My Mrs is a chilli hound and cooks a superb one, even she admitted this recipe was better.

Thanks for the recipe!

Outstanding recipe, just superb. Only tweak I’d add is to slightly reduce the amount of chocolate if using super-dark stuff (90% and above). I tasted-and-added and put in just under the 50g.

I cooked mine for about 3/3.5 hours in total as I had some hoovering that needed doing, and it came out perfectly. Roasting the scotch bonnets is inspired, deepens their character superbly and gives exactly the right chilli kick.

I used featherblade steak to make it, about 2.4kg, and doubled everything else.

So basically the beans are cooked beforehand and then you add them to the chilli in the final stages, just to re-heat. I would add them for the final 15 minutes of cooking, just before you add the chocolate. If you are not making the chilli the day before you want to eat it, then perhaps add them for the final hour of cooking, just to make sure they soak up enough of that lovely flavour.

Do let me know what you think of the recipe if you try it. I am always trying to improve on recipes and I’d like your feedback – especially if you are CHILI FREAK!

Cheers,

Helen.

We are holding a chili cook off this Summer in the East End of London, at an all American venue. Would you be interested in competing again? And do you know anyone else that would like to be involved?

Thanks!