in the kitchen and recipe: lapskaus

I didn’t intend for this blog to be all about crafting and cooking.  I really wanted it to bear witness to my Peace Corps adventure.  But as one of my mantras in Romania is “getting back to basics” I’m going to take my current theme of cooking and crafting as variations on the theme of basics. Plus, there are tons of Romanian women sewing and cooking in the evenings, so I can rationalize that I’m integrating and acclimating to the culture, right?   I promise though to be more exciting and adventurous when the snow goes away and it isn’t so dark in the evenings.

But onto the kitchen….

Our 10kg/$3 bag of potatoes is diminishing. There have been hash browns and baked potatoes and potato casserole.  Tonight I tried lapskaus.  Lapskaus is Norwegian fare.  Well, to be honest, it’s Norwegian leftover stew.  Growing up, it was a special meal because it hailed from our Norwegian heritage and was “different.” As this site states, there are different kinds of lapskaus (dark, light, soupy).  Mom always made a pork/ham based lapskaus and since there is no lack of pork in this country, that’s what was on our menu. Here was our recipe for tonight’s lapskaus.

WINTER LAPSKAUS (Romanian Edition)

4  medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 celery root, peeled and cubed  (you can really use any root veggie here)
3 carrots, peeled and cut
8 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces (slanina would work too)
1/3 kg of ham, cubed (we used muschi and some leftover ground pork we had)
1 medium onion, diced
bouillon cubes or stock (really any flavor will do)

In a large stock pot, over medium heat, cook bacon until it renders some fat.  Before bacon is done cooking, add onion and meat (ham in our case).  Allow to cook until onions become translucent and soft.  Add all diced root veggies to the pot.  Add enough water (or broth) to barely cover the veggies.  If using water, be sure to add bouillon cubes.  Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

The trick with lapskaus of this type (stewy) is the simmering of the veggies.  You want them all to become soft.  They will get to a point where when you stir, they fall apart and thicken the liquid.  I’m not sure if it’s scientifically correct, but it’s like the potatoes let go of their starch to thicken up the broth.

It’s an easy forgiving recipe in which you can put just about anything.  Granted it’s not an attractive stew by any means, but man, it’s tasty. (But show me something with bacon that isn’t.)  I felt like a good Norwegian girl eating it on this cold Romanian night. Plus, David ate CELERY ROOT!!  Win on all fronts.