Joan Ransley

I have just returned from Finland and was struck by how many of the foods we celebrate in Yorkshire are similar to those included in the newly touted Nordic diet.

Fish pie with dill

Berries are central to the Nordic way of eating and include ink blue bilberries, golden cloudberries and scarlet lingonberries. They are eaten fresh, or used in fruit compotes, sauces and jam. In Yorkshire, at this time of the year, we have a profusion of bilberries growing on the moors and the hedgerows are laden with blackberries.  Both of which are lovely to use in cooking.

Wild meats such as elk, reindeer and pasture fed cattle are all eaten in Nordic countries. This meat can be leaner and contain more beneficial omega 3 fatty acids than meat from intensively reared animals. We stayed on a farm where elk was hunted. Some of the elk meat was smoked in a traditional wood fired sauna. We tasted it slow cooked in a stew with boletus mushrooms from the forest and served with a lingonberry sauce.  It was delicious.

In Yorkshire we can match this with game from the moors, and pasture fed beef and lamb. These can be obtained from good quality butchers and local supermarkets such as Booths. We also have great quality fish from the cool waters of the North Sea.

In Nordic countries rape crops grow well and the oil is used for cooking and making salad dressings. It has many of the health giving properties of olive oil and a mild, slightly nutty flavour.

Farmers in the Wharfe Valley have championed this oil and have got together to produce a golden, virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil which I love to use in salad dressings and for sweating onions for a casserole. (www.wharfevalleyfarms.co.uk).

Rye bread with bramble compote

The use of wholegrain cereals is another healthy feature of the Nordic diet. Rye flour is used to make bread which goes well with smoked salmon, dill, cheese and pickles. Wholegrain cereals are eaten for breakfast and I particularly liked eating oat porridge with a dollop of yogurt and some berry compote. A sustaining combination which staved off hunger pangs until lunch time.

The flavours of the Nordic diet are quite different from those of the Mediterranean but just as delicious. Juniper berries are added to meat, cardamom to sweet buns and chives, thyme, parsley and fennel are used in salads and savoury dishes. It is dill, however, which really stamps it flavour on the Nordic diet in dishes from picked fish to crisps.

Top tips for eating a healthy Yorkshire diet:

1. Get picking. Eat native berries: In Yorkshire we have the climate for a profusion of blackberries, elderberries and bilberries.
2. Eat green vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.
3. Use rapeseed oil – sometimes called Canola – for cooking and making dressings. It is high in monounsaturated fats and contains more n-3 fatty acids than olive oil.
4. Eat wild game and pasture fed meat.
5. Include fish in the meals you prepare.
6. Include wholegrains such as oats, barley and rye in bread and breakfast cereals.

Bilberry muffins

Warm bilberry muffins

This recipe can be made with either wild bilberries or blueberries from the supermarket. Cut some berries in half to let the purple juices bleed through the muffin.

Makes 18 mini muffins

• 200g plain flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• 125g caster sugar
• 175ml milk
• 2 eggs
• 150ml vegetable oil
• 200g blueberries or bilberries. Cut some in half.

Heat the oven to 180C. Lightly oil the muffin tin moulds. Sift the flour and baking powder into the sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg and oil together until smooth. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, and beat in the liquid mixture. Fold in the berries and spoon the batter into the muffin moulds.

Bake for 25 minutes or until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack. Lovely eaten warm and they freeze well too.

 Fish pie with dill

 We ate this dish made with beautiful white pike but white fish and salmon will do.

 Serves 4

• 300ml semi skimmed milk
• 1 bayleaf
• 1 small onion, peeled and cut into 4
• 6 pepper corns
• 15g unsalted butter
• 15g plain flour
•  600g fish – a mix of fish such as haddock, cod and salmon would be perfect
• 2 tbsp dill, finely chopped
• 400g old potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil or olive
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200C

Place the milk, bay leaf, pepper corns and onion into a jug and heat in a microwave for 2 minutes. Leave to stand for 10 minutes and then remove the bay leaf, onion and pepper corns. Check the fish for bones, remove any skin, cut into chunks (2cm by 2cm) and lay in a small baking dish. Place the potatoes in a steamer and steam for 5 minutes or until soft. Allow to cool. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook gently for 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk and continue to stir until glossy and thick. Season and add 1 tbsp chopped dill. Cover the fish with the sauce and top with the steamed potatoes. Brush the potatoes with oil and place in the oven for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown. Scatter with the remaining dill before serving.

 Rye and wholemeal bread

•  1 tsp quick yeast such as Doves farm
• 320g strong wholemeal flour
• 80g rye flour
• 2 tsp jumbo oats
• 2 tsp linseeds
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 tsp sunflower seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• 280ml water, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed or vegetable oil

 Mix the ingredients together to form a ball. On a work surface, knead and stretch the dough with the palms of your hands for 5 minutes. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with Clingfilm and place in a warm place for an hour. The dough should increase by a third. Knead again for 1 minute and shape to fit a small loaf tin. Cover with Clingfilm and put in a warm spot for another hour. Preheat the oven to 220C. Bake the bread for 30 – 40 minutes. Knock the base of the loaf to check it is cooked. It should sound hollow. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

 Blackberry compote

This compote is lovely eaten on bread with a soft goat’s cheese or as a pudding with yogurt. Fructose or fruit sugar is sweeter than normal sugar and so less is needed.

•  300g blackberries (strawberries, raspberries, bilberries can be used too)
• 30g fructose
• 1 pinch pectin
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Marinate the blackberries with the fructose and pectin for 30 minutes. Place in a saucepan and, over a medium heat, bring the blackberries to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool and add the lemon juice.