PREECEVILLE — Christmas recipes from across the nation are baked in traditions. Here are some recipes submitted by Preeceville and area individuals featuring traditional Christmas dishes from Norwegian, Ukrainian, Philippine, and Icelandic cultures.
St. Lucia Buns
By Agnes Murrin, Preeceville
*Note: On St. Lucia Day Murrin and family gather at her sister’s Darlene Medlangs, and eat Lucia buns with other treats.
- 2 pkgs. active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2/3 cup lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup margarine,
- softened 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
- 1 tsp- salt
- 1/2 tsp. powdered saffron
- 5 to 5 1/2 cups flour, divided
- 1/2 cup raisins margarine, softened
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 Tbs. water 2 Tbs. sugar
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup margarine, 2 eggs, cardamom, salt, saffron and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled. Punch down dough; divide into 24 parts. Shape each piece into an S-shaped rope; curve both ends into a coil. Place a raisin in the center of each coil. Place rolls on a greased cookie sheet. Brush the tops lightly with margarine, cover, and let rise until doubled. Mix 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water; brush the buns lightly. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 24 buns.
Note: Some Swedish cooks leave out the cardamom when saffron is used.
Great Grandma's Danish Aebleskiver
Submitted by Agnes Murrin of Preeceville
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 3 eggs, separated
- Powdered sugar for sprinkling
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add buttermilk and egg yolks. Beat egg whites until light and fluffy, forming soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Heat Aebleskiver pan on medium heat. Grease each cup with a little butter, oil, or vegetable spray and fill 2/3 full. Cook for approximately 1 to 1-1/2 minutes per side until golden brown; flip using a toothpick. When both sides are done, serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Best when served warm. Optional: Fill each cup only 1/3 full with batter; place a small amount of fruit in each cup and cover with additional batter.
Lefsa
By Agnes Murrin of Preeceville
- 10 lbs of Russet potatoes
- 1/2 c. margarine
- 1/4 c. salt
- 3 c. (heaping) flour.
You will need a ricer, lefsa pan, lefsa rolling pin, and lefsa sticks.
Cook potatoes. (add 1/4 salt to water) Once cooked, drain potatoes well in a colander. Mash potatoes, add 1/2 c. margarine. Mash again. Rice potatoes (must have no lumps). Let cool in fridge overnight. (Must be cold). Next Day: Add cups of flour to potatoes. mix well. Make 1/3 c. potato balls. Put on a floured cookie sheet. Balls must be kept cold in fridge until each is ready to roll. Preheat lefsa pan to 500. On floured surface, roll out each ball to 8-10 inch round. (The thinner the better.) (Have two tea towels ready.) Put round on the pan with lefsa stick. Lefsa is done when round has light brown spots on both sides. Place cooked lefsa between the towels. Stack Lefsa as more are cooked. Flip pile periodically. (It not stacked edges may become crispy.) To Serve: Spread with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Roll and enjoy.
Sand Tarts
Submitted by Agnes Murrin
- 1 cup butter
- 1 scant cup sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 1/2 cups pastry flour
Cream the first three ingredients. Add:
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- dash almond extract
- 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Using fingers, press a small amount of dough into a couple Swedish Sandbakelser forms to test bake. Work dough up the sides of the little tartlet tins, using no more dough than necessary to cover tins. Bake at 350° until golden brown. Cool before removing from tins. Bake remaining dough the same way, handling tarts carefully to avoid breaking. NOTE: Adding walnuts is American. Swedish cooks would use ground almonds. Sandbakelser.
Norwegian Fruit Soup (Sotsupper)
Submitted by Agnes Murrin of Preeceville
- 1/3 to 3/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca
- 1/2 teaspoon
- 2 quarts water
- 1 can prunes, pitted
- 1/2 cup light and dark raisins
- 1 cup dried apricots
- 2 sticks cinnamon, broken
- salt
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 can pitted dark Bing cherries, with juice.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 pint grape juice
- 1 pint red. wine
Soak tapioca overnight in water. Add prunes, raisins, dried apricots, cinnamon sticks, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until tapioca is clear, stirring occasionally. Add remaining ingredients. When soup boils, remove from heat. Serve hot or cold.
Laufabrauð – Icelandic leaf bread
By Stacey Anaka of Stenen
For the dough:
- 100 g whole milk
- 35 g water
- 12 g unsalted butter
- 170 g cake/pastry flour
- 50 g cornstarch
- 2 g baking powder
- 7 g sugar
- 2 g salt
For frying:
- sunflower or olive oil
Make the dough:
Sift the flour into a medium bowl, set aside. Add the sugar together with the salt and the baking powder. Mix with the help of a spatula. In a saucepan, pour the milk together with the water and the butter. Place at medium heat and leave until the butter melts, but without boiling. Remove from the heat and pour over the dry ingredients. Integrate the ingredients with the help of a spatula. Begin to knead, amalgamate the dough with your hands. Transfer to a clean work surface and start kneading. If, as you knead, you notice that the dough is very dry, you can add a few drops of water. The dough should be slightly dry to the touch, but that allows us to manipulate it without cracking. We will work the dough until it is homogeneous, practically smooth and the flour has been completely integrated. It will take about 5-7 minutes. Cover with the bowl and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Divide the dough and stretch:
Remove the film from the dough. Using a metal scraper or a sharp knife, divide the piece into 15, more or less equal, portions. While we work on each piece to stretch it, cover the rest with film to prevent it from drying out. This is very important. Take one of the portions and stretch slightly with your fingertips. Stretch the dough with a roller to a very thin, almost transparent thickness. We will stretch the dough very delicately to help achieve the desired diameter, which will be around 5,9-6,3 inches (15-16 cm). Place a ring or plate on the dough and remove the excess with the help of a very sharp knife. Take the piece and place it on a sheet of kitchen paper or waxed paper (if you have). Cover with another sheet of kitchen paper and then with a cloth. Repeat the process with the rest of the pieces.
Decorate:
To decorate the leaf bread or laufabrauð, you use a utensil called laufabrauðsjárn. In my case, I don't have it, so I used a blade. You could also use a very sharp knife. Decorate the bread by making cuts on the surface. You will appreciate this step much better in the video. We must always make pair cuts. Once we have decorated one of the breads, place it again on a sheet of paper, cover it with another sheet and the cloth. Just like we did the first time. Repeat the process with the rest of the bread.
Fry:
Fill a medium saucepan with enough oil to be able to fry the breads and float. Place at medium heat and let it reach a temperature of around 345ºF (175ºC). This step will be quite fluid, we will go fast so I advise you to leave everything prepared. Place several pieces of kitchen paper where we can drain the bread that we are taking out and a space to be able to go stacking the breads. Prick the surface of the bread and put the bread in the pot and fry for few seconds by each side. As it is very fine, it will be cooked immediately, the ideal is that we are left with a light golden colour. Remove from the pot, drain and place on the kitchen paper. Quickly and with the help of kitchen paper, press the surface to flatten and remove the excess oil. Set aside and repeat the same process with the rest of the pieces.
Store in a tin container or enjoy.
Creamy Whipped Potatoes
Submitted by Hope Luciw of Saskatoon, originally of Hazel Dell
- 10-12 large potatoes
- 12 oz cream cheese (cubed)
- ! cup sour cream
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 tsp of salt and pepper and onion powder
Topping:
- 3 tbsps melted margarine
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 2 tsp parsley
Cook and drain potatoes, while hot, mash potatoes, add all ingredients, whip with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Put in a baking dish and bake at 325C °F for 45 minutes.
Christmas Carrot Pudding
Submitted by Hope Luciw of Saskatoon, originally of Hazel Dell
- 1cup sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup of grated carrots and potatoes
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup of raisins and currants
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ tsp cloves and cinnamon
Sprinkle potatoes with baking soda; melt the butter and sugar; add carrots, raisins and currants to butter/sugar mixture; add flour and spices; mix all together; turn into a greased bowl, cover and steam for 3 hours.
Sauce:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup whipped cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Boil brown sugar and butter together; pour over beaten until stiff egg whites; cool and add whipped cream and vanilla.
Lumpia (Spring Rolls Philippines)
Submitted by Nellie Knihniski of Preeceville
- 50 pieces of lumpia wrappers (spring roll wrappers)
- 3 cups cooking oil
- Filling
- 1/1/2 lbs of ground pork
- 2 onions minced
- 2 carrots minced
- 1 ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp of ground black pepper
- ½ cup parsley
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 eggs
Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl; mix all the ingredients well. Scoop 1 to 1 ½ tbsps. of filling and placing over a piece of lumpia wrapper. Spread the filling and fold both sides of the wrapper; fold bottom and brush with beaten egg mixture on top. Roll up until completely wrapped.
Heat oil in a cooking pot; deep fry lumpia in medium heat until it floats; remove from the pot; let excess oil drip. Serve.
Pamsit (noodles Philippines)
Submitted by Nellie Knihniski of Preeceville
- 18- 8-ounce package of Thai Vermicelli rice noodles
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 lb pork chops (about 4), sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 cups of shredded cabbage
- ½ cup sliced carrots
- 3 diced green onions
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Soak noodles according to package directions; prep the pork and vegetables by cutting into uniform sizes; heat oil in a wok or large saute pan; add pork, yellow onion, garlic and soy sauce. Cook 3-5 min or until pork is browned; season to taste with salt and pepper. Add chicken stock, cabbage, carrots, and green onions. Cook 3-5 mins or until vegetables have softened; add noodles to pork and vegetable mixture; toss to combine; season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
Traditional Ukrainian
Kolach
Submitted by Mary Petrowski of Preeceville
Kolach is a braided, ring-shaped bread, richer than ordinary bread. The name is derived from the Ukrainian word "kolo" meaning circle, and is symbolic of eternity. Three kolachi, one atop the other. with a candle in the top kolach, they are served as a centrepiece for the Christmas Eve supper and symbolize the Holy Trinity.
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 c. lukewarm water
- 1 pkg. yeast
- 2 1/2 c. lukewarm water
- 4 eggs (beaten)
- 1 tbsp. salt
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 c. lard
- 8 to 9 c. flour (divided)
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and sprinkle yeast over it. Let stand for 10 minutes or until dissolved. Combine yeast, 2 1/2 cups water, beaten eggs, salt, sugar, and lard. Mix in 3/4 of the flour until you get a smooth, thick dough (dough should be slightly thicker than for bread). Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk. Punch down and let rise again. Divide all the dough into 2 or 3 equal portions, depending on how many kolachi you are planning to make. Shape portion into long rope. Cut this into 6 equal pieces. By hand, roll each piece into a rope about 30 inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter (6 ropes). Take each pair of ropes and entwine from left to right, starting from the centre. Turn the rope around and entwine the other half in the same fashion. You now have 3 braids. Braid the 3 entwined ropes evenly, again starting from the centre. Turn the partly braided rope around and finish braiding the other half. Trim the ends neatly, bring together, and join by pressing separate strands gently to match strands in the two ends. This forms a circle with a hole in the middle. Make sure the hole is large enough that it will stay open after baking. Roll the trimmed off dough into 2 thin long ropes long enough to circle around the round loaf. Entwine them as above Encircle the braided loaf with this, joining the ends. Place in a greased, shallow pan (saucepan or 9-10 inch pie pan). Repeat this procedure with the remaining dough to make up 2 or 3 kolachi. Cover and set the kolachi in warm place to rise until almost double in bulk. Make sure not to let them rise longer than necessary, as the bread may lose its tight shape. Brush with beaten egg diluted with 2 tablespoons cold water. Bake in a 400-degree F oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 325 or 350 degrees F (depends on your oven) and continue baking for 40 minutes, until nice and golden and feels light when lifted.
Nalysnyky (Cottage Cheese Crepes)
Submitted by Mary Petrowski
- 4 cups 2% milk
- 3 c. flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tbsp. oil
- 1 tsp. sugar
Beat eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and beat well to form a smooth batter; use an electric frying pan to make the crêpes. Heat the pan and grease with oil. Pour approximately 1/4 cup batter in the pan and quickly tilt the pan back and forth to spread the batter evenly. When lightly browned on the bottom. turn over and brown the we other side. Remove from the pan and let cool. Fill with savory cottage cheese filling.
Filling:
4 c. dry cottage cheese 4 eggs (beaten)
Salt (to taste)
Whipping cream
2 tbsp. sugar
Dill (to taste)
Mash all ingredients well to form a smooth consistency. Add enough cream so that the cottage cheese sticks together. Spread the desired amount of filling on a crêpe and roll.
Sauce:
2 c. cream
1 tbsp. fried onion
dill (to taste)
butter, and salt (to taste).
To bake, cut the crêpe into 2-inch pieces and layer in a greased casserole dish. Dot butter between the layers. Bring all ingredients to a boil and pour over nalysnyky. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes or until cream is absorbed
