WINTER FUN PARTY
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Beer Punch
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Scandinavians are avid outdoor sports fans—never mind the cold winter weather. By February, the days have become longer, though not much warmer. With more daylight hours, people spend time outside, enjoying ice skating and cross-country skiing.
Physical fitness and competition are historically important to Scandinavians, dating back to the Vikings with their superb physical stamina. Annual marathons and races, such as the Finlandia ski race, Sweden's Vasaloppet cross-country ski race, and the Norwegian Birkebeiner race, have inspired similar competitions worldwide.
But outdoor activities are not limited to professional sportsmen and women. In Denmark, laborers, business people, parents, and school children skate wherever there is ice. Some have lakes and ponds available to them. In the towns, tennis courts and football and soccer fields are flooded to make ice for skating.
Cross-country skiing takes the prize for popularity as a winter sport. As often as they can, Norwegians head for their huts in the mountains for weekends of ski touring. In Sweden and Finland, people take airplanes or trains to the snow-covered slopes of Lapland to enjoy ski holidays and weekends.
If you travel to Finland or Sweden, there are several Lapland resorts where you can stay and enjoy days of cross-country skiing on the sloping fells or mountains. In Finland, you can stay in rustic holiday-village log cabins with fully equipped kitchens. Or you may prefer a country farmhouse on a full-board basis. Accommodations may be simple, but they are immaculate. Meals are enjoyed with the family. Wherever you stay, you'll experience exhilarating sauna baths.
This menu is meant to warm you after a day on the slopes. It can be easily prepared in the simple kitchen of a vacation home or in your own home.
POTATO FLATBREAD
(Lefse—Norway)Makes about 20 rounds
Norwegians serve lefse for all special occasions, including a coffeetable.
2 1/2 pounds (5 to 6 large) russet potatoes, pared and quartered
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook potatoes in water to cover until they are just tender, not mushy, about 20 minutes. Pour into a colander over a bowl and drain well. (When the steam rises from the potatoes, you will see a floury-white exterior on the potato pieces.) I save the potato water for making bread or use it in soup.Press the dry, hot potatoes through a potato ricer into a large bowl, Mix in the butter, whipping cream, sugar, and salt with a potato masher until very well blended. Not that the flour is not added now! Smooth the mixture out in the bowl.
Refrigerate (do not cover) at least eight hours or overnight; this is so that the potato mixture will dry out as it chills.
The next day, preheat an ungreased flat grill to 450 degrees F. Place a clean, large terry towel on a large plastic bag. You will place the baked lefse on one end of the towel and fold the other half of the towel and the plastic bag over the lefse as you cook more rounds. The towel will absorb moisture from the lefse as it cools, and the plastic keeps the moisture in the towel.
For rolling out the lefse, stretch a pastry cloth over a board and use tape to fasten it so it is taut. Cover a regular or grooved lefse rolling pin with a pastry sock and rub flour generously into the sock.
Remove bowl with potato mixture from refrigerator. Wash your hands well. Add the flour and work it in using your hands. Once the flour is added, you must roll out and cook all of the lefse or the dough will get soft and sticky.
Using a #13 ice cream scoop (measures 1/3 cup), portion out the potato mixture and shape into balls. Smooth out the balls and dust lightly with additional flour.
Generously flour the pastry cloth and the rolling pin as well. Flatten all of the dough and begin rolling it out as thin as you can, adding more flour as you go, being careful not to let the dough stick to the pin or the pastry board. Keep everything dry! Loosen the lefse often using a lefse stick, carefully pushing it between the dough and the board.
When the round is as large and thin as you can make it, use the stick to pick up the round and transfer it to the hot (ungreased) lefse griddle. The griddle should be hot enough that the lefse immediately begins to bubble. When a peek at the griddle side shows a nice surface of brown spots, slide the stick under it and carefully flip it over. The stick must be dry so that the lefse will not stick to it and tear.
If the edges of the lefse begin to get dry, brown, and curl, you are cooking the rounds too long, and if the lefse is not browning well, but remaining light, the griddle temperature is set too low. If the lefse quickly burns, the griddle temperature is set too high. Because all griddles vary a little in their temperature, it takes a little bit of practice to get it exactly right. Place the cooked lefse onto one end of the terry towel and cover with the other half of the towel, covering at the same time with the other half of the large plastic bag.
Continue rolling out rounds and cooking them, stacking them right on top of each other in the terry towel (there is no need to separate them).
Allow the stack of lefse to cool 2-3 hours, then carefully peel each round off the pile, fold it into quarters, and stack them in zipper-lock freezer bags. I like to put 6 to 12 in each bag, depending on how many I think we'll be using at a time. Refrigerate the lefse that will be eaten within the next three days. Freeze the rest.
Lefse is delicious spread with butter and sprinkled with a little white or brown sugar, or sugar and cinnamon. Some people roll up the sugared lefse tightly and then slice it into 1/2-inch slices and serve right along with cookies on the holiday cookie tray. Lefse is also delicious just buttered and served with a holiday dinner.
PEA SOUP WITH PORK
(Ärter med Fläsk—Sweden)Makes 6 servings
After a frolic in the cold winter air, this is the perfect soup to serve—with pork sandwiches.
2 cup dried yellow Swedish peas
3 quarts water
1 fresh pork shoulder roast (2 to 3 pounds)
3 medium onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon dried leaf marjoram
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Sort and wash peas. In a deep soup kettle, combine peas, and water. Soak overnight. Place soup kettle with soaked peas and water over medium-high heat. Place soup kettle with soaked peas and water over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Remove shells of peas that float to top of water. Simmer 2 hours or until peas are partially softened. Add pork roast, onions, ginger, and allspice. Simmer 2 to 3 hours until pork is tender. Skim fat from surface. Stir in majoram, salt, and pepper. To serve, place pork roast on a platter; cut into slices, removing bone. Serve pork in sandwiches, if desired. Serve hot soup in bowls or mugs.
APPLE PIE
(Eplepai—Norway)Makes 6 to 8 servings
For a real treat, serve this fresh from the oven, topped with a dollop of whipped cream.
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 small, tart apples, diced (about 1 cup)
Whipped cream or cinnamon ice cream
Generously butter a 9-inch pie pan; set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except whipped cream or ice cream. Stir until blended; mixture will be stiff. Spoon into prepared pie pan. Bake 30 minutes or until browned and slightly puffed. To serve, cut hot pie into wedges; top with dollops of whipped cream or ice cream.
BEER PUNCH
(Mumma—Sweden)Makes 6 servings
This is exceptionally good when you use Scandinavian or German beer.
1 bottle dark beer (12 ounces)
1 bottle light beer (12 ounces)
1 bottle pale ale (12 ounces)
1/3 cup aquavit or gin
Refrigerate all ingredients until chilled. To serve, pour all ingredients into a chilled pitcher; stir. Serve in mugs.