Onions + Curry + Eyeballs = I'm stupid.

When I told Larch I was trying a new recipe Wednesday night, he groaned and said "I hate these nights." After dinner I told him to kiss my Babootie.

I have to admit that I, also, was apprehensive about this particular dish. My recipe card says that Babootie came "from the island nation of Barbados." Scary stuff. So I Googled it. Turns our Babootie is actually Babotie or even Babotjie, and it originated in Africa, not Barbados. Now I was more intrigued and really did want to try this. I was thinking "North Idaho White Girl Cooks Food From Africa." (Ok really I just liked to say babootie). I read a little more. Wikipedia says that Babotie is "a dish of antiquity" dating back to the 17th century.  Now I HAD to make it.  This will be OLD time cooking.

Now the best part: this was the best tasting experiment to date.  My brother-in-law described it as "curried quiche with ground beef." And then told me to add mushrooms and olives. My husband did not call it "sex in my mouth" so it wasn't out of this world good, but he did eat 4 servings and told me to double the recipe next time. Translation: really good.

And so very easy.

Step ONE: Finely chop one large onion and cook in butter until lightly browned. Add 2 tsp curry powder, 1 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 (aka a dash) of cayenne pepper. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Step TWO: Add one pound of ground beef and cook until meat is browned all the way through.  It smells good and looks like this:

My dad says it looks gross, maybe you need scratch and sniff pictures to make this one good. Oh well.

Step THREE: Soak two pieces of white bread in 1 1/2 cups milk (best done while browning the meat), then remove meat from heat and pour this milk/bread stuff in it. Then pour the whole thing into a buttered 8 inch baking dish.

Step FOUR: In a bowl, beat 2 eggs, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup of milk. Add 1/2 cup of raisins (the raisins are optional but really add a nice somethin' somethin' to the dish).  Pour over the top of the meat mixture.

Bake at 375* for 50-60 minutes or until lightly browned on the top.

Voila.

Super Yummy. This is going in my book under "meals for company." Definitely, I think, an impresser. I mean, it's from Africa, and I'm a North Idaho redneck housewife. Anyways, try this, it's awesome.

Brea

P.S. I came home from taking Johnny to preschool this morning and my house smelled like curry, that was kinda gross. Next time I will put two fresh wax cubes in my knock-off scentsy before I start cooking.