Home cooking: 10 northern Minnesota recipes to warm you (2024)

There's a long list of traditional dishes that were created or made popular in northern Minnesota.

From Scandinavian cooking, Iron Range cuisine and traditional Native American dishes — the region is a hotbed for hot (and cold) dishes.

Below are a few examples of the favorite foods of the north, submitted by readers via MPR News' Public Insight Network.

Have your own recipe? Submit it here.

Then, tune in, or check out in person, MPR News with Kerri Miller on Thursday, Sept. 28. Miller will be talking with chef and writer Amy Thielen along with other experts on northern food traditions in Moorhead, Minn., in celebration of MPR Day.

Swedish pancakes

What you'll need
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 and 1/2 cup of buttermilk
1 teaspoon of vinegar
1/4 tablespoon of baking soda
1 cup of flour
1 tablespoon of butter

How to
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and cook on a skillet. They will be thin like crepes. After they are cooked, spread one side with butter and lightly sprinkle brown sugar over them. Roll the pancake up and cut them into bite sized pieces and serve with maple syrup.

— Submitted by Peter Boelter, North Branch, who adds, "The grandkids and neighbor kids were often invited in for the treat."

Lutefisk

What you'll need
Cod
Water
Lye
White sauce
Mustard sauce

How to
Soak the cod in clear water for three days. Add two teaspoons of lye to a gallon of water then soak the fish for another three days in this solution, then another four days in clear water, changing the water every day.

To cook, tie the fish loosely in a square of cheesecloth, drop each fillet into an enamel pot of boiling water and cook for 10 minutes or until well done. Remove the cheesecloth and put on a platter.

Debone the pieces then it's ready to serve. Popular accompaniments include white sauce, mustard sauce or melted butter.

— Submitted by Michael Shepard, Duluth.

Finnish cabbage rolls — Iron Range ethnic food

What you'll need
1 large head of cabbage
2 teaspoons of salt
2 cup of water
1/2 cup of cream
1/2 cup of fresh bread crumbs
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
1 and 1/2 cup of cooked pearl barley or rice
1/2 cup of dark corn syrup (optional)
1 pound of ground lean beef

How to
Cook the cabbage leaves in salted boiling water until tender. Mix together the cream, bread crumbs 1/2 cup of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, the allspice and beef in a large bowl — adding in the cooked barley or rice. Place one or two tablespoons of the mixture onto each of the cooked cabbage leaves.

Wrap the leaf around the filling and tuck in the ends. Place the rolls, seam side down, in a buttered casserole dish and, if you want, drizzle the dark corn syrup over them. Then, cover and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Remove the cover and pour just enough boiling water into the dish to cover the rolls — that should be about 2 cups. Leave it uncovered and put it back in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour. Let them cool, then enjoy!

— Submitted by Lu Ann Hurd-Lof, Akeley, who writes, "I grew up in Iowa and have enjoyed trying many Scandinavian, Native American and other recipes common here but that I had never heard of."

Walnut potica

What you'll need
Premade sweet, yeasted dough
Butter
Chopped walnuts
Honey
Sheet covered space, 4' x 4'

How to
Sprinkle flour over your working space and spread the dough very thin — less than 1/2 inch thickness. Spread butter, honey and walnuts over the expanse of the dough. Roll up the sheet of dough nice and tight.

Cut it into as many sections as you like and let the dough rise. Then bake at around 350 degrees for about an hour or until they are golden brown — "you haven't lived until you've enjoyed the aroma of baking potica!" Brush the top of the rolls with butter and then serve warm with, yes, more butter if you like.

— Submitted by Robyn Bertelsen, Ely

Tipsy Wieners

What you'll need
1 package of wieners
6-pack of beer of your choice

How to
Cut the wieners into 2-inch pieces. Pour the pieces into a pot of boiling beer, use enough beer to cover the wieners. Boil for about an hour or until the wieners are "swelled up like a pumpkin." Serve on a plate with a toothpick in each one.

— Submitted by Wendy DeGeest, Brainerd, who says, "I think my mother invented it. She always claimed to have lots of Bohemian blood in her. I don't know if that made any difference or not!"

Russian salad

What you'll need
Beets
Carrots
Peas
Potatoes
Pickles
Mayo

How to
Chop up the carrots, potatoes and beets. Boil these vegetables until tender, then in a large bowl mix in the pickles and mayo — stir until there's an even coating of mayo on all the ingredients.

— Submitted by Paula Swenson, Bemidji, who adds that its popularity in the U.S. is mixed since "people who would be drawn to a healthy vegetable salad avoid it because it looks like marshmallow salad and people who are drawn to sweet salad don't like it because it is not sweet."

Fried walleye fillets

What you'll need
Walleye fillets
Milk
Olive oil
Flour
Salt
Pepper

How to
Soak the (preferably fresh) walleye fillets in milk. Heat an iron pan with about 1/2 inch depth of olive oil. While waiting for the olive oil to heat up, sprinkle in water — do not pour or it will aggressively spatter. Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a bowl so that the mixture forms small clumps.

Take the soggy fillets and place them in the flour mixture, evenly coating each one. Place the fillets into the pan, watch out for hot splatter. Fry them until they are golden brown and then flip them to brown the other side.

— Submitted by Stephen Mohn, St. Paul

Perogies

What you'll need
Fresh dough
Drinking glass
Mashed potatoes
Cottage cheese
Butter
Onions

How to
Roll out the dough on a flat surface. Use an upside down drinking glass to cut circles into the dough. Place mashed potatoes and cottage cheese on top of each cut-out piece — portion how you'd like.

Fold the pieces in half, creating crescent moon shapes, and pinch the edges together. Boil the pieces in water until soft and then strain them. Then saute them in a sauce pan with melted butter and onions until they are brown. Serve with sour cream.

— Submitted by Roberta Wirth-Feeney, Hugo. She writes, "I think these dishes were hearty and inexpensive to make ... Dad was raised during the depression (1928) when every penny counted."

Venison shanks

What you'll need
2 deer shanks
Deer bones
Carrots
Garlic
Onions
Celery
Bouquet garni
Wild mushrooms

How to
Slowly boil the deer bones over the stove for three days to create a demi-glace. When that's done braise the shanks by frying the meat and then stewing them with chopped carrots, garlic, onions and celery — along with the stock you made earlier and a bit of red wine.

After the ingredients are tender, cook with the bouquet garnish. "It cannot be overcooked." Cool it down, skim off the fat and set in the fridge for a day. The next day, reheat the shank and liquids and top with sauteed wild mushrooms. Serve with leaven bread or potatoes.

— Submitted by Jesse Martus, Duluth. He suggests you "wash it down with a Bandol and dream of sitting in a thicket beside Jim Harrison, watching the world from heavy cover."

Pheasant wild rice soup

What you'll need
1/2 pound of cooked wild rice — cooked in chicken stock
7 strips bacon chopped
1/2 pound of butter (1 stick is fine)
2 smaller onions or one large, diced
1 bunch of celery, diced
1 pound raw mushrooms sliced (can substitute canned)
1 and 1/2 cup of flour
3 pheasant breasts
2 quart chicken stock
1 teaspoon of pepper, fresh cracked
1 tablespoon of Lawry's Seasoning salt or natural seasoning salt
1 quart heavy whipping cream — or combination of cream and half and half

How to
Fry the bacon in a large pot until brown. Add butter and continue to heat until melted. Add onions, celery and mushrooms, saute the mixture for about five minutes.

Add flour, stirring well and continue to cook and stir for another four to five minutes. Add in the raw pheasant and stir.

After it's well mixed again, add in the stock and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Add in your seasoning and heavy cream and simmer for another 10 minutes. Give it a taste test and add seasoning if necessary.

Add the wild rice at the very end. If the mixture is too thick you can thin it down with a bit of half and half or milk. You can also add a teaspoon of poultry seasoning. Keep the pan cooking on low or move to a slow cooker and set it to low heat.

You can add shredded carrots, broccoli, cauliflower or any of your other favorite vegetables. Serve with a toasted, crusty bread. If you let the soup rest for a day or two it'll taste even better.

— Submitted by Christine Schlueter, Hutchinson, who notes that quality wild rice and pheasants can be found throughout Minnesota and are "a huge part of the northern landscape and heritage of its people who had to use the birds they hunted for food and rice that was available to them for nourishment."

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