Dishes inspired by Minnesota

Our family has just returned home from a vacation in beautiful Minnesota. The headwaters of the Mississippi River far exceeded my expectations in beauty and unexpected size. The state of 10,000 lakes may be an understatement, as there is water everywhere and lakes of various sizes nearly everywhere you look. We stayed on the largest freshwater lake of them all, Lake Superior, and it was beautiful along the north shore.

Two things that might come to mind when thinking about Minnesota are wild rice and lefse. Wild rice is a major crop of the state and the vast majority of it is still harvested by hand. We found it in a variety of grain lengths, but it always looks the same in shape and color. On most menus, wild rice is a standard side dish.

The other food you might have thought of is lefse. We enjoyed lefse on our vacation, and you might be asking yourself what it is.

Lefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread. It is made with leftover potatoes, flour, butter and milk or cream. It is cooked on a griddle or a large skillet. Many people make lefse as a special treat for the holidays, and it is often served with butter and sugar. I found a couple recipes that served applesauce alongside the lefse.

Norwegian Lefse

You will need a potato ricer to prepare this recipe.

• 10 pounds potatoes, peeled
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cover potatoes with water and cook until tender. Run hot potatoes through a potato ricer. Place into a large bowl. Beat butter, cream, salt and sugar into the hot riced potatoes. Let cool to room temperature.

Stir flour into the potato mixture. Pull off pieces of the dough and form into walnut-size balls. Lightly flour a pastry cloth and roll out lefse balls to 1/8-inch thickness. Cook on a hot, 400-degree griddle until bubbles form and each side has browned. Place on a damp towel to cool slightly and then cover with damp towel until ready to serve. If desired, serve with butter and sugar.

Cream of Chicken Wild Rice Soup

• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 2 1/2 cups water or chicken broth (to cook rice)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon diced onion
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup minced chicken, or more if desired
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup grated carrots
• 1 can evaporated milk

Cook wild rice in the 2 1/2 cups water or broth for 45 minutes or so. Set aside. Melt butter and saute onion until tender. Add 3/4 cup broth, then blend in flour. Add remaining broth and stir constantly with a wire whisk until mixture thickens slightly. Stir in rice, chicken, carrots and salt; simmer about 5 minutes. Add a little parsley if desired. Blend in evaporated milk; heat to serving temperature.

Native American Wild Rice Salad

• 1 cup wild rice
• 4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup pepita seeds (pumpkin or other squash seeds)
• 3 tablespoons dried cranberries
• 3 spring onions/scallions, sliced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Juice of half an orange
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Combine the chicken stock and rice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer with the lid on for about 45 minutes or until the husks have split. Taste the rice; it should be tender but still have a bit of bite to it. Drain the rice and then cool by spreading on a baking tray.

While the rice is cooking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the pepitas and pine nuts on a baking tray and toast them for 5 to 10 minutes until they are golden brown. Cool.

In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, orange zest, orange juice, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar and mustard.

In a bowl, mix together the wild rice with the pepitas, pine nuts, spring onions, chives, cranberries and the vinaigrette and serve.

Creamy Hotdish

• 2 or 3 cups cooked wild rice
• 1 or 2 ribs celery, diced
• 2 chicken breasts, chopped
• 1 jar garlic mushrooms, not drained
• 2 large cans of cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 pound bacon, cut into pieces
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cans water chestnuts, drained
• 2 chicken bullion cubes
• 40 or 50 shrimp, shelled and deveined

In a large oven-safe Dutch oven, mix rice, bacon, celery, onion and chicken together. Add 2 cans of water chestnuts (drained), shrimp and 1 jar of garlic mushrooms (not drained). Add 2 chicken bouillon cubes, 2 large cans of cream of chicken soup, and add just a little bit of water to each can. Cook for 2 1/2 hours at 300 degrees. Serves 6 to 8.

Hamburger and Wild Rice Casserole

• 1 cup wild rice
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 pound lean hamburger
• 1 large onion, minced
• 1 cup water

Cover rice with boiling water and let soak 1 hour. Brown hamburger until redness is gone. Add celery, onion, soup and water. Add to drained rice. Bake in covered 2-quart casserole dish for 1 hour at 325 degrees.

Wild Rice with Mushroom Sauce

• 1 cup wild rice
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt, or less as desired
• 2 cups diced celery
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 large diced green pepper, optional
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 pound lean ground pork

Prepare rice, adding salt and soy sauce. Brown beef and pork. Mix with rice and diced vegetables. Put in large casserole and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Serve with mushroom sauce. Makes 12 to 14 servings.

For the mushroom sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 small can mushrooms

Make white sauce with butter, flour and milk. Add cream of mushroom soup and mushrooms. You may use liquid from the mushrooms to adjust the thickness of the sauce.

Chippewa Rice

• 4 strips bacon
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups cooked wild rice
• 2 tablespoons minced chives
• Butter
• Parsley or paprika

Cut bacon into strips and fry in heavy skillet. Beat eggs, salt and pepper until light. Pour into skillet and brown lightly. Turn as you would a pancake and brown other side. When firm, cut into strips and toss lightly with wild rice and chives. Dot with butter and garnish with parsley or paprika. Serve hot.

Wild Rice Roulade

• 8 thin slices of cooked poultry (sliced chicken breast)
• 8 slices ham
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 24 spears cooked asparagus
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Make 8 stacks, placing ham on bottom, then poultry, 1/4 cup rice and 3 asparagus spears. Roll each stack. Place in greased baking dish and cover with mushroom soup. Bake in 325-degree oven for 30 minutes or until piping hot.

Wild Rice with Chicken Livers

This recipe is very simple and you can make it as small or large as you wish. Your personal desired ratio of livers to rice may be to your own liking.

• Wild rice
• Chicken broth
• Chicken livers
• Flour
• Salt and pepper
• Salted butter
• Chopped onion
• Parmesan and/or Romano cheese, grated or shredded

Saute onion in butter. Set aside. Pat dry and cut liver into manageable-size pieces. Flour the chicken livers and fry in same butter as the onions and cook till golden brown, adding more butter as required. Add salt and pepper while livers are cooking.

Cook wild rice in chicken broth; add salt if required. Drain broth. If you really like butter, add a dollop to rice and mix in.

In casserole dish, mix livers, rice and onion. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover with cheese to suit your taste. Cover casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until heated well and cheese has melted.

Have a great week and, until next time, happy cooking.