Mrs. Owen's Cook Book Chili 1880

lean beef -- cut in small dice oil onions 1 clove garlic -- chopped fine

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons espagnole

1 teaspoon ground oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

dried whole peppers cooked beans

This may be the earliest printed recipe for chili con carne and it is surprisin gly authentic, save for the suspect addition of "espagnole", white sauce season ed with ham, carrot, onion, celery, and clove. The words are Mrs. Owen's own.

This might be called the national dish of Mexico. Literally, it means 'pepper w ith meat' and when prepared to suit the taste of the average Mexican, is not mi snamed. Take lean beef and cut in small dice, put to cook with a little oil. Wh en well braised, add some onions, a clove of garlic chopped fine and one tables poon flour. Mix and cover with water or stock and two tablespoons espagnole, 1 teaspoon each of ground oregano, camino, and coriander. The latter can be purch ased at any drug store . Take dried whole peppers and remove the seeds, cover w ith water and put to boil and when thoroughly cooked pass through a fine strain er. Add sufficient puree to the stew to make it good and hot, and salt to taste . To be served with a border of Mexican beans (frijoles), well cooked in salted water.

Frijoles or Mexican brown beans. Boil beans in an earthen vessel until soft (fo ur to eight hours). Mash and put them into a frying pan of very hot lard and fr y until comparatively dry and light brown. Sometimes chopped onions are put int o the lard before the beans are added and sometimes pods of red pepper or grate d cheese.

Busted by Christopher E. Eaves