Project 95.......bobotie

Bobotie is a Cape Malay dish and a dish known in most houses and cultures in our country.  You get it at bazaars, funerals, anywhere you need to make food for a lot of people.  Some time ago somebody even dished it up on a famous food program cutting small circles out of it with a cookie cutter!  The judges did not think she was original!  It is a real common dish!

This recipe makes 6-8 portions.

3 thick slices of white bread
250 ml milk
1 kg mince meat
1 chopped onion
125 ml raisons
125 ml almonds(I even used peanuts drenched with almond essens before when I ran out of almonds!)
20 ml apricot jam

20 ml fruit chutney
25 ml lemon juice
5 ml mixed fresh herbs(whatever's in season! I like to use thyme.)
10 ml curry powder
5 ml tumeric
10 ml salt
10 ml oil
3 large eggs
4 bay leaves/lemon leaves

Set your oven to 180*C.
Soak the bread in the milk.  Remove and press all the milk out.  Leave the milk aside.
Mix the bread with the mince and the rest of the ingredients except the milk, oil, eggs and bay leaves.
Heat the oil and brown the meat mixture.  Place it in an oven dish.
Beat the eggs with the milk and pour over.  Place the bay leaves on top and bake for about 45 minutes.

The traditional way is to dish it up with yellow rice with raisons, but it goes well with white rice, veggies or a salad.  Even good the next day on a slice of bread with a lettuce leave just to zoosh it up.  This freeze well, so make an extra one or two and freeze it.  Just defrost it properly when you want to use it again, place in the oven to heat through and voila!....no effort!