Last week it was Armadillo Balls, next week it's Turkey Balls, but today it's Bobotie!  Perhaps, a phase of non-traditional dishes and recipes. With that said, traditional Bobotie (you will also see this spelled as "Babootie") is originally from South Africa and consists of spiced minced meat, fruit, curry powder, an egg topping and is served with rice.  It is an African version of our Shepherd's Pie.


For those of you who are not fans of much spice, don't be alarmed by the curry powder. I've served this dish to friends who are "anti-spicy" and they enjoy the complexity of flavors with the curry and fruit.

Each year at the Masters Championship Golf Tournament, the reigning Masters champion hosts a dinner gathering and usually creates a menu featuring special foods from his home region. South African native and 2008 Masters Champion, Trevor Immelman, selected Bobotie as the featured menu item for the"Champions Dinner" in April 2009.

Bobotie is very easy to prepare. If you opt for the ground beef it is an expensive meal. Using your favorite search engine will result in several variations of a Bobotie or Babootie recipe. I will offer two versions here:

• Bobotie with the egg topping that is baked in the oven
• Bobotie without the egg topping and prepared in a Crock-Pot

Ingredients

• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 lb ground beef (you can also use lamb or pork)
• 1 can diced tomatoes, 16 oz - NOTE For Crock-Pot version, also add a 16 oz can of tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons apricot pepper jelly
• 1 apple, cored, peeled and chopped
• 2 bananas, peeled, sliced lengthwise and then sliced across
• ¼ cup almond slivers
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• ½ cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ tablespoon Datil Pepper Hot Sauce
• Rice
• For Egg Topping Version
  
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 eggs

Procedure - Oven Baked Bobotie with Egg Topping

1. Using the olive oil, sauté the onions until they become translucent.


2. Add the garlic and ground beef. Cook until the ground beef is brown.
3. Reduce heat to a simmer. Add the curry powder, apple, raisins, brown sugar, almond slivers, salt and hot sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.


4. Add the bananas and the can of tomatoes. Stir thoroughly and then move the entire dish to a baking pan.


5. Whisk the eggs and milk together in a bowl. Pour over the mixture in the baking dish.  Bake on 350 degrees for 40 minutes. After the first 10 minutes start your rice, so that it is ready when the Bobotie pops out of the oven.



Procedure - Oven Baked Bobotie with Egg Topping
1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 above.
2. Move onion, garlic and ground beef to Crock-Pot.
3. Mix remaining ingredients in Crock-Pot.
4. Cook in Crock-Pot on high heat for 60 minutes (begin the rice 30 minutes after starting the Bobotie).

I served each version to the same group on two different occasions. Now, no one from the group was from South Africa, but the verdict was unanimous......everyone preferred the non-casserole version without the egg topping.