Norwegian Lefse

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1. 1Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. 2Step 2: Wash 5 lbs potatoes.
3. 3Step 3: Bake until they are soft when tested with a fork (45 minutes - 1 hour).
4. 4Step 4: Remove from oven and allow potatoes to cool enough to handle - slightly warm potatoes are easier to peel.
5. 5Step 5: Peel potatoes and be sure to remove any eyes or tough/dark spots from the potatoes.
6. 6Step 6: Dice the potatoes.
7. 7Step 7: Rice the potatoes while they are still warm.
8. 8Step 8: Melt 1 stick of butter and stir into the warm, riced potatoes.
9. 9Step 9: Pat the warm, buttery riced potatoes into a 9x13 pan and let cool uncovered on the counter for an hour to steam off any extra moisture.
10. 10Step 10: Put the pan in the fridge overnight - I leave it uncovered.
11. 11Step 11: Because my mixer is not big enough to take on all 5lbs of potatoes at a time, I break it down into 4 cup increments - 5lbs of riced potatoes should net about 10 cups, lightly packed.
12. 12Step 12: Per every 4 cups of lightly packed, riced potatoes as prepared on day 1, add: 1.5 C flour, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar, 1/2 C heavy cream.
13. 13Step 13: Keep a generous amount of extra flour on hand. Load the pastry rolling board and rolling pin cover with about 1/3 cup of flour to start. Then, in-between rolling each sheet add another sprinkle to the board and cover to keep them slick.
14. 14Step 14: Mix the lefse dough: Blend the riced potatoes, sugar, flour, salt, and heavy cream until well integrated.
15. 15Step 15: Prep your dough into patties: Roll the dough into balls slightly larger than a golf ball and press gently between your palms. Place back into the 9x13 pan, and put the pan back in the fridge so the dough stays cold.
16. 16Step 16: Pre-heat your cooking surface to 400. You can go a touch hotter if you have a fast approach. My husband and I usually tag-team: one rolling and one flipping and can crank it up to 450.
17. 17Step 17: Prepare your rolling surface: Sprinkle the rolling pin cover and pastry board generously with flour and rub it in well.
18. 18Step 18: I only pull out a couple of patties of dough from the fridge at a time so the dough stays nice and cold.
19. 19Step 19: Put another generous sprinkle of flour on the pastry board. Then, drop your patty on the board, and put another generous sprinkle of flour on top of it.
20. 20Step 20: Roll it out until you can see the print from the pastry board peeking through.
21. 21Step 21: Grab your lefse stick and gently slide it under the sheet.
22. 22Step 22: Slide the lefse stick gently back and forth the entire width of the sheet, making sure the sheet is completely free from the pastry board, or it will tear when you try to lift it.
23. 23Step 23: With the lefse stick in the center of the sheet, gently lift it off the board and transfer to the griddle: place one edge on the griddle and roll the stick beneath the sheet toward the opposite end, until the entire sheet is on the griddle.
24. 24Step 24: After about 45 seconds, or when the lefse has some light brown marks, flip it over and grill it for another 30-45 seconds.
25. 25Step 25: Lastly, let each sheet cool thoroughly before stacking, or the delicate sheets will collect moisture in-between and stick.