North Wild Kitchen

Tag: flatbread

  • Beef and Vegetable Stew (Brun Lapskaus)

    Beef and Vegetable Stew (Brun Lapskaus)

    Norwegian Beef and Vegetable Stew (Brun Lapskaus)Lapskaus is simply a Norwegian stew made up of meat and vegetables, with both dark and light versions. Brun “brown” lapskaus is made with beef that is browned first before the other ingredients are added. Some also prepare brun lapskaus with the addition of a brown gravy. Lys “light” lapskaus is typically made with pork, salted or smoked, and cooked in the sauce rather than browned first. (more…)

  • Rutabaga, Cranberry, and Almond Crisp Breads (Knekkebrød med Kålrot)

    Rutabaga, Cranberry, and Almond Crisp Breads (Knekkebrød med Kålrot)

    Rutabaga, Cranberry, and Almond Crisp Bread (Knekkebrød med Kålrot)Rutabaga, Cranberry, and Almond Crisp Bread (Knekkebrød med Kålrot)

    This is the third and final part of my three-part series of autumn dishes featuring Rutabaga

    When you have something as forgiving and simple to make as knekkebrød (crisp bread), it’s easy to experiment with different flavors and use up what you have lying around the house. I was looking for a new type of crisp bread to serve guests this autumn – something versatile, and something that leaves an intriguing taste. With all the leftover rutabaga puree I had from the Flourless Rutabaga Roulade, I knew I had to incorporate it.

    Enter in Rutabaga Crisp Breads. (more…)

  • Pinnekjøtt with Flatbread, Rutabaga, Crispy Potatoes & Lemon Browned Butter

    Pinnekjøtt with Flatbread, Rutabaga, Crispy Potatoes & Lemon Browned Butter

    Pinnekjøtt with Flatbread, Rutabaga Puree, Crispy Potatoes and Lemon Browned ButterPinnekjøtt with Flatbread, Rutabaga Puree, Crispy Potatoes and Lemon Browned Butter Traditions are like threads. Threads pieced together from generation to generation. Some threads break loose and are replaced with newer ones, but others remain at the core. The dishes we eat are just a few of those threads. Everyone has their favorites, their must-haves, and when those are satisfied, there’s room for a few new threads.

    Tradition is a celebration of time past and tells the stories that make up our memories, but it also celebrates the present and our evolving tastes. In tradition, there is room for innovation and the embrace of individual desires.

    While reflecting over Norwegian Christmas traditions, I was asked, dare I say challenged, to come up with a unique way of presenting the dish that one third of Norwegians consume every Christmas Eve. Pinekjøtt. Rather than create smoke and mirrors, I decided to package it all in a different way.

    Pinnekjøtt with Flatbread, Rutabaga Puree, Crispy Potatoes and Lemon Browned Butter (more…)

  • Rakfisk (Norwegian Fermented Fish)

    Rakfisk (Norwegian Fermented Fish)

    Rakfisk (Norwegian Fermented Fish)Rakfisk (Norwegian Fermented Fish)

    Centuries ago, a group of fishermen mounted their horses early in the autumn and began their trek deep into the mountains of Norway. Lakes abounding, the fishermen spent their days in much success. Preservation of the bounty would have included much salt, but to their dismay they had not brought enough on this journey. They used all they had with nothing left to spare. They began their long journey back down the mountain in the hope that the fish would still be preserved. Days turned into weeks and the fish began to ferment. Upon returning home, and in anticipation that the fish had not gone to waste, the fisherman discovered something quite unusual. The fish had gone through a process in which had preserved it in a different way. They had stumbled upon something so delightful that it took hold and became a traditional delicacy across the land. 

    This is the story I am told when asked how rakfisk came to be. A legend? Most certainly. But what we do know is that the process of fermentation has been known and popular across the world for thousands of years. Whether tales of accidental fermentation are true or not, is it certain that once the method of fermenting fish arrived in Norway, it became a significant part of the diet and an old tradition which is still upheld today. In fact, rakfisk is considered one of the most culturally important and iconic Norwegian recipes. And while many will never have the opportunity to make it themselves, this is certainly a dish you should try at least once. (more…)

  • Numedal Matfestival { A Gathering }

    Numedal Matfestival { A Gathering }

    A celebration. A feast.  A coming together. Signifying an homage, a compliment if you will, to Numedal’s landscape, its people, its past and its present. A gleeful and relaxed dinner to crown off the day’s festivities. For two evenings the candles are lit, flowers are placed in glass jars, the place settings are arranged and rows of white-clothed tables line up under a large, white tent. A stage, which will be the platform for many laughs and traditional music and dance, overlooks the tables. Waiters, dressed in formal attire and frilly aprons, will begin to scurry around, taking drink orders, filling cups, and, at times, chiming in with song. The nights are centered around food and theater. The Numedalsgruppen, under the charge of Chef Micke Bergvall, have created a 7-course menu to entice the tastebuds and challenge the thinking of traditional Norwegian food. They base each course on local products and ingredients; some plucked and picked from nature only hours beforehand. This is the celebration; an acknowledgment of those who create and cook and utilize what Norway has to offer. The dinner will begin. Drinks will be poured. Plates will start flowing. Music will sound. Conversations will echo. A performance will begin, and laughs will proceed. More drinks, more food, more laughs, more merriment. The whole tent will retire outside where coffee, cooked over flaming logs, will be served from a coffee master’s hand. Cakes will be passed around. And then the dancing will commence. A concert will start. The sun will still give its light, even though the hour is late. This is the Matfestival in Numedal.

     

    The Menu

    Brød og Smør / Bread and Butter

    (Homebaked bread, flatbrød from Uvdalsleiven, butter from Håvardsrud Seterliv)

    Spekemat Fjøl med det beste fra Numedal / Cured Meats from the best of Numedal

    (Fenalår from Spælsau lamb, Smådølkurv from Kirkebygda Produkter and Nabosnabben from Nabokjerringan, Flatbrød from Mollas bakery and sour cream from Håvardsrud Seterliv)

    Varmrøkt Sik med Eggerulle og Jordskokk / Smoked White Fish with Egg & Jerusalem Artichoke

    (Sik fish from the waters of Norefjord, egg fra Prestmoen Farm and Jerusalem Artichokes from Årud Farm)

    Vente Pølse i Brød / Sausage in Bread

    (Matopplevelser’s lamb and wild garlic sausage served with pickled red onions from Holm Farm, course mustard and tyttebær ketchup and bread from Veggli Bakeri)

    Fjellvitt-Gravet Ørret / Cured Trout with Aquavit

    (Trout from the Låkåsetvann, cured in Aquavit from Numedal and served with troll-potato croutons, whipped sour cream from Håvardsrud Seterliv and trout roe from Hadangervidda rakfisk)

    Fritert Troll-Potetskrell / Fried Troll-Potato Skins

    (Served with sour cream from Håvardsrud Seterliv)

    Brassert Storfe Bryst av økologisk Telemarks Kalv fra Uvdal / Organic Braised Beef Breast from Uvdal

    (Served with carrot purée, carrot pieces from Lågen, onion, and salt-roasted Troll potatoes)

    BlåKu med bærbrød / Blue Cheese with Berry Bread

    (Blue cheese from Thorbjørnrud, served with dried berry bread, honey from Gardås forest and rhubarb marmalade) 

    Tjukkmjølk-Pudding med Skogens Syrlige Bær / Thick Milk Pudding with Forest Berries

    (Thick milk from Håvardsrud Seterliv and berries from the local forest)

    Bålkaffe og Bakst / Campfire Coffee and Baked Goods

    (Coffee made by Ola Hov, snipp from Mollas Bakery, kling and rømmebrød fra Uvdalsleiven Tradisjonsbakst)

    Brød og Smør & Spekemat / Bread and Butter & Cured Meats

    Numedal Matfestival (more…)

  • Uvdalsleiven Tradisjonsbakst’s Kling (Lefse)

    Uvdalsleiven Tradisjonsbakst’s Kling (Lefse)

    Norwegian Kling (Lefse) from Uvdalsleiven TradisjonsbakstNorwegian Kling (Lefse) from Uvdalsleiven TradisjonsbakstMy second visit to Uvdalsleiven Tradisjonsbakst is underway and as I draw nearer to the bakery, I pass the Nore og Uvdal Bygdetun with Uvdal’s  stave church towering above the hill; a reminder of the days past and the history of this place. The horses have come to graze nearby and I stop for a moment to take in the surroundings. There’s a peacefulness in Numedal, in the towns which lie throughout. Enriched by gentle people, the structures of their labor and their heritage amidst a landscape of pure, unadulterated nature. I’m reminded how food has shaped and been shaped by the culture, and how certain delicacies remain as pure as the landscape. One such iconic product, which is so commonplace and at the same time ensues such nostalgia and longing for, is kling.

    My second visit to Uvdasleieven is underway and as I draw nearer to the bakery, I pass the Uvdal Byggdetun & Stave church, a reminder of the days past and the history of this place. The horses have come to graze nearby and I stop for a moment to take in the surroundings. There’s a peacefulness in Numedal, in the towns which lay throughout. Enriched by gentle people, the structures of their labor and their heritage amidst a landscape of pure, unadulterated nature. I’m reminded how food has shaped and been shaped by the culture, and how certain delicacies remain as pure as the landscape. One such iconic product, which is so commonplace and at the same time ensues such nostalgia and longing for, is Kling. Hanne and Hanne K greet me with smiles as they carry on mixing, rolling and baking. Their day started at 5.30 this morning, and I’m only now joining them as they carry on working until the work is done. No clock to follow, only the work of their hands counting down the minutes. Today, they are making kling. You and I might call it lefse, but to anyone from these parts, it is kling. Whether with a smear of butter and sugar or served plain, this is kling from Uvdal. Hanne’s recipe has won over many fans, boasting a light and delicate kling, with my favorite being sugar and butter sandwiched between two kling and cut into large triangles. Rolling each kling by hand is a practice not suitable to the demands of production. These days, a machine aids in the rolling, but in no way is an indication of the process being easy. Each dough must go through the machine a total of 14 times, and each time through, the ladies must flour, turn, adjust and observe. There is an unspoken synchronization at work. It is second nature to them, but I can see it clearly. One makes the dough, the other rolls the prepared dough and when enough kling has been rolled out, one will make their way toward the takke. If cooking one at a time isn’t hard enough, they cook two simultaneously. Alternating and flipping. And this method carries on, with each task being traded off between the two of them so there is a balance. For both body and mind. The recipe is from her grandmother. And as each one begins to bubble and brown, they are placed on top of each other and wrapped in a blanket of plastic and fabric. Stored overnight, they will be prepared the following day. Some will be given a coating of butter and sugar, while the rest will be left plain. Hanne tells me that the plain kling goes well with warm beta soup, or topped with some butter and eaten with rakfisk. She reveals that her custom is to eat it with a bowl of risengrot (rice porridge), although this is not common practice. A habit she indulges in at home on the rare occasion. There’s a quietness today. Hanne is quick to explain that on kling days they generally keep conversation to a minimum. They work in auto-mode and move to the beat of the radio playing in the background until it’s time for a short break. Coffee, served black and taken on the front steps. We reminisce over the area and the history of the place. We discuss kling and markets. We agree that tradition is strong in these parts and that everyone is proud of their heritage, their recipes and the hard work that goes into every morsel. I’m not from here. I’m only a guest, but I feel closer to this valley and the people, because of these conversations and people like Hanne and Hanne Karine. Hanne is a great example of the labor and love that goes into maintaining tradition and running a business. Her products speak for themselves in quality and flavor. And in an area where everyone makes their own version of her products and swears by their family recipe, she certainly has to work even harder to standout. And she does so gracefully. She is a great advocate for Uvdal and the traditions of the community. She’s not the only one, but she is a voice and her products carry a certain weight of importance as they tell the stories of the area’s food culture to those passing through and they can also inspire others to see the value in local products. Norwegian Kling (Lefse) from Uvdalsleiven Tradisjonsbakst (more…)