Well Nick - that is a whole can of worms. Perfection is indeed in the eye of the beholder. There is a whole big debate as to wether or not to include beans. The amount of spice is very much up to your taste. This is my recipe that I teach to the kids at school
Chilli
Ingredients 1 tablespoon Sunflower oil (do not bring) 1 medium size onion 1 teaspoon chilli powder (do not bring) 500g lean minced beef 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes 5 tablespoons tomato puree 15 oz can of red kidney beans 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (do not bring) 1 teaspoon Wine vinegar (do not bring) 1 teaspoon sugar (do not bring) salt and pepper (do not bring) Method: 1 Chop the onions. Heal the oil in a pan. 2 Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes to soften. 3 Add the chilli powder and cook stirring, for 2 minutes 4 Add the mince and brown. 5 Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree and then add all the remaining ingredients. 6 Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
That could provide a base for you to work on. A number of the others use cubed meat instead of mince. The overall flavour can also be improved by adding a few squares of good dark chocolate.
Nick, check out some earlier threads in the Chili sub-forum under the Soups, Stews and Casseroles forum. Chili is as varied as the number of people cooking it.
I think that this has to be the best recipe for chili ever!
(it seems I can't post links yet so just search google for "nigella chili con carne" - it is the top listing)
I have made it with and without the topping and both work really well. I think the spices and the cocoa is what makes this great... I really do not like chilli that only contains chilli as the only spice (sorry Miniman!!) as I find it lacks any fragrance. I have also tried versions that include Worcestershire sauce and it pains me to say (as I was brought up around the corner from the original Worcestershire sauce factory in Worcester!!) that I really don't think it adds anything useful.
Nigella also does a no-meat version of this based on lentils and that is really nice too (I know that is hard to believe!).