he actually remembered us and what we’d ordered. i was shocked. he is super nice, very attentive and really informative. i had lots of questions and he either knew the answer or happily went back to the kitchen to ask. the food got to our table very quickly. i didn't time it but probably 5 minutes for the salad then about 10 minutes more for the appetizers (falafel & hummus) then 10 or so more for the entrees. our waiter checked on us several times and was great about refilling our drinks before they got to the bottom.

value: all the main dishes are around $7 and the appetizers are under $5. our total bill was under $25 before tip and we took over half of it home. when we asked for to-go boxes, our waiter brought us a small one full of hummus (plus we took what was left on our plate) and probably 10 pieces of flatbread wrapped in foil too. we got an incredible amount of food for a very reasonable price.

reheatability: we did have leftovers that ended up in the fridge but i didn't actually reheat anything. gyro meat ain't bad cold. the pita got a little chewy but was still tasty. i might actually reheat the meat next time if i have more left.

ranch: of course, no ranch at the mediterranean restaurant. although, it would probably be good on a gyro.

bathroom: (bear in mind here that the building is around 200 years old) using the bathroom at jerusalem cafe is an experience to say the least. you walk down a very steep staircase to a short, narrow hallway. the women's bathroom feels like an airplane bathroom if it was wooden and pink and had two stalls. it is beyond small & has a claustrophobically low ceiling. i'm not a bathroom snob and this one shortcoming will certainly not keep me from going to jerusalem cafe again but i will choose to potty elsewhere.

i can understand why jerusalem cafe has won so many awards (best hummus, best gyro and best value to name a few). i love when we find a place that has the total package: delicious & interesting food at a great value in a fun and casual atmosphere with super wait staff. the only downside is that we have to drive probably 20-30 minutes (depending on traffic) to get there. but it's worth the drive for the food & all the other cool places to go in westport and the nearby plaza.

grade: A+

my brother is an amazing cook.  he's the type of person who can take whatever is in the kitchen and make up a dish that turns out delicious.  that's one place we differ.  i like to have a plan, if not a recipe.  another difference in our styles is that i clean up & put things away AS i cook... eric cooks & then leaves a mess.  but it was always worth cleaning up after him when we lived together because the food was awesome. 

he also used to go to the grocery store & get just the ingredients for one meal.  i never remember him going on a shopping trip to stock up on essentials or for weeks worth of meals.  how very european of him.  on one occasion, he decided to make potato soup.  it turned out so incredibly good: creamy, chunky, buttery.  it was just the perfect potato soup.

now, i love me some soup.  i could eat soup every day (and i go through periods where i do for lunch).  i make a big pot of chicken soup at least once or twice a month.  probably six months ago, i decided to make potato soup.  i called my brother to get his recipe but he couldn't remember exactly how he made it.  so, i searched online & decided on a recipe that started with a roux.  my first time ever trying to make a roux & i screwed it up.  i think i just didn't whisk enough when i put the milk in the but i'm not 100% sure that's all that i did wrong.  i just know that there were still some tiny flour bomb chunks left at the end & the whole thing tasted too much like flour.  after that failure, i have no interest in trying anything with a roux again (although i probably will eventually).  i hadn't tried to make potato soup since.

so, i was really excited when i got the 20th anniversary issue of cooking light the other day & saw a recipe for baked potato soup that doesn't start with a traditional roux.  i decided to make it for lunches this past week but we ended up eating a good portion of it for dinner when i made it last sunday.  i did change the recipe a little.  i didn't want to heat up the oven so i boiled my potatoes.  i also didn't mash them very much because i like chunky potato soup.  and i forgot to buy the onions so i skipped those.  here's the recipe as printed (which can also be found here).

baked potato soup
4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
cracked black pepper (optional)

pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. cool. peel potatoes; coarsely mash.

place flour in a large dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. remove from heat.

stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil).

the recipe says to top each serving with the bacon & cheese but i just added the bacon to the pot of soup.  although i realize now that my picture of the finished product would have turned out prettier if i had added it as garnish.  it ended up that the following picture was the best one i got from the experience.  mmmm, bacon.

but the taste is all that really matters, right?  and this soup was awesome.  i was really happy & impressed with the way it turned out.  the only thing i would change is next time i'll add more milk or use a little less flour.  the soup ended up bordering on too thick.  it did also need a little salt but i like to let each person add salt to their own taste at the end anyway.  i didn't miss the onions at all.

so i now have another staple recipe that i'll make often.  it is very filling & really more of a fall/winter soup but i'm so glad i tried it when i got the magazine or i would have forgotten about it later!  there are quite a few recipes in the most recent issue of cooking light that i want to try.  i recommend picking up a copy... and trying this soup!

lately i have developed an obsession, one that has been building for a while. it is an obsession with focaccia. i think i first had focaccia on a sandwich at bread co (or panera bread to most of the rest of you) years ago. it was tomato basil, i think. i love light, fluffy, slightly chewy breads. i love breads of any kind, really, but focaccia has to be my favorite. so the obsession i've developed isn't just the bread itself but finding a good recipe that i can use to make focaccia myself, with whatever additional flavors i want.

i think the main reason it took me so long to actually try focaccia is my (lack of) relationship with yeast. yeast always seemed so mysterious and tricky. like if i didn't treat it just exactly right, it would turn on me. getting over that initial trepidation has opened the flood gates. now i want to try all different breads. looking at how incredibly simple the recipe i ended up with through trial and error is, it's amazing how many times i screwed it up. actually, some of the screw ups were because of the poor recipes i found. and by screw up, i mean that i had probably 8 batches that turned out far too thin & with way too much crunch. i learned that the reason it wasn't working out for me was a combination of wrong temperature of water, not enough rising time and wrong pan.

so here's the basic recipe i came up with.

simple focaccia

1 cup water at about 110 degrees fahrenheit

1 1/4 oz. packet dry active yeast

1 tbs sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbs olive oil

dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water & let it sit and get foamy for about 5 minutes. then mix it in a large bowl with the flour, salt and oil. fold a few times on a floured surface. i then wash out the bowl i used & spray in some cooking spray so it's easier to get out later. let the dough rise for about 3 hours.  then pour the dough into a 9X9 baking dish and push it out to evenly fill the bottom with your fingers.  push deep dimples into the surface with your fingertips.  bake at 400 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

now that i write this recipe out, i feel even stupider for having messed it up so many times. the failed attempts were still tasty, just not what i was looking for. i've now made the perfected recipe several times with different additions. except for the times that i've put sautéed garlic & onions on top, i mix everything else in at the beginning, before the dough rises.

here is a picture of one of the "failed" attempts.  i later learned that using the 9X9 pan forces the dough to go up (because it can't go out like when i used my 9X13).  the bread in this picture tasted good, i loved the olives & rosemary on top, it was just not fluffy & it was way too crunchy.

here's my first successful attempt.  see how thick it is?  i did a little happy dance when i saw this one come out of the oven.  it just has onions & garlic that i sweated in a pan until the onions were clear & soft & then spread on top before i put it in the oven.

below (at at the top of this post) are the next batch. i chopped up about a quarter cup of fresh basil & mixed it in at the beginning.  then i put the same onion & garlic mixture on top and topped that with a bit more basil.  this one has been my favorite so far.

i also made a batch with about 3/4 cup of leftover pasta sauce (see previous entry here) that i let drain in the colander for a bit to get out as much excess moisture as i could.  i mixed it in prior to letting the dough rise.  the dough looked gross & way too wet.  i was afraid it wouldn't rise but it turned out great!  it smelled like pizza.  i wish i had a picture of it but its all been gobbled down already. 

i'm glad that i've finally conquered focaccia.  it is so easy and so versatile.  i can start it & add whatever takes my fancy at the moment & then let it go while i do other things and the baking time is relatively short.  focaccia is great for sandwiches plus, with all the stuff you can add to it, i like it as a snack on its own.

i think i need to buy some stock in a flour company.  since i am now friends with yeast, i see a lot of bread baking coming my way!

as i've mentioned before, i grew up in what was a very rural part of st. charles county in missouri. we had to drive pretty far (by today's standards) to get to anything. the time i decided to eat a whole bottle of aspirin (at about age 3) my mom had to drive about 25 minutes into st. charles proper to get the ipecac syrup at the closest drug store. the closest grocery store was about 15 minutes away. we also didn't have the biggest selection of restaurants. we didn't eat out much in the first place, but i do remember one chinese restaurant that we went to fairly often. the only mexican restaurant i remember going to was the taco bell on droste road in st. charles and it wasn't there until i was probably in junior high.

to me, mexican food was burritos or tacos at home. mom would get those kits with the shells & packet of spices for ground beef. toppings were generally refried beans, lettuce, cheese & tomatoes and that's it. around '98 or so a restaurant called el maguey opened in st. charles county & it's probably the first authentic mexican restaurant i'd ever been to. my basis for calling it authentic is that someone from mexico recommended it to me and nothing but spanish is heard coming from the kitchen. so, i am not a mexican food expert. i don't know what mexican food is "supposed" to look or taste like and have no idea which are the truly traditional dishes. but i do like mexican food a lot.

john started a new job fairly recently and next door is a really cool little mexican restaurant. the sign says "tienda casa paloma" and, after looking it up online, i learned that "tienda" means store. they have a small selection of fresh produce, canned goods & a refrigerated section. they also have a counter where they serve food. their menu is so detailed that you could almost make each dish just from the description. the dining area is large and filled with fifties looking formica tables & metal chairs with brightly colored cushions along with booths on two walls. the decor makes me think of a very tidy border town store (blankets, ornaments, pictures of mexico, a few pictures of our lady of gaudalupe). it is cute and comfortable and inviting.

selection: the menu on the wall behind the counter is hand written on about 8 large pieces of poster board. there is a large selection of breakfast burritos and platters. they also have several types of burritos & tacos, quesadillas, sandwiches and desserts (and more that i can’t remember right now). i love that they have what looks like a teeny salad bar where you can spruce up your food. you have a choice of 3 different salsas, pico de gallo, lettuce, onions & lime slices. the coolest thing is a section full of cilantro. how cool is it to be able to add as much freshly chopped cilantro as you want to your food? i'll tell you... it's awesome. along with the usual choice of soft drinks, they also have a bunch of mexican sodas & beverages.

taste: i don't know where to start. everything we've had has just been incredible. the food is spicy but not too much so, fresh as the day is long and just plain delicious. i'd never had chorizo until i had their breakfast burrito & now i'm totally in love with it. john had a gigantic burrito for lunch one day that was amazing. among all the other ingredients, there was a pretty green chunk of avocado right in the center. Today we shared a monster chicken taco salad in a fried tortilla bowl.  the bowl was so light, crunch & buttery, i couldn’t stop eating it while john stirred up the chicken, cheese, lettuce, beans, salsa, sour cream & avocado inside.  their homemade horchata is perfectly cool, refreshing & cinnamon-ey.  i want to drink it every day.  go to your thesaurus & look up "delicious" and every word will apply to casa paloma.

service: twyla, the girl who's been at the counter both times we went is super nice & very informative. she definitely knows a lot about everything they serve, which was a tiny bit surprising since she's the only non-hispanic person i've seen there so far. it took less than 5 minutes for us to get our hot & fresh food.

value: the first time i went, i had a breakfast burrito packed full of eggs, cheese and chorizo. for under $6 i had way more food than i could eat for breakfast. the second time we went, i had a soft taco for $2. the meat was marinated with yummy spices & so juicy that i had a small problem with the bottom of my tortilla getting a soggy hole in it. the taco salad was too much for john to finish by himself (which is really saying something) and the perfect size for us to share & be full for about $6.  definitely a good value for the amount of food you get.

again, reheatability wasn't an issue because we scarfed it all down. of course, ranch doesn't apply because who would put ranch on mexican food? i also haven't checked out the bathrooms yet. even if john didn't work right next door, i would want to go back to casa paloma again & again. the food is amazing, plentiful and affordably priced. the atmosphere is fun, casual & comfortable. the staff is nice & knowledgeable. if you are ever in kansas city & have even the slightest inclination to have some mexican food, go straight to casa paloma. you'll thank me later.

 grade: A+

i tried to be a vegetarian once. i was a senior in high school and one of my good friends, katherine, was a vegetarian. i envied her seemingly effortless coolness & wanted to be just like her. i guess i thought giving up meat would be one way to do that. i also thought it would be pretty easy since i don't like steak and eat other types of beef & pork very rarely. i love chicken & seafood but i thought i could give them up. well, i was wrong. chicken was really my downfall. i don't think i lasted as a vegetarian for even the whole school year.

i did come out of the experience with a really horrible vegetarian cookbook. probably 90% of the recipes include lentils, which i hate. the cookbook really doesn't provide much variety in ingredients or taste. it's just downright boring. i am really glad that i got this cookbook, though, because it gave me my chili recipe... which i put ground beef in. the first part of the recipe is also where my pasta sauce started. both of these dishes regularly get a "damn, that's good" reaction from my husband, john, and my mom (who i think is the best cook on earth) often requests my chili.

one problem with trying to write out how to make a tried & tested recipe is that it's not the same every time. i don't get out a cookbook to make my sauce or chili. there is no real recipe. i recently had an art project idea for which i asked my favorite cooks to hand write a signature recipe so i can frame them. i asked my aunt dee to write down her deviled egg recipe (which she is famous for). i got an email back from her saying "you do know you're taxing my brain because there is no real recipe". yeah, i kinda figured that was the case. but i'm going to take a whack at writing out my sauce recipe here (and how to turn it into chili).

candy's pasta sauce

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 large onions, diced

2 bell peppers, diced

2 20 oz. cans of diced tomatoes, drained

1 6-oz can of tomato paste

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tsps basil

1 tbs oregano

2 tbs sugar

in a medium sized stock pot, sweat the garlic, onions & peppers (i use green for the contrast in color) in several tablespoons of olive oil and the salt & pepper until the onions are translucent. i saute the garlic while i cut up the onion & let that sweat while i cut up the peppers (the time this takes between additions seems to work well). when the peppers just start to get soft, add the tomatoes, herbs & sugar. simmer for about 30 minutes.

how does this become chili? well, mine is not your average chili. it has, in fact, been called stew before. i'd probably be poo-pooed by chili purists because i think chili without beans is not chili. probably because my chili without beans is basically my pasta sauce. so here's what you do. take the above directions but forget the tomato paste. right after you add the tomatoes, add one 40 ounce can of brook's chili hot beans (or whatever brand you like. i always use brook's), a pound of browned ground beef, about 2 tablespoons of chili powder and tabasco to taste and simmer for 30 minutes. i like to add a little shredded cheddar & a few oyster crackers to my bowl.

this pasta sauce is good on any kind of noodles and i also like to use it in lasagna. both recipes make enough for 2 people to eat for several meals or enough for a meal for probably 8-10 people. i like to make a batch of sauce or chili & then freeze about half of it for later. how great is it to be all like "man, what the heck are we going to have for dinner?" and then remembering there's something yummy in the freezer? well... it's really great.

my dad was a viking. his grandfather came to america from norway (i even found his name on the ellis island website) and settled in chicago. i am 1/4 norwegian and am very proud of that heritage but i'm not nearly as much of a viking as my dad was. he loved his boat, being out on the water & fishing. he didn't do any raping & pillaging but when he was sick & we talked about his "final arrangements" he told me that he thought it would be cool to be put on a boat & set on fire like a traditional viking funeral.  my dad had a weird/great sense of humor.

so when i saw the weekend breakfast blog challenge over at glenna's blog, i thought i'd make something from my scandinavian heritage. while searching online, i found a post by a norwegian woman saying that traditional breakfast would be bread with jams, cheese or meat but i thought that just going to better cheddar & getting the norwegian cheese i always sample but never buy would be boring & bordering on cheating. i remember my dad telling me about the elder women in his family making lefse and i haven't had it since i can't remember when. it's not specifically just a breakfast dish but i like it for breakfast & think it fits so that's what i decided to make.

lefse is sort of like a tortilla & sort of like a crepe (although traditional norwegian krumkake is even more so) & a bit like a flat bread which really fits with viking culture. with all of their travel & conquering, the vikings incorporated a lot of what they found (and stole) in other lands into their own lives. for example, a lot of scandinavian artwork has a celtic look to it. influences as far away as the infamous roman empire can be seen. kind of like when the vikings discovered north america but then left, they didn't conquer & take over countries. they liked to kick a country's ass, take what they wanted & then go back home. so, i'm not positive that lefse is a stolen idea & i have no historical proof... but it makes sense.

i like lefse best with a thin layer of butter & then sugar sprinkled on it (i do this with flour tortillas sometimes for a snack too). it would also be good with jelly or peanut butter or rolled up with fruit or any number of other toppings. i'm thinking it would be great with savory ingredients inside too. i started with a recipe i found on allrecipes.com (found here) but made some modifications. the lefse turned out exactly like i remember it. it was perfect. so here's the recipe as i did it.

lefse

about 4 pounds of potatoes (i used about 5 red & 5 gold because that's what i had)
1/4 cup butter
3 tbs heavy cream
1 tbs salt
1 tbs sugar
2 cups flour

boil the potatoes until tender then use a potato ricer (which i happened to have because of a potato foccacia recipe i made years ago from a martha stewart magazine that i wish i still had!) or mash VERY well. any lumps would be bad. you want to end up with 4 1/2 cups of potato.  mix in the butter, cream, salt & sugar while the potatoes are still warm then let it cool until room temperature. mix in the flour.  here's what the dough looks like (after about 3/4 of it has been fried).

the recipe i started from says to use a "pastry towel" which i have no idea what that is, much less do i have one. so i just liberally floured my counter & rolling pin & it worked out fine. it just takes a LOT of flouring of the counter & rolling pin. take a chunk of dough about the size of a small lime & roll out as thin as possible, maybe 1/8 of an inch thick at the most. i wish i had a griddle to do these on but i used a large non-stick skillet heated to medium high heat. each lefse takes a very short time to fry. it will start to bubble & that's when you know to turn it over. as i took them off the pan, i put a paper towel between them so they wouldn't stick together when they cool. but, if you leave them in a stack, it will take forever for them all to cool. so, after i was done, i set the towels out on the counter so they could all cool off.

they came out about 8-10 inches across and not even close to perfectly round.  they are best warm but tasty cold as well.  as i'm sitting here writing, my cat got up on the desk and actually took a bite of what i have left of my plate.  if a cat is eating something made primarily of potato, you know it's got to be good!

this was my first time making lefse myself & i'm quite proud about how they turned out. i had one that was still warm (so it melted the butter) and it was so yummy, i did a little happy dance while mumbling "yummmm". lefse is pretty easy to make & made enough that i have plenty left for breakfast tomorrow. actually, i think i'll go have another piece right now!