Romana’s Spanish-American Cookery Chili (1929)

At first glance these eye-catching chile peppers look like red jalapeno. However, they have a different flavor and are less meaty than Jalapeno. Red Fresnos are great roasted and added to salsas. Try grilling them alongside your steaks or in kabobs.

When roasting these they should char, blister, and become soft. Try substituting these in your favorite chile recipes.

Heat Scale
Submit Recipe


Ingredients:

2 lb lean beef
1/4 lb beef fat
12 large red chile peppers (such as Red Fresno), or to taste
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp paprika
2 garlic pods (cloves)
2 tsp chopped oregano
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup minced onion
beef stock, as needed
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Interesting history of this chili from chile.netrelief.com

This California-based cookbook, edited and “modernized” in 1929 by Pauline Wile-Kleeman, has three chili recipes. The one labeled “Texas style” contains onions, beans and tomatoes, plus a whole cup of extra fat, half suet and half lard! The “California” version is also made with beans, but without tomatoes or onions. The first, and best recipe has none of these things.

Chile con Carne without Beans
Remove the seeds and veins from the chile peppers, place in sufficient hot water to cover, bring to boiling point, and cool in the water, drain and remove the pulp with a spoon. Cut the meat and suet in 3/4 inch cubes, heat the oil and fry the meat and suet to a light brown, then add onions and garlic and continue to cook, stirring continuously before the onions start to brown add chile pulp, paprika, stir a few minutes, then add oregano, salt and pepper and sufficient stock to finish cooking till the meat is tender. Serve with beans or Spanish rice.