Antler's Day Four: Dinner full of Eastern Promise

[antler]

Well, the Thai Chicken Curry was well good last night, even if Chef does say it himself. It was voted 8/10 by the diners, and to take it to 9, it would have needed to be a little less sweet. The great find in the UK was the Thai Curry Paste in sachets, that were light to carry. The only compromise was no fresh corriander to go on the top.

The evening ended around midnight, with a swim. It was paradise. 26C on the patio and only a couple of degrees less in the water. The tortoise seems to have scrambled away in the orchard and Poppy and her mate, Bieber, have made themselves quite at home on the patio.
Hangover free, I headed for town at 9am in search of the final ingredients for dinner tonight. Going for 3 courses: Salad Caprese and flatbread to start, Lamb & Apricot Casserole, with Moroccan Spiced Cous Cous - plus a vegetable Paella, for the non-meat lovers. Dessert would be an orange and almond torte with chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

First stop was the deli just before Kaya. I could get mozzarella but it was expensive in those little bags, so Nice Deli Man let me try his Village Cheese. Perfect, and only TL11 a kilo. The slight saltyness would be a perfect match to the dark red vine ripened tomatoes.

A few paces away, in the Vegetable Shop, the final ingredient was there - bunches of fresh basil. Starter done.

No large orange, but plenty of small ( and probably sweeter) ones, so 3 of those for the torte. Loads of fresh carrots and green beans (beans so fresh they don't need trimming, just snap into inches long, after topping and tailing).

Back up to Yali for the flatbread, olive oil - but couldn't find the right ice cream. So final stop was at Migros, which came up trumps with the dual tubs of chocolate and vanilla ice cream for a tad over TL3.

Cafe Ev were waving at me to go in for refreshments, which would have been nice, had I already had breakfast. So a pleasant chat, instead, before my final leg up the hill to Villa Kirmizi Lale.

The oranges have just finsished their hour of boiling, and once they have cooled down, the Mini Chopper (yay!) will burst into action to help prepare the flourless, orange and almond torte.
But first, Chef deserves a swim as the gauge touches 32C in the shade.....at 10.56am.

Steve

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=9589.0

[Skunk]

Sounds like the dinner party of the decade!    Swim well deserved - enjoy! 

[antler]

Thanks, Skunk. I found the little fish shop you mentioned, tucked under the Taxi Rank. I went in and had a chat with him and saw his offering,- if you know what I mean! Some lovely raw, large prawns just ripe for the barbie, plus the Sea Bass and Sea Bream, of course.

Cheers
Steve

[Skunk]

Yup the prawns are fab and the sea bass stunning.  Both barbielicious.

[Lizilu20]

Antler, I'm slavering at your menu, it sounds wonderful and thanks for letting us know the prices of the ingredients. I can usually only muster up enough enthusiasm to cook an odd corned bean hash, bacon butty, salads, pizza pide's, cooked breakfast etc on holday but seeing as like you, we are in Kalkan for 17 days in july, I was going to try to cook a little more as it would be too expensive to eat out every night. We have also invited friends for lunch on our last day so I will be cooking for 10!!! I look forward to reading your reports and any hints or tips re menu's/ingredients would be welcomed. Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday and  if your lamb and apricot casserole is anything like the moroccan lamb casserole at Mussaka, please divulge the recipe, as I absolutely adore that dish. 

[antler]

Hi Lizil20,
The Apricot and Lamb Casserole is off the Sainsburys Website (my printout is from 2005! ) The main flavours come from lamb, apricots (doh!) ....and cinnamon.

Cheers
Steve

[Lizilu20]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for that, I shall look it up. I'm sure yours will be delicious. 

Lizzie

[chrissy1]

Sounds amazing my mouth is watering - you should think of hosting dinner parties and charge (Come dine with me at a cost)  Or better still open a restaurant!!

[tillymint143]

my tongue is hanging out here, sat at my desk... just one question, Steve, how d'you get the ice cream back before it melted?

[Ryss]

yum yum yum yum yum! it all sounds so delish!

[antler]

Tillymint143 - the ice cream was fine as Migros is only a couple of hundred metres away from the villa. I found it later, at Yali, outside the entrance! There are several freezers of the stuff.

[tillymint143]

good to know. we are only a few minutes away from Yali, come August.