Dining Reviews with JeanneinDoha: Post-Lockdown Lunch at Crossroads Kitchen

Lunch at Crossroads Kitchen
Mezze Selection | Chicken Biryani | Mac 'n' Cheese 

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for JeanneinDoha. Between being a mother to a rambunctious one-year-old, working full-time, and attempting to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I've found my free time to be in limited supply. COVID-19 added its own set of challenges, as my husband and I sought to navigate parental responsibilities with working from home.

However, with lockdown coming to an end in Qatar, now seems as good a time as ever to revive my blog. And what better way to recommence writing than by sharing our return to restaurant dining, more than four months after our last meal out?

A selected number of Doha's restaurants reopened for dine-in on July 1st. As readers of this blog will know, I am a loyal customer of the Marriott Marquis City Center Doha Hotel. My husband and I had our first date at Cucina. Less than a year later, we celebrated our wedding reception there. So as we make peace with our new normal, we thought it fitting to return somewhere familiar and comforting.

My husband, daughter and I were joined by two friends for lunch at Crossroads Kitchen. We had a wonderful time. the staff were attentive and portion sizes were generous. 

• At present, seating is limited to five people per table. Children are allowed. Our toddler was provided with a high chair.
• Advance reservations are required. Bookings can be made via WhatsApp on 66001315. 
• Click here for the dining and drinks menu.
• On the day of our visit, Happy Hour commenced at 12 PM, with selected beverages priced at 30 QR each.
• Corporate discounts are offered to employees of Qatar Foundation and Qatar Airways. If you work for a major national company, it’s always worthwhile checking if a discount deal is available.
• Current regulations mean that the restaurant cannot pack up your leftovers for takeaway. You might find it useful to discreetly bring your own Tupperware boxes!

Happy dining!

JeanneinDoha’s Guide to Working From Home

With the contagion of coronavirus on everyone’s mind, it appears that organizations in Doha have finally accepted working from home as a viable option. As someone who has worked from home for the past two and a half years, and who successfully manages a team of close to twenty, here are my top tips for making a home office arrangement work.

Focus on your routine.
Start your day as you would were you going to work. get dressed, have breakfast and get to your home office early.

Write out your to do list for the day. Commit to what you are going to do, tick off items on the list as you go along. Be realistic when constructing your goals and resist procrastination. Structure in breaks for coffee and lunch as you would at work. 

Find yourself a quiet space and eliminate distractions. No, you cannot work productively whilst watching Netflix. Successfully working from home relies on adopting a conscientious attitude. The more time you waste, the more time you’ll need to make up. Discipline yourself.

Start early and finish early. I love working from home because I can start as early as I want, avoid a commute, and finish my hours with enough time to spare to pursue my hobbies. 

Handle childcare efficiently. This is the hardest part. For me, successfully working from home has relied on having accessible childcare. However, there is one day each week when I am required to work and for which I do not have external childcare. If you and your partner are both working from home with limited access to childcare, it is imperative that you support each other with childcare responsibilities. If your partner cannot change a diaper or finds themselves unable to put a meal together for the children, it's time to learn, so that you can both juggle your professional and personal responsiblities. That said, we all do the best that we can in difficult circumstances. If your child interrupts your conference call, smile, apologize and move on.

If you manage a team, make sure you have great tracking in place to review work output. Schedule weekly video calls and use chat tools to communicate with everyone on a daily basis. Keep your eyes open and your monitoring tight. 

Don’t slack! You’ll just have to catch up over the weekend. Trust me, I’ve been there. 

JeanneinDoha Eats: Superheroes Eat Plants' Vegan Cookout

I'm always on the lookout for healthier versions of unhealthy food. So when I learnt that Rebekah Gomez, founder of Qatar-based Superheroes Eat Plants, was hosting a live cooking demonstration and whipping up yummy vegan 'junk food' at Lulu Hypermarket, my ever eager belly and I decided to head over to see what all the fuss was about.

Rebekah, who is originally from the United Kingdom, founded Superheroes Eat Plants about two years ago. Since then, she has been delighting Doha with her nourishing, plant-based sandwiches, snacks and meals. Having transitioned to veganism a few years ago, Rebekah is passionate about the health and environmental benefits of a vegan lifestyle. She actively supports families in understanding how they can make sustainable choices and incorporate plant-based meals into their diet. In partnership with Raw ME (another plant-based favorite of JeanneinDoha), Superheroes Eat Plants recently launched Qatar's first vegan school café at Doha College's Al Waab campus, and now supply students with nutritious, minimally processed, plant-based meals throughout the school day.

Superheroes' cooking demo at Lulu coincided with the launch of the supermarket's British Festival. Incorporating a splash of transatlantic flavor, Rebekah cooked up Field Roast's grain-based frankfurters and Mexican chipotle sausages for us to taste. I will admit to have been a little skeptical at first - I generally find that most mock meats are bathed in preservatives. However, a quick read of the back of the package indicated no ingredients I couldn't pronounce or anything that would be misplaced in my pantry. I happily left with a packet of chipotle sausages to try out with Mr. JeanneinDoha later this week. We suspect our arteries will enjoy these sausages a little more than their meaty brethren.

JeanneinDoha's Guide to Surviving Frequent Air Travel in Economy Class

According to my Qatar Airways Privilege Club tracker, I have spent one week of the past fifty-two on an aircraft - that's 168 hours sat cramped like a sardine in a tin can. I wish I could say that I'd traveled this extensively for pleasure. But alas, I primarily fly for work and, these days, pretty much exclusively in economy. Should you, like me, ever find yourself acquiring squatter status aboard an airplane, here are a few tips for surviving routine air travel whilst travelling cattle class on Qatar Airways.

Choose a seat in an empty row towards the back of the aircraft.

In my experience, ground staff and computer algorithms try to assign passenger seating moving from the front of the cabin to the back. This means that if you pick an empty aisle seat towards the back of the plane, you are less likely to have someone placed next to you. Middle seats within the middle seating column that are also located towards the back of the aircraft are the least likely to be filled, so picking the corresponding aisle seat gives you the greatest chance of being able to stretch out. The earlier you check in, the better your chance of acquiring a semi-decent seat.

Lounge food is fresher than economy class food.

Airport lounges generally serve freshly-prepared and often relatively healthy food. I am particularly partial to the salad buffet available in most lounges at Hamad International Airport (HIA). Fill yourself up in the lounge and skip the heavily-salted and processed economy trays. If you want to hedge your bets, request a vegan meal option in advance. The fruit and salad bowls that come as part of the vegan meal are probably the freshest things to have graced an economy class cabin in a while. If you don't have lounge access or prefer to avoid lounge food altogether, try and pack yourself some healthy snacks  that reduce your reliance on in-flight fodder. Natural snack bars, nuts and fruit are some of my go-tos. 

Hydrate!

You might not be able to take a full water bottle past security but you can usually refill an empty water bottle at various points in HIA. In addition, cabin crew are generally willing to refill bottles on the flight, and I have also been provided with 1 liter water bottles on request.

Dress the part.

Wear something cozy and opt for natural, breathable fibers. Remove your footwear to allow for better circulation and moisturize when possible.

If you cannot sleep, try to meditate.

My forever-cheerful husband is a huge proponent of meditating whilst flying. It's not always easy to sleep when seated in economy class. Meditation, however, allows you to calm your mind and rest. With any luck, it might also help you drift off to sleep.

Happy flying!

JeanneinDoha Cooks | Vegan 'Snickers' Cheesecake

I'm always on the lookout for healthy sweet treats. Having recently acquired a high-speed Vitamix blender, I have happily been exploring the world of vegan cheesecakes and other scrumptious raw desserts.

As you would expect, vegan cheesecakes don't make use of dairy. The 'cheese' layer usually consists of a puréed nut (usually cashew) mixture. I had previously made a berry cheesecake, and having succeeded in that endeavor, was angling to try out something more complex.

I was inspired to create a 'snickers' version of the basic cheesecake after indulging in a similar dessert at my favorite vegan restaurant in Seoul, Raw Vega. So, once finally back in Doha and reunited with my baby (my Vitamix, not my husband...), I set about planning and creating.

The cheesecake consists of four layers. I will admit that I hadn't planned to put this recipe on the blog, so i don't have step-by-step pictures to share with you. I also owe credit to Bakerita's blog, as I used elements of her cheesecake recipe as my foundation. However, as you can see, I made modifications along the way.

Ingredients

I use organic ingredients wherever affordable and possible. I am also very careful to ensure that my peanut butter, coconut milk and maple syrup contain absolutely no additives. If you live in Doha, Lulu Hypermarket has some of the lowest prices on packaged organic ingredients like those I have just mentioned. 

Base 

50g. pecans

100g. roasted peanuts 

1/2 cup almond flour

3 heaped tablespoons raw cacao powder

2 soaked and pitted medjool dates

2 heaped tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Cheesecake layer

2 cups plain cashews, soaked in water overnight

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted 

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup coconut milk

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Peanut butter caramel layer

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Chocolate layer

50g. 75-80% dark chocolate

Generous splash coconut milk

2-3 tablespoons maple syrup, more if you have a sweet tooth

Handful chopped roasted peanuts

Method

Soak the cashews overnight so that they soften and activate. 

Thoroughly grease a 6 inch springform baking pan with coconut oil.

In a food processor blend all the base ingredients until a soft mixture. If your mixture is too dry, you can always add a little more coconut oil to it. Evenly flatten the mixture over the base of your springform pan. Place the base in your freezer to set.

Rinse the soaked cashews. For the cheesecake layer, place all listed ingredients into the Vitamix and blend until puréed. I have not tried a recipe of this kind without using a Vitamix, and my hunch is that unless you had an exceptionally high-powered blender you are otherwise unlikely to get a smooth purée. You could try a high-powered food processor in lieu of the Vitamix and see how that turns out

Pour the batter on to the base layer and tap the pan's sides to shake out air pockets. Place the pan in the freezer to set until solid.

On a low heat, melt the coconut oil on the stove and stir in the peanut butter and maple syrup. Keep stirring until the caramel has an even consistency. Pour the mixture into a bowl and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. Then pour the peanut caramel over the top of the cake and allow it to set to solid in the freezer.

Take the cake out of the freezer and let it thaw on the counter for a few minutes. Extricate the cake from the springform pan - you may need to run a knife around the edge - but it should dislodge relatively easily. 

In the microwave, or using a double boiler on the stove, melt the dark chocolate. Once out of the microwave or off the hob, stir in the coconut milk and add the maple syrup. Stir until the mixture has an even, dark, glossy consistency. Use a tablespoon to drizzle the chocolate over the cake and top with the crushed peanuts. Place the cake in the freezer to set the top layer. 

You can store this cake in the freezer. To eat, thaw in the fridge over the course of the day or on the kitchen counter for a quicker thaw. Place the remaining cake in the freezer to store.

Enjoy!

Book Reviews with JeanneinDoha: The Corsair by Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud

In a new blog feature, I will be sharing reviews of books that explore Qatar and the Arabian Gulf. In this month's piece, I will be reviewing the English translation of Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud's The Corsair, one of the best selling novels to have been written by a Qatari author.

The Corsair narrates the story of Erhama bin Jaber, a veteran pirate whose exploits against British trading and other interests in the Arabian Gulf have raised the ire of His Majesty's government. Sent to contain the pirates' activities is the ill-tempered Captain Francis Loch, who is determined to eliminate the pirate and in doing so, further his ambitions with the Royal Navy. To this narrative, is added the character of Major George Forster Sadleir who is tasked by the British Governor of Bombay to deliver a priceless gift to the Ottoman warlord, Ibrahim Pasha, in return for the latter's agreement to an alliance with the British against Wahhabi aspirations in the Gulf. As Sadleir comes into contact with Loch and Erhama, the narratives intertwine and Sadleir must cooperate with Erhama's son, Bashir, to fulfill a mission he steadily loses faith in. The novel traverses ports and settlements in the Gulf, including Zubara in northern Qatar, and the ports of Dammam, Muharraq and Muscat. 

The Corsair explores a number of themes that one would expect to encounter in a book of this kind. Colonial prejudice is widespread and particularly evident in the characterization of Captain Loch, who sees little to gain by understanding the "backward tribes" of the Arabian peninsula. This theme, however, receives some nuance through Major Sadleir, who in journeying across Arabia, comes to question the perceived primitiveness of the Arabs, and the moral rectitude of a British alliance with Ibrahim Pasha. Arab tribalism receives no less favorable a treatment. Erhama bin Jaber is willing to sacrifice the happiness of Bashir in order to pursue tribal vendettas, and it is this that is his ultimate undoing. 

Whilst The Corsair provides an interesting exploration of piracy and 19th century British mercantile interests, its thematic trajectories are somewhat predictable for a book that explores the relationship between colonizers and the colonized. The hyperbolic rages of Loch are the kinds of tirades one would expect to see an author present in their characterization of a prejudiced colonial overlord, whether in 19th century Arabia, Africa or South Asia. Loch's outwitting at various points by Erhama, the uneducated pirate, or his loss in battle to a local Sheikh at Ras Al Khaimah are similarly almost to be expected in a narrative of this kind. And whist Major Sadleir's character offers nuance, the presence of a more contemplative colonial character, who towards the novel's close, finds solace in verses from the Quran is also somewhat unsurprising. 

Character predictability aside, however, The Corsair does provide a gripping read. Whilst some of its characters are fictional, the broader narrative is based on the author's archival research into the history of piracy in the Gulf. The novel is therefore the sort of historical fiction that encourages one to further study the history of British engagement in 19th century Arabia. Finally, for those interested in visiting Zubara, The Corsair would  undoubtedly provide interesting context to their explorations.

The Corsair is published by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing and is available for purchase on amazon.co.uk or on loan from the Qatar National Library.

JeanneinDoha's Guide to Healthy Eating in Qatar

Having lived in Doha for over five years, I know how hard it can be to commit to staying in shape and eating healthily. That said, with a little preparation, flexibility and willpower, you can easily avoid putting on the Doha stone. In this post, I will share a few tips to guide you on your healthy eating journey whilst living in Qatar.

A couple of caveats before I continue: diet and exercise are partners when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight. This post will focus on the 'diet' portion of this equation. Secondly, I have no nutritional training aside form my personal experience transitioning from a life of obesity to one of healthy eating and fitness. I've kept my 25+ kg. (55 lb.) weight loss off for the past 12 years, and it is one of my proudest achievements.

Plan your meals.

Whatever your lifestyle and regardless of whether you work or not, meal planning is a great way to begin your healthy eating journey. As a rule, I plan my meals on a weekly basis and do a large grocery expedition once a week. Meal planning ensures that you focus on eating the right foods in appropriate potion sizes. It also helps you save money: you are less likely to impulse buy items not on your shopping list or waste food. Find the time over the weekend to prepare meals for the upcoming week, especially if you need to take lunch into work on a regular basis.

The Budget Bytes blog has heaps of awesome meal prep ideas. Check it out!

Replace white carbohydrates with brown and vary your grains.

Exchanging white carbs for brown ones is a simple way to eat healthier. In addition, sweet potatoes are an excellent alternative to white potatoes. (Sweet potato wedges are one of my favorite side dishes: cut potatoes into wedges, generously cover with paprika, a little cumin, coriander, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and some olive oil. Bake on a greased tray at around 200°C until tender to a prong by a fork.) In addition, seek out alternative grains, e.g., quinoa, farro and kamut - all high in protein and fiber and less likely to bloat you or give you an afternoon carb-induced slump.

Read your food labels.

I cannot stress enough the importance of reading food labels. Prior to paying attention to the ingredients in packaged foods, I was fairly confident that I ate well. So, I never understood why eating some chick peas out of a can could leave me feeling so bloated. Reading my food labels was eye-opening. I realized, for example, that a healthy-looking box of Almond Breeze nut milk contained all kinds of unpronounceable chemicals, that my innocuous hot sauce counted xanthum gum as one of its ingredients, and that my tin of chick peas was laced with E numbers. 

Nowadays, I generally buy organic condiments (e.g., ketchup, mustard, soy sauce), canned beans, nut butters and other packaged foods. Here in Doha, some of the best organic, additive-free food deals can be found in  Lulu Hypermarket. That said 'organic' does not equal 'additive-free', so continue to read ingredient labels.  

Check out 100 Days of Real Food as you begin your additive-free journey.  

Shop around the edges of your supermarket.
As you become more aware of the contents of your food, you will invariably choose to eat less packaged food. The more fresh fruit, vegetables, lean and plant protein contained in your shopping trolley (items usually found around the outer edges of a supermarket's interior), the healthier you are likely to be eating.

Moderate (better yet, significantly reduce) your alcohol consumption.

I'm broadly teetotal these days, so I know it's easy for me to prattle on about this. However, it's hard to ignore that alcohol contains a lot of wasted calories. Cocktails are some of the worst offenders, as they are filled with sweet syrups and (often) poor-quality fruit juice. Consider swapping your calorific beer or cocktail for lower-calorie alternatives such as a vodka and soda. Even better, try find ways to enjoy the world around you that don't involve copious alcohol consumption.

Be mindful of what you eat rather than obsessively counting calories.

I have counted calories and lived off calorie deficits. Whilst this might work for some people, more often than not doing so left me hangry. As my husband will confirm, I am decidedly unpleasant when hangry. So, I now focus on eating nutritious food, feeling pleasantly full and never restricting myself when it comes to lean (or plant-based) protein, fruits, vegetables and nutrient-rich grains. 

Don't live for cheat days. Instead focus on consistently eating well and feeling satisfied.

I'm not a fan of the cheat day concept. It's far better to eat consciously and sufficiently every day rather than barely eating through the week and scoffing over the weekends. 

Treat yourself.

Life is too short to live without cake. That said, try to make healthy dessert choices. Vegan cakes such as those from Raw ME or Evergreen Organics are some of my favorites. Based primarily on nuts and naturally occurring sugars, these desserts are anything but unhealthy.