Lutefisk!

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Ah....the yearly dinner of Lutefisk with the Sons of Norway Lodge. Once again, the Lutefisk this year was FABULOUS! Karen and her husband are the perfect chefs. They're retiring this year, so hopefully next year's cooks will be just as good! (Click on the photo to read more about Lutefisk.)




Oh...the anticipation! The lefse is ready. The Lutefisk is being cut into chunks....ready for cooking.





Ah....the buffet is finally ready. The only thing missing is the rutabagas - they're a bit "slow" this year, but I'm sure I'll get a nice portion once they're ready! Check out the full tray of delicious Lutefisk!


My yummy plate....without the rutabagas. I did go back and get some, but my plate was a bit messy by then, so I didn't want to photograph it. Once again, I had seconds of Lutefisk. DH is still skeptical...after eating Lutefisk a couple of times that wasn't cooked well, he's "sworn off" the stuff!




Of course, no Lutefisk dinner is complete without dessert! We Norwegians LOVE our desserts! This time I had a banana bread, rice cream, and apple/peach crisp. Mmmmmm!

Cooking Lutefisk

In case you're suddenly overcome by the urge to fix and try Lutefisk on your own, here are some cooking tips...direct from the chefs extraordinaire!

General Tips

Cook in sea salt ONLY! Iodized salt ruins it.
Do NOT use aluminum pans - they'll be forever blackened.
Use either stainless steel or glass pans for cooking the lutefisk.
Do not use silver/silver plated silverware/utensils...again, they will turn black.

Boiled:

Cut the lutefisk into single portion sized chunks
Bring water to approximately 200 degrees - do NOT boil!
Cook the lutefisk for about 15 minutes.
When added to the pot, the lutefisk will sink to the bottom.
When it's done, it will begin to float.
Do NOT overcook or boil...otherwise, it will totally turn to jelly and fall apart.

Baked:

Preheat the oven to 200-225 degrees.
Lay the fish in a greased baking pan and bake at 200-225 degrees for approximately 40 minutes.
Do not overcook or put it on higher heat as most of the outer edges will totally turn to jelly.

Microwaved:

This has only been tested for single portions...and it's really not recommended for larger amounts due to the risk of ruining/overcooking part of the lutefisk.
Put the fish in a microwaveable pan.
Set the Power Level to 40% (this is important - if it's cooked at too high of a temp, it will ruin it!)
Cook for 10 minutes...checking frequently to avoid overcooking.

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In addition to the wonderful food, there were some interesting activities to check out and participate in...

Carla shared a children's "game" from Norway, "Kul-tur". It's actually an Activity Set. You draw a card from the over-sized deck, and it shows the craft/activity on the front and provides "how-tos" on the back. It's a great way to learn the language AND have some fun in the process! It looks like these two cards tell you how to build a boat and how to build a kite. How cool is that?

At the back of the room, another member was teaching all how to create "Pine Cone Nisse" for the holiday bazaar. I just love this little guy - he's too cute for words!