UPDATED: DECEMBER 24, 2016
Christmas is in the air now that we passed the first advent and December 1st is tomorrow! I finally took some time to post about Swedish eats and Christmas food is among the best in Sweden. I have a whole post dedicated to setting up a Christmas table (Julbord) in Canada. Take a peek!
But first, I want to let you in on a secret. This is sort of an early Christmas gift to you. 🙂
I was reminded of Swedish food when I was invited over to my Swedish friend’s house. He made an extremely popular Swedish dish made with Falukorv, a bologna-like sausage made with pork, beef, potato starch and mild spices originating from the region of Falun in north Sweden. The dish I am referring to is Korv Stroganoff, and it’s simply divine! The dish is quick, tasty and a common weeknight meal in Sweden. It’s made of Falukorv, tomato paste, cream, onion and served with fluffy rice.
The problem though is that it is very rare if not impossible to find Falukorv outside of Sweden, as Canada does not allow us to bring in meat from a foreign country and this is not available locally. How the heck did my Swedish friend find it?? He said it was a secret, but he “accidentally” gave it away one day. And now I’m going to tell you how to get it here in Canada! OK, I have a big mouth (and a popular Swedish blog, what did he expect?!).
Falukorv can be substituted with Lyoner sausage (Freybe) or Lioner sausage (Piller’s) right here in Canada. It tastes VERY similar and the texture/consistency is spot on. You can find this sausage at Real Canadian, Loblaws, Sobeys and near the deli counter at other chain stores. UPDATE: I also found a brand of Lyoner sausage in the U.S. that you can try to locate or order online! Here is the link to Bavaria Lyoner Sausage.
Further investigation of what Lyoner sausage is via Google/Wikipedia revealed that someone in Falun actually stole this recipe from the Germans who came to mine in that region long ago, thus making this sausage their own. The recipe is actually based on Lyoner sausage! The recipe for Falukorv is so secret, that it got its own EU designation, like champagne must come from the region of Champagne in France. YES! I’ve always wanted to find Falukorv in North America, but the only place I know is in Chicago and they won’t ship to Toronto.
So… there’s the secret! I can now go nuts with Lyoner sausage… Swedes fry it up, bake it and make casseroles with it. But the best & most popular is this simple recipe below, which was also influenced by Russia.
Sausage Stroganoff (Korv Stroganoff)
600g Lyoner/Lioner sausage
1 small onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 pc salt
1 dl water
2 dl cream
1 bit of parsley, chopped
6 cups white rice, cooked
1.5 cups of peas, boiled
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Cut the sausage into short strips. Peel and chop the onion. Brown the sausage and onions in butter. Add the tomato paste, mustard and dilute with water and cream. Season with salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes. Serve with cooked rice mixed with buttered, green peas. YUMMO!
Kesella (Quark)
And I’m not done yet either… since it’s almost Christmas, I want to reveal another secret – an ingredient that creates the most moist and soft Swedish Lucia buns (Lussebullar) ever! Swedes love these saffron buns for Christmas, and every family has their own secret recipe. And as I don’t have many secrets, I will reveal mine to you…
I use Ricotta cheese (as a substitute for Kesella in Sweden) and a bit more sugar in my saffron buns, and they totally rock! Again, the mild cheese flavor of ricotta cheese and consistency match that of Kesella (which many Swedes use to make their saffron buns chewy and moist).
Kesella is actually Quark cheese, which SOMETIMES can be found at the grocery, but you can find it at the Russian grocery as “cottage cheese” near the cheese section. However, ricotta is easily found at any grocery store in the city, so it’s better and just as good to get that.
Try the following recipe out!
Moist Lucia Buns (North American Version) – Lussekatter, Lussebullar
50 g Baker’s Yeast or Approx. 25 g Instant Dry Yeast
5 dl Milk 3%
150 g Butter
250 g Ricotta Cheese (substitute for Kesella)
4 dl Granulated Sugar (you can cut this in half if you don’t like it as sweet)
1 g Saffron (2 packets if using Kockens saffron)
1 tsp Salt
16 dl Flour, possibly a little more
Raisins
1 egg + 1 tbsp Milk for Brushing
DIRECTIONS
- Heat the butter and milk in a saucepan to 37 degrees (lukewarm).
- Crumble the yeast in a large bowl. Pour some of the warm milk mixture into the bowl and mix until all the yeast has dissolved.
- Add the rest of the liquid.
- Mix the ricotta, saffron, sugar and salt, then add this to the liquid. If the saffron is in threads, then you must grind them with a bit of sugar until it becomes a “powder” first.
- Add most of the flour, even a little at a time, and work the dough until smooth in a mixer. Add more flour if needed. IMPORTANT UPDATE! If using a mixer, this can take between 15-20 minutes of mixing or kneading using a bread hook. When you pull the dough, it should be very elastic and slightly sticky when you touch it with your finger. Another good test is to make a “window” with the dough. If the window easily breaks, it is not ready. Trust me, it will be worth doing this important step!
- Cover the dough with a cloth and let rise at room temperature for about 60 minutes.
- Lift the dough on a floured surface and knead for a few minutes.
Divide the dough into about 30 pieces. Roll then the pieces to length, about 2 centimeters in diameter. - Spin the ends in opposite towards the middle and place them on a baking sheet that is greased or lined with baking paper. If you need to view a video on how to roll this, see this video.
- Press the raisins in the center of the spins and then let rise for another 45 minutes until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 225C or 435F degrees.
- Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon milk and brush the buns with the mixture.
- Bake in the oven about 5-8 minutes until some of the edges turn brown. Be careful not to over bake!
- Remove the buns and let them cool on a rack.
Hope you enjoy these recipes and that you fill your home with some yummy Swedish comfort food. Smaker måltid!
the swede life in toronto 
God morgon Det här är fantastisk att kolla filmen och den hämtar goda minner till mig men jag har inte lyckats att baka här i Kanada, jag kan inte hitta den jäst här vilket funkar bäst, den finns bara polvert eller beads, kanske du ver var jag kan hitta de? Tack och God Jul i förskott
On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 11:19 PM, the swede life in toronto wrote:
> Myleen posted: “Christmas is in the air now that we passed the first > advent and December 1st is tomorrow! I finally took some time to post about > Swedish eats and Christmas food is among the best in Sweden. I have a whole > post dedicated to setting up a Christmas table (Ju” >
Hey Zahra, baker’s yeast (the wet yeast or “färskjäst” you find in Sweden) can be found at bakeries or beer breweries because it’s only sold commercially for some weird reason. You will have to get friendly with your local baker buy from them. It’s usually quite cheap, and you can freeze it for a long period of time. Good luck finding it, and if you let me know, I can post the information on my blog. Sorry this is in English so all can read :-).
I get färskjäst at the bakery section on Real Canadian Superstore. They only sell it in 1 pound package and cost just over $2.
Thank you for the tip! Do they put it out or do you have to ask the baker to get some in the back?
You do have to ask them about it.
Ohh gosh you have made my day, my life :). Been longing for falukorv all the time I have been here in Canada , over six years now, and I have gave up on finding anything like it after all testing and trying a lot of sausages. Well I am off to Real Canadian :).
Thank you!
You’re welcome Ann-Sofie! I was craving this as I was writing the post! LOL 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing! Have been looking for an alternative to falukorv for quite a few years now. Heading to the grocery store on my way home from work today for sure :).
Here’s where you can order Lyoner sausage online in the U.S.! https://www.bavariasausage.com/proddetail.php?prod=Lyoner-German-Bologna
Hej tack for tipsen, hur gor jag lussebullarna med Instant Dry Yeast som du med skrev? Jatte tacksam for tips! trevlig helg!!
Hej Viveca, det blir samma sätt… smält smör och tillsätt mjölk och kolla att temperaturen blir 37C. Om det är lite förvarmt, lägga till ricotta, saffron och salt först innan du lägger till jästen. Rör om det och sen lägga till mjölet lite i taget. Blanda det tills det blir elastiskt, ca. 15-20 minuter i mixern. Lycka till!
Oh, I heard that if you use Instant Dry Yeast, you should proof the yeast first! Search this online for the best results!!