It could be pizza!

As we know a pizza uses layers of ingredients. This is a “pizza” without the bread base and using a square – or round if you prefer – casserole or, in my case, a foil tray – measuring 30x25x6 cms.

Using the recipe mentioned in “Friday night is card night” as a template, build different layers.

Begin with a base layer of chicken, then the chorizo et al then repeat until you've used all the ingredients and bake in the same way. Nestling the bunches of tomatoes and garnishing with the Panko crumbs and Parmesan.

Healthier than a deep pan – most definitely – you can still serve bread of your choice on the side.

Any leftovers?

… it could be a wrap

In the event that there are any leftovers – fill a wrap for lunch …

... you might want to refine the size of the leftovers so that you don't cover the rest of your colleagues at the office when you take a bite.

As is always the case it will be even more delicious the following day – lunch envy – tee hee!

It could be a tray bake!

On the night :

Grease your baking tray.

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Using a large frying pan stir fry the chorizo, onions and peppers on a medium heat for 2/3 minutes, add the stock and then add the potatoes – set aside. Your stock needs to be melted gently in the same pan – it forms a jelly when it has set.

Scatter the chicken onto the tray and then the chorizo, onions, peppers and potatoes over the top. Cover evenly with the stock. Nestle the bunches of tomatoes on the top and scatter the black olives. Season with salt and black pepper and sprinkle with Panko and Parmesan.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve straight to the table – make sure you have a heat proof surface and non slip proof mats to stop the tray moving around.

Serve with any good fresh bread of your choice – Italian would make the most sense with the bowls of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil mixed together for extra dipping.

You'll notice that I've not mentioned additional garlic or herbs in the recipe – they are already there – in the slow cooked chicken and therefore in the strained stock but if you'd like to add more of either, go for it – I'd use garlic paste and either oregano or garlic Italian seasoning.

I love pulling ingredients out of the fridge, ready to assemble and go – in addition to which minimal fuss, maximum flavour and one tray to actually wash up – the remaining dishes are for the magic box – gets my vote every time!

Friday night is card night …

… no money changes hands I hasten to add – just the joy of beating the boys!

I want to serve a supper that takes minutes on the night so some cooking ahead is required but nothing too ambitious.

This may seem a tad long winded but I assure you it's not – 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there to suit you and then assembly and 20 minutes in the oven on the night.

What to call this dish – it could be a tray bake, it could be a pizza or it could be a wrap!

You'll need a large baking tray which will be greased with either rapeseed or olive oil – measuring 43x31 cms.

Serves 4-6 depending on size of appetites

For the tray bake

1 slow cooked chicken – 1.5kg

1 chicken stock pot

2 tsps of garlic paste or 1 garlic stock pot

generous sprinkle of oregano or garlic

Italian seasoning

Place your chicken in the slow cooker and mix the stock pot with the garlic paste and spread over the chicken. Sprinkle with the herbs. Switch your slow cooker to the low setting and leave it for 8 hours.

When the chicken has cooled remove from the slow cooker. Strip the chicken into large ish pieces, bag and fridge. Strain the stock, jug and fridge. I would suggest that you cook the chicken the day before you need it so that you can strip and strain. If you are slow cooking ahead then freeze the chicken and the stock. Remove from the freezer the day before you want to use and defrost in the fridge.

1kg cooked Charlotte potatoes, peeled and cut

into large dice – prep ahead then bag and fridge

250g diced chorizo – I buy it ready diced

2 medium red onions, sliced – prep, bag and fridge

mixed sweet peppers, de-seeded and sliced -

prep, bag and fridge – you can buy a punnet of

sweet mini peppers (190g) from Tesco at £1.25 -

orange, yellow and red

6 cherry tomatoes – or small bunches x however

many servings required

50g black olives, pitted and sliced – optional

easy to obtain in jars

100g each of Panko breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan cheese to

garnish

salt and black pepper

Bread of your choice to serve, with bowls of

balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil for extra dipping

Not a massive amount of prep – bits and pieces you can do a day or two in advance that can be fridged ready for the night.

Scene set, read on – oh, wish me luck!

The Inquest and the day after.

The Operating Instructions and The Manual provided both state the capacity of each melting pot is a maximum of 250g of chocolate (or candy buttons) and states “Note: If using block chocolate, chop or grate the chocolate into small pieces to reduce the melting time … and … Do not melt chocolate or candy buttons to a level above the “MAX” line stamped in the melting pot.”

The jury's out.

I used small chocolate chips and weighed out 250g – if I'd have used them all they would have overspilled the pot so I reduced the weight to 200g.

I couldn't find any instructions or information anywhere in either the Operating Instructions or the Manual how long it takes to melt, in theory, 250g of chocolate.

It's no wonder customers get frustrated – don't they understand – it's not rocket science!

Moving on, use your ever faithful kitchen timer. Set it for 10 minutes for the pre-heating process. Add your chocolate, set your timer again for 10 minutes – it doesn't look particularly encouraging at the end of the first 10 minutes period, stir the chocolate as it suggests, set the timer again for another 10 minutes. Now it's looking much better – nice and glossy.

So, the answer to my original question is preheat for 10 minutes and it takes 20 minutes (in two 10 minute blocks) to melt the chocolate.

The other question that occurred is – what if I've got chocolate leftover in the melting pot – can I re-use it?

I had leftover chocolate which I set aside and covered. The following day I uncovered the melting pot and chocolate, placed it in the base and preheated for 10 minutes on the melt position II. After preheating I set my timer for a further 10 minutes and can confirm that the chocolate melts perfectly and is ready for use. You may need another 2 minutes or so, depending on the type of chocolate you are using. Total time – 22 minutes.

I then made another batch of chocolate discs as good as the previous day.

The 200g of chocolate will give you 25 chocolate discs – you may get more or less depending on the thickness of chocolate disc you prefer.

In conclusion not a bad piece of kit for the money – poor instructions but I'm glad I invested.

After all that hard work I think I need to retire for a rest – with chocolate of course!

Not a bad effort!

As soon as you've completed your circles release (as I know I'm fond of saying) your inner Jackson Pollock and scatter your fruit and nuts where you may – it doesn't matter at all if they spill – they'll land on the tray.

Here they are :

Now for the difficult bit – resist the urge to prod and place the baking sheet in a cool dry place for 2 – 3 hours – NOT in a fridge. The chocolate discs will lift easily from the parchment :

If there are any left – of course you need to sample – place in a box with a tightly fitting lid and keep in a cool, dark place – NOT the fridge. They'll keep a week – tee hee.

A really useful sweet morsel – I hope you'll agree.

Here goes nothing!

The instructions are straight forward and the base unit easy to understand. You preheat the base unit with a melting pot inside for 10 minutes, then add the chocolate, stirring occasionally until melted :

  

Remove the melting pot from the base and pour a small blob of melted chocolate onto each circle on the parchment :

Using the back of a spoon – I used a dessert spoon – in a circular motion gently ease the melted chocolate out to fill the circle :

Do not panic if you overrun the circle – it's not the end of the world – practice makes perfect, it's like using a piping bag for the first time – give yourself a break.

The end product!

It's always a good idea to decide on an end product when road testing kit and my advice would definitely be don't choose anything too complicated – it will only end in tears with you covered head to toe in chocolate – a slight exaggeration may be! It should be a fun exercise with something to show for it.

I thought I'd have a shot at what we used to call “petit fours” they could be used with a dessert or, as they were originally served, a sweet hit with an after dinner coffee and/or liqueur – very 1970s. You know you've always wanted to produce your own version of an After Eight Mint!

So, have a look in your store cupboard/pantry and grab a handful of whatever takes your fancy – in the fruit and nut line that is … I chose my usual favourites because they are staples in my pantry – tart cherries, apricots and pistachios. Chop them, finely – you can mix them if you wish or leave them in individual heaps, ready to scatter later.

A final tip – don't experiment with new pieces of kit, or recipes for that matter, if you haven't got the time – if you put yourself under pressure you'll rush and chances are you won't be happy with the result.