Que Sera Sara?

I love any holiday revolving around food.

In celebration of this truly awesome day, I’m wallowing in past delicacies and the delights yet to come. Particularly the discoveries I made in Sharjah, and a little bit of traditional feasting too. A meditation on great foods.

I know what you’re thinking. Who spends a morning thinking about food they ate last week?

Me that’s who. It’s a little ridiculous, I know. But then isn’t the entire cornucopia affair meant to be a little OTT?

Sharjah’s Banquet

I said I would celebrate the foods of Sharjah, which was usually traditional Middle Eastern fare – most days, a mix between Egyptian and Lebanese. It was delicious.

Here are my top three discoveries of the trip:

Best Beverage: LemonMint

I easily had the best juice of my life in Sharjah. There is an abundance of amazing fruit. The hands down winner however, is lemon mint.

Think super tangy, fresh [cloudy] lemonade. I say cloudy because crazy British people call Sprite lemonade. Which it obviously isn’t.

Take freshly made, sharp lemonade and add pureed fresh mint leaves.

I know. You are skeptical. I would be too.

Trust me, the sweet, tangy, zestiness is the ultimate indulgence.

The leaves are blended so fine it’s served like foam on a cappuccino, giving it a mildly exotic look and plenty of punch without being too leafy, muddy or thick.

Best Sweet: Om Ali

This is the food of kings.

While I have always been skeptical of Western bread and rice puddings, this has convinced me to reassess my prejudice.

It is essentially, a warm, sticky, sweet porridge – but made with wheat instead of oats.

The waitress at the hotel insisted it was semolina based, while online I mostly find reference to crushed filo pastry. Either way, it’s a clotted, creamy pile of goo which I adore.

I hope I can figure out how to make it – but roughly I think it’ll go like this:

Take filo, buttered and baked, then pour over a steamy concoction of cream, coconut milk & almond powder. Add in toasted nuts and/or raisins. Bake it til it turns to mush, then grill until the top is browned and bubbling.

Best Savoury: The nameless pastry puffs

Rather like little samosas, these were triangular pockets filled with shredded, blanched greens plus pinenuts and tons of zingy lemon & garlic.

I tried them in every eatery I could.

The best were a puffy dough [like Olga bread or naan], lightly fried, though others were more traditional pastry or even breading.

I wish I’d thought to ask someone what they were called, they would be a worthy addition to my kitchen any day.

Thanksgiving Dinner

On an unrelated note, I will shortly be headed down south for to fix my in-law’s first ever Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m trying not to think about it too much.

I have a tendency of becoming a holiday nazi stressball if I over plan family occasions.

Which is why I am only making familiar recipes this year. No point in running myself ragged in someone else’s kitchen.

It’s a good thing I have some excellent seasonal fare up my sleeve.

This is my all-time showstopper.

Seriously. Share it with someone you love. You won’t regret it.

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Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust

1 3/4 c  graham cracker/digestive biscuit crumbs

1/2 c     melted butter

Filling

1/4c     flour

2 tsp    cinnamon

1 tsp     nutmeg

1 tsp     cloves

1 tin      pureed pumpkin [not pumpkin pie mix, just plain old pumpkin]

32oz     cream cheese, at room temperature

1 c         packed brown sugar

2/3 c     granulated sugar

5            eggs

Directions

Heat oven to 325°F.

Grease 9-inch springform pan and wrap the bottom in foil [it’ll stop it from dripping butter all over your oven.

In small bowl, mix cracker crumbs and the melted butter.

Press crumb mixture in bottom of pan.

Bake crust 8 to 10 minutes or until set.

Cool 5 minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate about 5 minutes or until completely cooled.

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In another bowl, mix flour, spices, and pumpkin and set aside.

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In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.

Gradually beat in the sugars until smooth.

On low speed, beat in 1 egg at a time just until blended. Gradually beat in pumpkin mixture until smooth.

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Pour the filling in the tin, bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until set but the centre still jiggles a little bit.

Turn off the oven and leave it cracked open so it can cool slowly. Leave for at least 45 minutes.

Refrigerate to set – it’s best if you can leave it overnight though mine rarely survives that long.

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When ready, run a knife around the pan edge to loosen, take away the springform sides and serve anyway you like.