Chilli and a bit on the side

My hubby suggested a chilli con carne for tonight which is a popular and simple dish. However, in our household we like it hot hot hot! Especially me! I can basically eat the whole chilli and not wince. I LOVE spicy food. With a nice glass of wine! My Hubby and I both agreed that Cuvee Fleurs Beaujolais Villages (bought in Waitrose) goes perfectly with this dish.

Anyway for the con carne you will need:

One chopped onion, one red pepper, two cloves of garlic (we love garlic but you might not so entirely up to you how much you use) 250g of lean mince, tea spoon of cumin, tea spoon of paprika, tea spoon of curry powder, two Oxo cubes of beef, two table spoons of balsamic (try using a good quality as it does improve the taste), table spoon of brown sugar, tin of chopped tomatoes and a good squirt of tomato puree, a good pinch of salt and pepper, 3 green chillies chopped (as I said I love spice and this might be too much for 'normal' people:)) a sprinkle of chilli flakes. Remember to add a cup of water at the end (otherwise it will be too dry, if it evaporates add some more, you need to cook it for 45min, so you get the end result of toffee like thickness)!

Chop onion, chop pepper, add crushed garlic. Heat up some oil in the pan. Add onion first and then follow with pepper, garlic, chilli powder, paprika, curry powder and green chillies. Add mince. Fry until meat is brown.
For the sauce add stock cubes to boiling water, add sugar, chopped tomatoes and puree. Mix everything together. Add all of this to your mince mixture and simmer. As I said keep an eye on it as you might need to add some water so it's not too dry.
Now drain a can of beans and add them to the mixture. Add salt and pepper. Leave simmering for another 15-20mins.
All done. We served it with baked potatoes (with skins on) AND My Hubby's special side salad:

For the dressing you will need Balsamic (try using a very good quality one that has a sweetness to it rather than too much acidity as it makes a huge difference). Good olive oil, chopped garlic sliced very finely, chopped onion sliced very finely, squeeze of lime or lemon at the end and some pepper.
Mix leaves, finely sliced tomatoes (again good quality tomatoes do make a difference), cucumber- optional (I do like finely cut cucumber). Toss everything with your hands.
Trust me it tastes fantastic. Not suitable for toddlers as it is rather spicy!!