Latest news with #JerseyRoyals
The Guardian
11-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
How to make potato salad – recipe
This summer classic is the happy proof that not all things labelled as salad have to feel like penance for helping yourself to all the fried chicken or barbecued halloumi. Far fresher and zingier than gloopy, ready-made versions, this is the perfect recipe to make the most of those dense, fudgy early potatoes, and easy to customise according to taste and circumstance. Prep 15 min Cook 15-20 min Serves 4 600g waxy potatoes Salt ½ tsp dijon mustard 1 tbsp red-wine vinegar 2 tbsp neutral oil, such as sunflower1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 115g good mayonnaise, ordinary or plant-based (see step 6 for a homemade option)3 spring onions 2 tbsp capers and/or chopped gherkins 2 anchovies (optional)1 small bunch chives 1 handful fresh parsley, leaves and soft stems 1 handful fresh mint leaves1 tbsp wholegrain mustard Potato salad demands a waxy variety, and preferably ones that are new enough that their skins are still flaky and thin, rather than spuds that have been in cold storage for months. Jersey royals are my favourite, but other good (and widely available) options include celandine, ratte, arran, pink fir apple and vivaldi, though farm shops may have even better options on offer. Choose potatoes that are fairly even in size, and preferably small enough easily to boil whole; you may need to cut any larger ones in half to ensure they all cook through in roughly the same time, but try to minimise this, because potatoes cooked whole in their skins will have a better texture. Give the potatoes a good wash; true new potatoes should still have some dirt clinging to their frail skins, but don't bother to peel them any more than necessary, because those skins hold much of the flavour, and also protect the potato flesh from the hot water. Put the spuds in a pan just large enough to hold them all comfortably. Add enough cold water just to cover, then salt very generously (don't worry, because most of it will go down the drain after cooking). Cover and bring to a boil, then uncover, turn down the heat and simmer until just cooked through (test the largest potato with a fork or skewer to check). This method takes longer than dropping them in boiling water, but it means that the outsides won't overcook. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the mustard (any variety will do here, but I like the tanginess of dijon), vinegar (cider or white-wine would work, as would lemon juice) and a pinch of salt until smooth, then gradually whisk in the oils – if you prefer your dressing to have a lighter or stronger flavour, feel free to use neutral or olive oil alone, respectively. Drain the potatoes, put them back in the hot pan to steam dry, then cut in half or quarters. Toss with the vinaigrette and leave to cool. For a quick mayonnaise, in a container that's just wider than the head of your stick blender, whizz an egg – or, for a plant-based alternative, four tablespoons of aquafaba and 10 chickpeas – with a tablespoon of mustard and a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Pour 225ml neutral oil and 25ml extra-virgin olive oil on top of the egg or chickpea mixture, then put the stick blender on the base of the container and whizz at high speed until you see white clouds billow up from underneath. At this point, lift the still whizzing blender head very slowly, and mix until all the oil is combined. Season to taste. Trim the whiskery bases and dry tops off the spring onions, then finely slice the rest, both white and green parts. Roughly chop the capers and/or gherkins and the herbs, keeping a pinch of chives back as garnish later. Stir the caper mix and wholegrain mustard into 115g of the mayonnaise until well combined, then season to taste. Before serving, drain off any excess vinaigrette from the cooled potatoes (save and reuse it on a plate of tomatoes or a green salad), then mix the potatoes with just enough mayonnaise to coat. Spoon into a serving dish and garnish with the reserved chopped chives. If making the salad in advance, I'd suggest storing the potatoes in the vinaigrette mix, then draining and combining with the mayonnaise just before serving.
The Guardian
08-05-2025
- The Guardian
‘One bunker is now a surf school': a tour of Jersey's wartime coastal defences
I 'm woken by a tractor uprooting jersey royals in the potato field next door. In my simple hexagonal room, dawn illuminates five high slit windows marked with military coordinates and a compass etched into the ceiling. But heading downstairs, I timeslip into a 19th-century lounge where gothic-style windows frame sea views in three directions. During the second world war, Jersey's occupying forces requisitioned Nicolle Tower, a whimsical two-storey folly, and added an extra level. In what is now the bedroom, German soldiers kept lookout for an allied invasion that never came. Nicolle Tower, where German soldiers kept watch. Photograph: Debbie Ward It's thanks to restoration charity the Landmark Trust that I'm enjoying this hilltop tower. Inland from Le Hocq beach, it is now a self-catering holiday let. It's unique, yet one of a staggering 1,200 fortifications on Jersey, the Channel Islands having served as a showcase for Hitler's Atlantic Wall defences. During my 1980s childhood holidays, abandoned bunkers invited exploration and sibling jump scares. Now, on the 80th anniversary of liberation, which came on 9 May 1945 (a day after the German forces on mainland Europe surrendered), I want to discover how some of these structures have found a new lease of life. I start in an underground hospital hewn into rock. It never treated battle casualties; instead, a postwar farmer used its extensive passages to cultivate mushrooms. Now it houses Jersey War Tunnels, the museum of the island's almost five-year occupation. A tank on display at the Jersey War Tunnels museum. Photograph: Visit Jersey I learn about the scramble for evacuation, how remaining residents swapped meagre rations through newspaper personal ads, and about Organisation Todt, the huge Nazi construction operation that saw hundreds of fortifications built. Hand tool marks can still be seen in half-finished sections of the tunnels, one of which has lighting effects to simulate a rock fall. Elsewhere, amid islanders' personal stories are interactive exhibits posing the ethical dilemmas they faced, such as whether to launder a German uniform in exchange for food. That evening, I join nonprofit Jersey War Tours inside a resistance nest set into the sea wall at St Aubin's Bay. Our guide, Phil Marett, winds a hatch and sweeps the anti-tank gun over a deserted beach, demonstrating how soldiers were primed for a D-day-like scenario. Inland at Le Coin Varin, a farmer's field contains a huge block-shaped battle headquarters. Once poorly disguised as a house, its chimneys hid periscopes. Time has laced the outside with vines, but inside, acrid-smelling rooms are blackened by modern fire brigade drills. Nearby, Marett points out an oddly shaped bungalow that the homeowners built around another abandoned bunker. Waves crash below the wild headland of our final stop, Noirmont Point, where, amid the gorse, a crack of light entices us into Battery Lothringen. In a restored two-storey subterranean command bunker, I note the poignant bunk-side photo of an elderly German man who returned here as a tourist. Original graffiti at Battery Lothringen. Photograph: Debbie Ward Compared with that austere, imposing space, the cosy hexagonal lounge of Nicolle Tower feels like a trinket box. Its bookcases hold a thoughtful selection relating to Jersey's nature and history, but having stayed in other Landmarks, I seek the logbook first. Completed by visitors, this is part diary, part crowd-sourced guidebook and always charming. At a sea view writing desk, I turn the pages and smile at former guests' tales of big birthdays and marriage proposals and a naked yoga session interrupted by a dog walker. Many have left recommendations for walking routes and pubs. A few have contributed affectionate watercolours of the folly. Next day, I head to Faulkner Fisheries, a fishmonger and cafe based inside a former bunker for 45 years that lies on a rocky peninsula to the north of St Ouen's Bay, the largest of Jersey's sandy beaches. Lobsters destined for the lunchtime barbecue shuffle inside seawater pools flushed via pipes converted from wartime ventilation shafts. 'In the end tank, where the crabs are, there was a gun pointed towards Guernsey,' owner Sean Faulkner tells me as he shows me around. 'The office was originally another machine gun post.' Based inside a bunker, Faulkner Fisheries keeps its lobsters where a gun post once stood. Photograph: Danny Evans Faulkner grew up on a farm opposite, playing in the bunker as a child and diving for crabs to sell from a junkyard pram. After a career in the merchant navy, his youthful exploits became his business. As I enjoy huge, garlicky scallops at a picnic table, watching the waves glint in the sunlight, the plump seafood, barbecue aroma and 5-mile (8km) surfing beach suddenly recall Australia. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Later, on a cobbled slipway, I spot a smaller bunker housing boards and wetsuits. Jersey Surf School is painted on its original, still sturdy metal doors. Water ingress is never a problem, owner Jake Powell tells me, before reminiscing about teenage parties around a bar he constructed in another bunker. Jersey's vast tidal range reveals extensive rockpools, not least at La Corbière lighthouse, where I linger for the celebrated sunset view. Standing sentinel opposite is the Radio Tower, a German range-finding post. For years, a coastguard headquarters, it has since found a third use as holiday accommodation. The charity Jersey Heritage oversees this and other fortifications, from German-adapted martello towers to a 1940s bunker turned cold war shelter, many open to visitors. Chief executive Jon Carter acknowledges their tourist interest. 'They were all built in the most scenic places with the best views because that was the idea – they were observational and they wanted arcs of fire,' he tells me over tea. The celebrated sunset view at La Corbière lighthouse, Jersey. Photograph: Max Burnett The metres-thick reinforced concrete of these mass bunkers makes their destruction unviable. The mixture of abandonment, historical reconstruction and pragmatic reuse I've seen reflects decades of fluctuating attitudes. Any continued discomfort about the structures' presence is now less about why they were built than how, Carter explains. The back-breaking work often fell to prisoners of war and forced labourers. At the government's behest, Jersey Heritage is working with volunteer preservationists the Channel Islands Occupation Society to consider the reuse of 70 state-owned fortifications too, connecting with those 'wrestling with the same conundrums' along the Atlantic Wall. Carter anticipates a continued mixture of 'selective preservation' and 'contemporary use'. Next, I visit the island's newest fortification museum St Catherine's Bunker, which Marett dubs 'a real Bond villain lair'. Its cliff-face gun post fronts substantial German-built tunnels. For years, though, this was a fish market. Like the bunker turned toilets I discover on my childhood beach, it feels an ironic counterpoint to hubris. Ten minutes away, I lunch at Driftwood Cafe at Archirondel Beach. As I tuck into thick crab sandwiches opposite the French coast, fisherwoman and cafe owner Gabby Mason tells me she'll be at sea over the Liberation 80 weekend, her boat decked in flags. From today into next week, there will be street parties, an international music festival and historical re-enactments, including, in St Helier, British soldiers raising the union jack above Liberation Square, so named in 1995 to celebrate 50 years since the end of occupation. The Landmark Trust is also celebrating – 60 years of restorations. Before I leave Nicolle Tower, I take in those glorious views a final time and add a logbook entry, my own sliver in the multilayered history of this building and this island. This trip was facilitated by the Landmark Trust and Visit Jersey . Nicolle Tower sleeps two and is available from £180 for four nights .
The Guardian
02-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Roasted Jersey Royals with crunchy seasonal salad
Jersey Royal season is short so it's best to make the most of these tasty new potatoes while you can. Known for their nutty flavour and delicate skins, Tesco Finest Jersey Royals are the perfect addition to a spring salad. Here, I've roasted them until golden and crisp, and piled them on to a platter with seasonal asparagus, feta and crunchy almonds. It's all finished off with one of my go-to dressings: Tesco Finest Greek yoghurt whipped up with nutty tahini and lots of green herbs. Prep 15 min Cook 45 min Serves 4 750g Tesco Finest Jersey Royals, halved 3 tbsp Tesco Finest Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling200g Tesco Finest Jubilee asparagus 100g bulgar wheat 100g Tesco Finest barrel-aged feta 25g toasted flaked almonds For the dressing1⁄2 head garlic, roasted with the Jersey Royals 150g Tesco Finest Greek yoghurt 2 tbsp tahini Handful parsley Handful mint, plus extra to serve1⁄2 lemon, juiced Suggested wine pairing Tesco Finest Western Australia chardonnay Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/ gas 7. Add the potatoes to a saucepan of cold, salted water, bring to the boil and then cook for 12 minutes or until a knife goes in easily. Drain through a colander and leave to steam dry for 10 minutes. Tip on to a lipped baking tray and toss with the olive oil, a good pinch of salt and the half head of garlic for the dressing. Roast for 15 minutes. Add the asparagus and roast for 8-10 minutes more, until it is tender. Meanwhile, cook the bulgar wheat according to package instructions. Let cool a little. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin into a blender with the yoghurt, tahini, herbs, lemon juice and 50-70ml of water. Season with salt and blend until smooth. Add the bulgar wheat and most of the almonds to the tray with the roasted potatoes and asparagus. Then pile everything on to a large sharing plate, finishing with the dressing, remaining almonds and crumbled feta. Drizzle with extra olive oil, sprinkle on mint, and serve. Shop the ingredients for this recipe on and discover how Tesco Finest can make your everyday taste better
