Chili Con Carne

Soak the beans in a bowl full of water overnight

Cut the beef into cubes

Remove the seeds and inner white membranes from the peppers and chillies

Chop the chillies, the yellow pepper, the green pepper and one red pepper into pieces; blend the flesh of the two remaining red peppers and strain the resulting purée through a sieve

Place the meat in a pan with 30 g of butter and two tablespoons of olive oil and brown it evenly over high heat, moving it with a metal spatula

Melt the remaining butter in a large saucepan and sauté the chopped onions and garlic cloves over moderate heat for 2-3 minutes

In a small pan heat 1 tablespoon of oil, stir in the tomato paste, then add it to the sautéed onions and garlic

Also add the tomato purée, the chillies, the previously browned meat, the basil, the bay leaves, the brown sugar, the required salt and a generous grind of white pepper

Pour over with beef broth and transfer to a preheated oven (200°C) for one hour

Meanwhile, sauté the corn kernels in a pan with one tablespoon of oil over low heat for 4-5 minutes; drain the beans

When there are fifteen minutes left of cooking, add the chopped peppers and the pepper purée to the stew