Sunday, February 24, 2013

Weekend Cooking: From Wisconsin With Love

Recipes from Wisconsin With Love cover    photo Fromwisconsinmorethanacookbookcover_zps01a56050.jpg


Sisters, Laurie and Debra Gluesing, have written these fantastic cookbooks featuring Wisconsin recipes, history, and folklore. I've spent way too much time looking through them, and loving every second of it. The first was published in 1984, and the second in 1991.

Wisconsin has a diverse ethnic mix. According to page 57, 50 nationalities are represented in Milwaukee alone (that was in 1984 when the book was published).

I'm Norwegian and German from my Dad's side and mostly German with some Native American from my Mom's. So I thought I'd feature recipes from the books that represent my heritage.



I'll start with this recipe for Lefse. Very Norwegian, and another special treat on the same caliber as Rosettes. If you're not familiar, lefse is a traditional Norwegian flatbread made from potatoes. They're about as thin as tortillas. My family loves to eat them by spreading them with butter and sprinkling sugar on top of that. You then roll it up...and yum.

 photo Lefserecipe_zpsf62a4e53.jpg
Lefse recipe from Recipes from Wisconsin...With Love


Then we move on to Baked German Potato Salad (found on page 83). According to the top of the page, the Germans make up the largest ethnic group in Wisconsin (again, published in 1984, I'm not so sure that still holds true.)

Baked German Potato Salad from Recipes from Wisconsin...With Love

1 cup diced bacon
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped onion
3 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons flour
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1-1/3 cups water
8 cups cooked, sliced potatoes

Fry bacon; drain on paper toweling. Pour all but 1/4 cup bacon grease from skillet. Add celery, onion, salt, and flour; simmer, stirring constantly. Add sugar, vinegar, pepper and water and bring to a boil. Toss bacon and potatoes together in a 3-quart baking dish; pour hot mixture over potatoes. Cover and bake in 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. Serves 12.

And last but not least, a recipe for Indian Fry Bread.

Indian Fry Bread "Dough Gods" from  From Wisconsin: More Than a Cookbook

12 cups flour
3 cups lukewarm water
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
Shortening for frying

Put flour in a 6-quart bowl and push up high along the sides so there is a deep well in the center. Add water combined with salt and baking powder, pouring it into the prepared well. Mix with a spoon until the dough will not absorb any more flour. Knead well in the bowl. Let stand 1 hour. Heat shortening in a large frying pan until very hot, but not smoking. With a knife, cut a piece of dough about the size of a small fist, and with floured hands, stretch it out flat. Drop into hot shortening. Brown both sides, turning once.


What are some of your favorite family recipes? Please share.

Hope you're having a nice, relaxing Sunday,

Angela







Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, beer, wine, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.





20 comments:

  1. That is an amazing factoid about the German-American population. I would have said Norwegian, for sure. We have a large number of Norwegians in Montana. And I associate fry bread with Navajos in Arizona. Pinning the baked potato salad. Never tried that.

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    1. Hi Fay, thanks a million for stopping by. There is a lot of German influence here, you can especially see it with the beer and the bratwurst. My daughter devours German Potato Salad.

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  2. I love Indian fry bread and I have to try the Lefse! I bet they are wonderful cookbooks to 'read' and I'd love to spend an afternoon looking! Put the kettle on, I'll be over:)
    P.S. I love Wisconsin and am mad about the Packers!

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    1. Sounds terrific. I assume, from your blog header, coffee for you? I have tea also if you'd prefer :)
      The cookbook has a tidbit on the Packers (p. 103) "Green Bay is the smallest city in the US to have a major league football team. In addition, the Packers have the distinction of being the only publicly-held team. When it started in 1919, The Indian Packing Company provided its playing field and jerseys, thus the origin of the name."

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    2. I drink either! The publicly-held part of the Packers is what made me chose them for my team. They have a wonderful history. I'm a little slow here, I just noticed the links to the cookbooks! Thanks! I love to get cookbooks from where we travel and these are older making them even more appealing. One of my favorite experiences was going to a fish boil in Wisconsin! Delicious. Have a great day Angela!

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    3. Terrific, I'll put a pot on :) I went to a fish boil with my Mom and Daughter a couple of years ago when we took a girl trip to Door County. It was so much fun. There are recipes in these books for both an outdoor fish boil and an adaptation to do one indoors.

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  3. My grandmother in law makes German potato salad. It's fab.

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    1. Does Baby Whimsy like it? My son never did (still doesn't), but my daughter loves it. Thanks so much for stopping by, Juju. It's always so nice to see you.

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  4. When I think of Wisconsin cooking now, I think of Memoir of the Sunday Brunch by Julia Pandl, but that was Milwaukee, and I guess Wisconsin is a big state. She didn't write much about regional cuisine, actually. I'd never heard of Lefse or Indian Fry Bread!

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    1. Howdy, Laurie. I've not heard of Julia Pandl's book so I had to look it up. It sounds like a great read, thank you for the introduction. Your Smitten Kitchen brisket recipe sounds divine, and looks delicious.

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  5. Oh these look so great. No wonder you love to read through them. I adore Indian fry bread ... hummm,maybe I need to make some.

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    1. I tried to make fry bread from another recipe once. It didn't turn out very good, I don't think I pulled it thin enough maybe? Who knows. I think I'll have another go at it in the next couple of days. My husband's cousin makes it for family gatherings sometimes, and it's always so delicious. Thank you so much for coming by, Beth.

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  6. What fun cookbooks! I am Norwegian and love Rosettes- so yummy. I must try the lefse recipe and I am a sucker for potato salad. Thanks for sharing!
    ~Stephanie

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    1. My pleasure, Stephanie. Have you had the Norwegian potato dumplings (Klubb)? My Grandma used to make them for us when we visited. I loved them. I think I have the recipe down, I had to ask a great-great uncle for help.

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  7. Such an interesting post - I'd never heard of Lefse before. There nothing like good German potato salad. This recipe sounds delicious. My mother's family is Italian and we have some wonderful tradition recipes that my grandmother cooked when I was young.

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    1. I love Italian food, and there's nothing like Grandma's cooking, is there? Thank you so much for stopping by, JoAnn.

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  8. Hi Angela,

    Whilst hubbie and I are both 'true blue' English born and bred, we both enjoy eating international cuisine, more than our traditional English 'meat and two veg' meals.

    I like the sound of the 'Indian Fry Bread', in fact I could be tempted by any one of those recipes, so thanks for sharing them.

    Yvonne

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  9. I think I need these cookbooks! I'd love to look thru them.

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    1. They really are fun to look through, Debbie. But be careful, once you start, it will be hard to stop :) Thanks a million for stopping by.

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