Exploring Kayaköy

Kayaköy, Turkey

It felt a little eerie walking through this abandoned "rock village," about 8 km outside Fethiye.

Just hundreds of empty houses, a couple of churches and an old fortress remain of this former Greek settlement. In 1923, Kayaköy was abandoned because of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey.

Now, a few of the outer houses look like they have been reclaimed by local residents. There's also several small cafes, restaurants and a few pansyions to relax at or even stay at after you've explored the village.

We spent more than 2 hours here today, so I will have lots more photos to post soon. Well worth the drive out of the city to explore.

Stay tuned!

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Good Morning from Fethiye

Not a bad view to wake up to in the morning.

Actually, this is the view from our hotel's rooftop restaurant where we enjoyed our morning coffees and breakfast. The Yacht Boutique Hotel is located along the Fethiye Marina where it seems a hundred or so sailboats are docked.

We arrived here late last night for a short weekend get-away to celebrate Jason's birthday. Happy birthday honey!

Fethiye, a currently peaceful city, is located along the Mediterranean Sea and about an 800-kilometer drive away from Istanbul. Or you take an 80-minute flight to Dalaman and then drive about an hour to Fethiye, which is the option we chose.

We are heading out to explore the area so I will post more soon.

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Steak and Potatoes in Istanbul

When it comes right down to it, I’m a meat and potatoes kinda gal.

I’m particularly fond of steak.

Can you blame me? I was born and raised in the Midwest - land of many cows. =)

I’m still convinced some of the best steak I’ve ever eaten in my life is at one of my favorite mom-and-pop joints in Juanita, Nebraska, called The Plainsman Steakhouse. I’ll definitely be making a pit stop there when I visit my family around Christmas.

Here in Istanbul, I recently discovered or actually was recommended by my kasap to try antrikot. I still can’t figure out this cut of meat - maybe a ribeye or a sirloin steak. Whatever it’s called, this Turkish cut of steak is full of good marbling and just tastes pretty darn good! At 34 TL a kilo - it’s also a bargain compared to bonfile.

Simply add rub the antrikot steaks down with some olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper and you are ready to grill - even if it’s indoors like we do here at our apartment.

You can find some helpful antrikot cooking techniques online here in Turkish, which is fairly easy to translate.

We enjoyed these grilled steaks with roasted sweet and yellow potatoes for dinner. It was a perfect meal - accompanied with a bottle of Turkish red wine, of course.

Now, sweet potatoes are another difficult foodie item to find in Turkey. (See previous foodie treasure hunt here.) But you’re in luck because I’ll share with you my new exotic ingredient place in Arnavutköy.

When I stopped in this manav (recommended by a long-time expat), I was shocked to see all the goodies. Real jalapenos, blueberries, red currants and kumquats are just a few items that caught my eye.

You’ll also be a bit sticker shocked! It just depends on how badly you really want that item.

First, I was told 25 TL for a kilo of the sweet potatoes, but then I started talking a bit of Turkish with him and another customer. Next thing I know, he shrugged his shoulders and said “On lira” for 750 grams of potatoes. It’s a deal!

Perhaps a sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving next month?

Afiyet Olsun!

For a good butcher and a specialty foods shop, check out these two places in Istanbul:

• Kolaylar Manav, Arnavutköy
• Kardeşler Kasabı, Gazi Refik Sok. No: 3 Türkali Mh., Beşiktaş

Pul Biber Sweet Potatoes
For 2 hungry people

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes, medium diced
2-3 yellow potatoes, medium diced
Olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pul Biber or spicy red chili flakes

1. Preheat oven to 400 F/205 C.
2. In a large bowl, add the potatoes, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the seasonings on top. Using your hands, toss the potatoes in the bowl a few times to ensure they are completely coated.
3. Place the potatoes on an aluminum foil-lined baking tray. (The foil will help with the clean up later.)
4. Roast the potatoes for about 20 minutes until they start to brown around the edges, stirring once to ensure even cooking.
5. Dish up the hot potatoes onto your plate and enjoy with your grilled steak!

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My Chef Friends' Recent Successes

“If you start out with something great, less has to be added. The ingredients are the basis of any beginning,” says Chef de Cuisine Gregory Gourdet.

This statement, made by a friend and former colleague, is one I completely relate to, especially when I peruse the pazar here for fresh fruits and vegetables.

A roka salad is simple and peppery just with a drizzle of good Turkish olive oil and a dash of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Mandalinas need no adornment and are best eaten fresh. What could be prettier than the ruby-like nar exploding in the pazar stalls lately!

Just spoon out the pomegranate seeds and eat like them!

I was fortunate to work with Gourdet when I started working in the pastry department at Jean-Georges Restaurant in New York City in 2005. Back then, he was a sous chef, but he moved up the ranks in the Vongerichten empire and later headed out to the Northwest. Today, he is Chef de Cuisine at Departure Restaurant & Lounge in Portland, Oregon, where he focuses on using organic and seasonal ingredients in his Asian-inspired cuisine.

Check out this new Intel video of Gourdet’s market strolls and restaurant, which was recently posted on YouTube. This documentary clip features Gourdet at the helm in his restaurant and the colorful plates that he and his staff creates.

Someday, when we’re back in the U.S., I hope to visit Gourdet’s restaurant - wherever he may be then. However, if you are in the states now, definitely stop by his place or one of the other restaurants I mention below.

I have to give another shout out to my good friend and fellow pastry chef, Emily Wallendjack, who is the pastry chef at Veritas in NYC. This wine-centric restaurant recently received its first Michelin star. Congratulations!

Prior to joining Veritas, Wallendjack was the pastry chef at Cookshop, where she created the restaurant’s popular ice cream cart featuring fun and seasonal flavors. (We first met and worked together at Jean-Georges.) Jason and I have enjoyed sampling her yummy desserts during our NY visits, particularly the “Dark and Stormy” sticky toffee pudding cake we had last December!

Can’t wait to see what my friend is up to in the kitchen when I return this December!

See the complete list of 2012 Michelin-starred restaurants in NYC here.

Of course, I could never forget my former boss and mentor, Johnny Iuzzini, Executive Pastry Chef at Jean-Georges. His mantra of using fresh, local and seasonal ingredients will always stay with me!

Iuzzini’s colorful desserts are always playful and sensational! You can find find Iuzzini on television as the head judge on Bravo’s Top Chef Just Desserts.

August 2010 - I dug my fork into Iuzzini's summer dessert tasting when I ate lunch
in the Nougatine dining room at Jean-Georges. Yum!

Can’t wait to visit one of my favorite foodie cities in just 2 months! I’m really dying for a slice of NY pepperoni pizza!

Afiyet Olsun!

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Celebrating Oktoberfest in Istanbul

Drinking Beck’s beer and eating a soft pretzel and chips was not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

Yesterday, despite the rain, Jason and I ventured out to Parkorman to check out Oktoberfest in Istanbul. This large park is located about a 10-minute walk from the Darüşşafaka metro station. This first-time event was organized by KafePi, an İstanbul-based entertainment and gastronomy company.

We had no idea what was in store for us.

The crowd mainly consisted of young, 20-somethings Turks, dressed in black - the color of choice apparently in some form of clothing or shoes it seemed. Nary an Oktoberfest costume in sight except for some of the staff.

Jason and I found ourselves a corner spot next to the Beck’s beer station. Beck’s was the only German beer being sold, but at least it was better than the normal pint of Efes, Carlsberg and Turborg we generally have. Definitely not Munich!

At 4 p.m., a traditional German Oom-Pah band took the stage. The group played for nearly an hour and gave a good performance. I wish I could have sung along, but the only German words I know are ja, neun, bier, kuchen, Lebkuchen, Apfelstrudel, wienerschnitzel and wurst. Recognize the theme here?

I walked right up to the stage to take this photo.

Later, two friends joined us so we weren’t the only English-speaking foreigners here. I also noticed a few lone Germans at the event and heard a few other people speaking English out of a crowd of a few thousand people. I couldn't find any news references to how many people attended.

Oktoberfest in Istanbul was fun, but could have been a bit more organized as the lines for food and beer grew to be 30+ people deep as the afternoon waned!

Later back at our apartment, the four of us grabbed some dürüm and attempted to play a few rounds of poker, which I don’t understand, especially after my mind is a bit fuzzy.

Lesson learned after Oktobfest:
Do not try supergluing anything once you’ve consumed a few beverages.

Because that superglue will stick to your fingers and be an awful, awful mess to sort out and may involve yelling at someone you love, Googling for help and ripping off some of your tender skin. Trust me on this!

At least this incident did not involve an ER visit.

Me just being silly at Oktoberfest.

Also: I updated my last recipe for the Espressolu Kek and provided U.S. cup measurements next to the gram amounts I had listed. Hope this helps! Happy baking!

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Baking with Joy: Espressolu Kek

(Note: I will be teaching this recipe and three other breakfast treats this weekend in Istanbul.)

If this coffee-infused coffee cake doesn’t perk you up in the morning or give you an afternoon jolt, then I don’t know what will.

A perfect cake for breakfast or tea time!

Coffee cake is a morning treat that I grew up with in the Midwest. I remember both my grandmothers baking their buttery cake-like versions that generally included cinnamon, brown sugar, a hint of coffee and a simple confectioner’s sugar glaze on top.

These coffee cake recipes, passed down from their mothers, possibly evolved from a traditional Kuchen or Gugelhupf recipe, based on my German ancestry. Recipes for coffee cake, as we know it today, first appeared in American cookbooks at the turn of the 20th Century. Original coffee cakes included yeast, flour, eggs, sugar, nuts, dried fruit and sweet spices.

“Much of the American appetite for sweet rolls and cakes comes from these specific Germans as well as from the Holland settlements that had so much influence on early New York, New Jersey and Delaware. All of those colonial cooks made fruity, buttery breakfast or coffee cakes from recipes that vary only slightly from methods used in the twentieth century,” writes Evan Jones in American Food: The Gastronomic Story, 2nd edition.

My German ancestors may have landed in New York in the 1860s, but they ended up settling in the countryside of Nebraska and Iowa.

So I decided to take that simple coffee cake idea that I know and love and modify it. I looked through my cookbooks for inspiration and found one in Caprial’s Desserts that I liked.

If you would like to learn how to make my espresso-flavored coffee cake, join me this Saturday at the Istanbul Culinary Institute for a “Best Breakfast Ideas” class. To sign up for this hands-on baking class, click here.

Afiyet Olsun!

Betcha can't just have one slice of this cake!

Espressolu Kek/Espresso Coffee Cake
Yields: one round bundt cake pan

Ingredients:
170 g. (3/4 c.) butter, room temperature
230 g. (1 c.) granulated sugar
2 ea. large eggs
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

350 g. (2 c.) Turkish un flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt

240 g. (1 c.) süzme yoğurt or sour cream (Note: I thinned out my süzme yoğurt with about 2 tablespoons of krema.)
10 g. (1/8 c.) Nescafe or instant coffee powder
1 T. hot water

Coffee Glaze
150 g. (1 c.) powdered sugar
1 ½ T. whole milk, warmed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ T. Nescafe or instant coffee powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/165 C. Lightly grease a round bundt cake pan or a 9-10-inch cake pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, using a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
3. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add about half of the flour mixture to the bowl with the butter mixture and mix well.
5. Add half the yogurt or sour cream, and mix well.
6. Add the remaining flour and yogurt, and mix well, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
7. In a small bowl, combine the coffee powder with the hot water. Add about one-third of the cake batter to this and mix well, using a rubber spatula.
8. Spread about half of the plain cake batter in the bottom of the cake pan. Top with most of the coffee-flavoured batter, using a spatula or spoon to spread the batter evenly.

9. Add the remaining plain cake and coffee-flavoured batter in alternating layers.

10. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10-15 minutes before inverting the cake onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
11. Make the glaze: in a small mixing bowl, dissolve the coffee powder with the milk and vanilla extract. Whisk in the powdered sugar and mix until combined. If the glaze seems a little thick, add a little more milk. Pour the glaze over the cake.

This glaze mixes up easily.

(Martha Stewart tip: For easy cleanup, set cooling rack with cake over a piece of parchment paper or wax paper; drizzle cake with glaze, and let set before serving.)

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Exploring Patmos: Petra Beach

When it’s the end of summer and the tourists have left, you can enjoy walking along a deserted beach on a Greek island.

The waves of the Aegean Sea gently lap along the shoreline.

That’s about the only sound you hear, except for a few birds and maybe the motor of a boat in the distance.

On our second night on the island of Patmos, my friend and I grabbed our cameras and walked over to Petra Beach to explore the sites through our camera lenses. The beach is made up of large pebbles and stones, running toward the southern end of the island, near the quiet fishing village of Grikos, where our hotel was located.

Solitude on Petra Beach on the Greek island of Patmos.

Petra Beach once was known as Kalikatsou, or jackdaw, a type of a small crow. There is a large rock, pictured above on the left, with the same namesake. We didn’t see any of these crows, maybe because it was getting dark, but they call this rock home supposedly.

During the winter months, Petra also is home to a small marsh with several migratory birds, such as several flocks of swans, herons, and wild ducks.

But during late September, just empty boats call Petra Beach home.

Two by two - docked together along Petra Beach.

This fancy yacht was facing towards Grikos Bay.

Suddenly, our silence was disturbed. Sheryl and I thought we heard bells off in the distance. We looked at each other quizzically. We looked around us to see where the noise could be coming from, and then I looked through the zoom lens on my camera.

A herd of goats were grazing on the other side of the beach.

I guess you never know what you’ll discover or see once you set out exploring like we did.

An abandoned red van near an olive tree along Petra Beach.

Wildflowers along Petra Beach.

You can read about the island’s other beaches here.

Iyi yolculuklar!

Patmos Aktis Suites & Spa Hotel in Grikos Bay, Patmos, Greece. This hotel looked spectacular!

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