Easy food for sharing

2 Arrange the thighs in a snug-fitting roasting tray in a single layer, skin side up, and cook at the top of the oven for about 50 minutes or until the meat pulls away easily from the bone.

3 Once cooked, remove the chicken skin and place it upside down on a separate roasting tray. Scatter the nuts and seeds over the skin, then put it back into the oven for about 10 minutes or until the skin is really crispy and the nuts are toasted (don’t burn them; set the alarm). Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

4 Meanwhile, chop the pineapple and cucumber into 1cm cubes and sprinkle them on to a beautiful serving platter, then finely slice the spring onions and chilli and add those to the platter too, saving a little fresh chilli for garnishing.

5 Spoon away any fat from the roasting tray, leaving the juices behind, then use two forks to pull the chicken meat apart in the tray, discarding the bones and any wobbly bits.

6 Move all the delicious meat to the serving platter then, in the tray, mix three quarters of the yoghurt, the juice of 2 limes, and the chopped coriander stalks, keeping the leaves aside. Mix everything up nicely, scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the tray, then taste and season to perfection.

7 Pour the sauce all over the platter, then toss and mix everything together using two forks. Clean around the edges of the platter if it’s messy, then sprinkle over the crispy skin, toasted nuts and seeds, the coriander leaves and red chilli. Drizzle over the rest of the yoghurt and serve.

Wonderful Welsh cakes

Ingredients

Makes 35 to 40 Welsh cakes

For the Welsh cakes
500g of self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
75g caster sugar, plus extra to serve
1 heaped teaspoon of mixed spice
250g cold, unsalted butter
A pinch of sea salt
150g mixed raisins and sultanas
1 large free-range egg
A couple of splashes of milk

For the filling
300ml double cream
One heaped tablespoon of caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
One teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
400g fresh berries, such as raspberries, strawberries, blackberries
One lemon

Method

1 Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar and mixed spice.

Cut up the butter and add to the bowl with a pinch of salt. Use your hands to rub it all together until you get a fine breadcrumb consistency.

2 Toss in the dried fruit, then make a well in the centre of the mixture and crack in the egg. Add a splash of milk and use a fork to beat and mix in the egg.

3 Once combined, use your clean hands to pat and bring the mixture together until you have a dough. It should be fairly short, so don’t work it too much.

4 Put a large heavy-bottomed non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. While it’s heating up, dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour and roll the dough out until it’s about 1cm thick.

5 Use a 5cm pastry cutter to cut out as many rounds as you can. Scrunch the remaining scraps of dough together, then roll out and cut out a few more. To test the temperature, cook one Welsh cake in the pan for a few minutes to act as a thermometer. If the surface is blonde, turn the heat up a little; if it’s black, turn the heat down — leave for a few minutes for the heat to correct itself, then try again.

6 When you’ve got a golden cake after 4 minutes on each side, you’re in a really good place and you can cook the rest in batches. It’s all about control.

7 As soon as they come off the pan, put them on a wire rack to cool and sprinkle them with caster sugar. You can serve the cakes just like this, as they are. Or, if you want to do what I’ve done, gently cut each one in half while turning so you get a top and a bottom.

8 Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla paste together until you have soft peaks. Put the berries into a bowl, slicing up any big ones, and toss them with the juice of one lemon and a sprinkling of sugar. Open the cakes up, and add a little dollop of cream and a few berries to each one.

Jamie’s Great Britain is published by Michael Joseph, Penguin Recipes © Jamie Oliver 2011