Bobotie

The more ways you have to cook ground beef the better, right? Here's one you might not have tried: bobotie. It is of African origin and is pronounced "bah-buh-tee," not "bo-bo-tie." The recipe we use is from A Carriacou Cookbook, which we picked up when were in Grenada a few years ago.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, chopped or thinly sliced
1/2 cup almonds or raw, skinned peanuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 thick slice of bread (or two thin slices)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp. oil
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. each salt and chili pepper

If almonds still have skins on, put them into a bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover them. Leave for 10 minutes, then slip off skins. Split, or roughly chop and set aside. (Better yet, use skinless, chopped almonds!) Peanuts can be used whole or roughly chopped.

Put bread to soak in a little of the milk. Put ground beef on to fry and when it is starting to brown add onion and continue frying until beef is completely brown and onions are just soft. While you are waiting for the onion and beef to cook, squeeze excess milk from bread, saving the milk, and mash the bread. Drain excess grease from the beef mixture if desired. Add spices, sugar, salt and chili. Stir fry another minute, remove from heat, and add almonds, reserving about 1 tbsp. for the top. Add raisins, lime juice and squeezed/mashed bread.

Put entire mixture into an oven-proof 9x13 baking dish that has been prepared with oil, butter or nonstick spray. Beat eggs with all remaining milk and pour over the beef mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Scatter reserved almonds on top and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Serve with rice, vegetables, salad and mango or banana chutney (those recipes can also be found in the Carriacou cookbook).

Here's a photo of the bobotie I made a few days ago (to give credit where credit is due, my husband made it the first time). YUM!