Hotter than the sun.

A.K.A. how to cook a Chilli that will take paint off the wall.

Chilli was probably the first thing I taught myself to cook, and while this recipe has changed beyond all recognition from those early efforts, my search for the perfect chilli recipe goes on. It's about as close as I can get at the minute but one day I will figure out how to improve it that little bit more. Till then here is the best chilli recipe that I know.

Take some garlic and chop it fine. Add in two scotch bonnet and six birds eye chilli's both finely chopped. It is important to use the two different sorts of chilli's as they have different qualities when it comes to the heat that they generate - the scotch bonnets give an immediate heat that is then replaced by the after burn of the birds eye chilli's in the finished dish.

Fry the lot in a large pan with some oil - be prepared to go temporarily blind if you get too close to the pan at this point.

Throw in two pounds of the best mince you can find - low fat content is the key here but not to the point where there is no fat present at all - you need a bit of fat to make it taste right. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Leave for a couple of minutes and add a little Cayenne Pepper and more importantly Paprika.

Once the mince has browned off nicely then add Tomato Puree, three tins of Chopped Tomatoes and two cans of Kidney Beans.

After that leave to cook for two to three hours and then let it stand for 24 hours. The standing period is the most important bit as it lets everything mellow out.

I am aiming to try a variation on this soon using Chipotle Chilli's (these are dried and smoked jalapeños) and combine this with chocolate to produce a more Texan variation of chilli which I will post up when I get round to it.