Given my way, I could easily eat chillies every day, so this book could have been written just for me. But while I am always happy to crank up the heat, not everyone is quite so fond of the fiery, and it is worth noting the subtitle: recipes to warm the heart (not burn the tongue); in other words, this is the perfect book to get if you are slightly hesitant about cooking with, or eating, chillies, and the perfect treat for those of us who want to find ever-more excuses to do so. It is also an excellent guide to the types of chillies, how to use them, and what may be substituted for them should they prove unavailable. (And to avoid that being necessary, there is also a helpful list of online sources). I've chosen the shin of beef with pasilla chilli, rosemary and prunes quite simply because I cannot wait to eat it!
Shin Of Beef With Pasilla Chilli, Rosemary and Prunes Copyright Thomasina Miers.
Recipe taken from Chilli Notes by Thomasina Miers (Hodder & Stoughton £25)