Antler's 2012 Holiday -A Villa Experience

[antler]

As the Siberian winter takes its hold in the UK, all I can do is count the time in “Haircuts”. I’ve worked out it’s only 3 more UK Haircuts until Mehmet sets light to my ears at Jasmine Coiffeur, round about June 9th. That will mark the start of our 2012 Kalkan Holiday and a new, Villa Experience.

This year, with 17 nights, in a luxurious Villa, we have plenty of time to eat out, as well as eat in. So, as my second passion to doing a Daily Blog at 7am, is to mess around in the kitchen, I need to find some recipes that will be simple enough to prepare, but reflect the flavours of this lovely part of the world.

Mrs A thinks I am mad wanting to take my Delia-recommended little chopper, but it is the best thing I have that I can lay both hands on. And, it saves so much of those wrist-aching, repetitive hand movements chopping herbs.

So, bring on the Lamb with Apricots, or come and join us for some canapés on the Upper Ottoman Terrace. Come Dine with Me will have nothing on this.

Antler


Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=9008.0

[tortoise lady]

Yes, Antler, this is just the time of year to start dreaming about those sun-kissed days in Kalkan and what we will eat (and drink).   

Given half of your subject title is "A villa experience"  maybe you and others will make some comments on what they would really really like to find in their villa/apartment's kitchen when they arrive.   A lot of visitors want to do as little actual cooking as possible but others will be looking forward to cooking in a relaxing way.    So I would certainly appreciate any suggestions of kitchen equipment.    Hopefully I have already thought of most things that are essential and provided them but sometimes it is the little extras that make a difference to enthusiastic cooks away from home.   Happy to use up some of my  flight allowance on things I may not be able to buy easily in Kalkan.

Antler, I hope you will have a wonderful time on your next visit to Kalkan

[Blue Lizard]

 
Hey antler.....you could always pop along to the little place yards away from where you are staying for brekkie!! your little chopper was the talk of the Elite after your shorts came off in the pool
 
i would like to find Nigella Lawson in a bikini with a chocolate laden spoon in my kitchen on arrival.. mrs l would probably like michael buble in his kecks
 
my come dine with me menu......
 
  pulverised red fruits ,basilicated and creamed and whipped to a frenzy (tomato soup)
 
hoof wearing beastie,wedge sliced and grilled until sizzling with pepperations applied served with  sliced tuber fruits    (steak and chips)
 
various colours from bushiness and tree growth in tiny taste capsules serviced in syrupticious liquidines (fruit salad)
 
  please come dressed as a banana

[sally]

Given half of your subject title is "A villa experience"  maybe you and others will make some comments on what they would really really like to find in their villa/apartment's kitchen when they arrive.   

I have never, ever found a sharp knife in any holiday accommodation I have ever rented & always take my own.

We eat a lot of salad & I've never found a salad spinner/drier & I hate wet leaves as the dressing doesn't cling to them.  I've managed with a tea
towel mostly.

[turkeyfan]

Sally, we've got a salad spinner, because I hate wet leaves too!

[hobbo]

I also used to hate the fact that every villa we stayed in didn't have a sharp knife, I always pack a knife sharpener (rather than take a sharp knife) and have provided one along with some very sharp knives in our place. Not a salad person myself but I can see the requirement, will add one to the shopping list to be ready for the season.

[antler]

Tears still rolling down the cheeks, sides aching, BL, at the thought of being dressed as a banana whilst playing with my Kenwood Mini Chopper. And I love your Come Dine with Me menu!

Last time I used a salad spinner, I tried to get it going really fast and the top came off and the thing went across the kitchen like a frisby. Wild rocket everywhere. I haven't used one since, but willing to give it a try...

The other thing I need is a good heavy bottomed pot, or casserole type dish - with a tight fitting lid. One that can go from the hob to the oven. Then, I can just chuck it all in and whack it in the oven.

BL pls don't reply to this as I don't think my rib cage could take it!!

Cheers

Antler

[Skunk]

I agree about the chopper (!!!!) Antler - best thing I ever bought.  Does anyone know if you can get them in Kalkan? - they are less than £20 over here and worth it even for a three week holiday. We could leave it in the villa for the owners and then use it again next year. 

[tortoise lady]

My shopping list is growing.    Kenwood mini chopper, knife sharpener plus one or two more kitchen knives (they have a way of vanishing),  salad spinner.  I think the knife sharpener is a very good idea.

Skunk asked if anyone had seen the Kenwood mini choppers for sale in Kalkan, do let us know if anyone has which would save the weight in the suitcase.    I have been looking at Argos for the Kenwood mini choppers.   They only seem to have the 108A version but I think Delia's particular recommendation may be the CH180 version.   Anyone out there swearing by a particular one??  It will depend a bit on the weight as to whether one does end up in my suitcase.   

This may seem to be digressing from Antler's holiday but as a villa owner I always hope the villa experience is going to be as good as possible for guests.   I confess I don't do proper cooking on holiday but know others do.    Even I need a reasonable knife to slice those lemons/limes for the G. and T.

Maybe I should just go and try my lemon slicing skills............

[itstime]

Ah Tortoise Lady, a woman after my own heart. In over 15 years of visiting Kalkan I have never once used a cooker or even boiled a kettle (don't drink tea or coffee) Each time I plan to have a meal at "home" but have never got round to it. I do sometimes have lunch but always just bread, cheese, olives etc with lovely fresh salad ingredients. Maybe this year I will eventually get round to actually using the cooker but then again....................
Definitely need a cork screw, some nice glasses and some bowls to put the yummy olives in

[Babs]

I'm with you there ladies.....don't do cooking on holiday and take my husband to boil the kettle!
It's curious though that we always 'self cater'....but then one does need a fridge for obvious reasons!

[tortoise lady]

One year we were having work done in our kitchen and it wasn't finished when we arrived so we couldn't prepare anything.   Even the sink and dishwasher were out of action.   Had to go out for coffee/cake/biscuits at breakfast time and no possibility of even producing a bread, cheese and olive lunch.    Fridge was in action though so plenty of cold drinks and the perfect excuse for absolutely no food preparation all week.    I don't remember being upset!   

We have though discovered the joys of sometimes being at home at lunch time and relaxing with drinks and the simplest of meals, usually of the type described by itstime.    I once cooked pasta!!   Haven't felt the need to do it again on holiday.   

I can see the attraction for all you keen cooks out there to have fun preparing all the wonderful fresh ingredients to be found in Kalkan and cooking in a relaxing way with time to spare on holiday.    So I will try to have my kitchen properly stocked with pans etc, as long as no one expects me to use them myself.

[Mrs Enjoy Kalkan]

We might bump into you again..we arrive on 23rd June. Would be good to catch up for good chinwag and a few beverages 

[antler]

MRS EK that would be lovely!  You could come and join us for a slice of Orange & Almond Torte on the Upper Ottoman Terrace.  (That's just one of the main reasons I need the Kenwood Chopper).

I thought it would be really nice to do something different this holiday and enjoy the surroundings of such a lovely Villa  - in a different way. So, I am saving recipes I think would be suitable and am looking forward to the fun of shopping for the ingredients. Such a contrast to "food on the go" when travelling and the business lunches and dinners I have with my work - 6 so far this week. Yawn.

With 17 nights in Kalkan, there should still be plenty of time for a Summer Steak or two, down at Mussakka Harbour.

Antler

[itstime]

Strange thing is that I count cooking as one of my favourite hobbies. Love all the preparation and cooking of a wonderful meal at home in the uk not to mention all the planning and going out to buy all the fresh ingredients but in Kalkan it suddenly loses all it's appeal. Think at home it's a form of therapy from all the stresses of the daily grind but in Kalkan don't feel those stresses so no real inclination to cook

[Cosetta]

Sally, we provide our guests with very sharp knives (and a knife sharpener !), a mini-chopper, a medium chopper, a mixer, a salad spinner, a meat grinder, toaster, orange juice squeezer, crepe pan, many other kinds of pots and pans, a sandwich maker, a blender and almost every kitchen utensil or piece of equipment you can think of.  Needless to say, we live in our villa 7 months of the year so our kitchen is very well equipped.  But we have found that more and more people are doing at least some cooking during their holiday stay, in fact, some cook at home every day.

As for where to buy a mini-chopper, I had to bring it with me from outside Turkey.  I did buy a medium size chopper in Turkey, a Tefel product, but it wasn't very good quality and didn't last long.  I had to buy a replacement abroad and bring that in my luggage too.

[msr]

I'm with itstime on this. Enjoy cooking at home but in the 6 years we have owned our villa I am embarrassed to say I have never turned the oven on once! Always go with the intention of at least a couple of home cooked 'simple' meals but
the lure of the restaurants and the heat always win. I tell my self that I cook for 40 plus weeks at home I deserve a rest!
Good luck Antler, I have a sneaking suspicion that you will manage to cook some delicious meals and put some of us to shame!

[kalkan4eva]

We are cooking fans...at home and in Kalkan. One year the apartment we stayed in had a fantastic Turkish cookbook and we just went to town following the recipes I've posted before about making breakfast, but that's not everyday - however we will usually cook dinner for ourselves at least three or four times during our stay. BH has given up on pide though...better and cheaper to get it delivered by Oz Adana

[Blue Lizard]

I think one of the best (not expensive) items you can provide guests is a hand water pump that fits onto the tops of the large water bottles,it saves lugging water bottles back and forth ... once you push it into the top of the bottle you just press it down and water comes out by it's dispenser,a large bottle of water delivered is only about 5 TL..... we left it in the villa last year for the next people it was only 10TL from the supermarket, the hardware man on the market sold them as well...we have in the past had chilled water dispensers in our rental places but these are for being spoilt!!
 
(keep an ordinary water bottle and fill it up from the big one to keep in the fridge if you don't have a chilled one )
 
                                       Lizard.

[tortoise lady]

Blue lizard, our local agents suggested a chilled water dispenser when we were out in September.    It was delivered and water fitted the morning we left so never got to enjoy it.    Hope to this summer and trust our guests will find it better than filling up the fridge with large bottles of water.    Your suggestion of a water pump is a good idea though for places without a chilled dispenser.   The large bottles work out cheaper but difficult to lift and pour by hand.

Antler, not sure if you should have mentioned serving canapes on the roof terrace.    I happen to know where you will be staying, not far from us, so don't be surprised if you see a tortoise looking wistfully up at your roof terrace........   Lots of forum members choose June as the time they go to Kalkan so you may find a whole queue of us "just happening to be passing by" at the time you are cooking.    Best keep your villa location under wraps!