Vintage Cookery: Chili Mac, from the 1958 Sunset "Cooking with Casseroles"

 Ingredients:

1 cup dried red beans

1 pound beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes

Flour

4 Tablespoons shortening

1 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic

1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste

1 cup tomato juice

3 cups hot water

1 can bouillon

1 green pepper, minced

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon monosodium glutamate

1 tablespoon chili powder, or to taste

Salt to taste

1 package (8 oz.) macaroni

1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

1/2 up grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup pitted ripe olives

Directions:

Soak beans in warm water for two hours, drain.  Flour beef lightly.  Melt shortening in large kettle, add beef cubes, onion, and garlic and brown.  Stir in tomato paste, tomato juice, hot water, bouillon, green pepper, beans and seasonings.  Simmer until beans are tender, 2 to 3 hours.  Season to taste.  Cook macaroni until tender in boiling salted water; drain well.  Stir in butter and cheese.  Spread on a large greased ovenware platter or in a casserole.  Reheat in slow oven (350 degrees) for about 5 minutes.  Add olives to chili and pour over macaroni and serve at once to 8 to 12 persons.

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I do actually make this--with a lot of changes!  Canned beans, ground beef, a lot less fat, no msg, no olives (the husband), no green pepper (me) and cheddar cheese.