{"id":2201,"date":"2016-12-12T17:55:05","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T17:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/?p=2201"},"modified":"2016-12-12T17:55:05","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T17:55:05","slug":"your-recipe-beat-the-cold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/your-recipe-beat-the-cold\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Recipe to Beat the Cold"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Shorter days have set in and so has the bitter coldness. If, like me, you can\u2019t stand the cold and spend every waking minute next to a heater, this recipe is for you. It&#8217;s my mums recipe, and it&#8217;s a dish she makes every winter without fail like her other winter staples (loads of vegetable soup and hearty pasta\u00a0&#x1f60d;). So for the first year I\u2019m fully cooking by myself, I\u2019ve decided to give it a go \u2013 and I\u2019m pretty sure I did her proud.<\/p>\n<h4>Mama H\u2019s Winter Stew<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Packet of meat chunks for stew (beef or lamb is best)<\/li>\n<li>Chopped vegetable selection (hard vegetables like potato, swede, carrots, leeks, onions, etc)<\/li>\n<li>Chopped tomatoes (can)<\/li>\n<li>Cube of chicken stock<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 cup\u00a0of Brandy<\/li>\n<li>Bouquet Garni<\/li>\n<li>Salt and Pepper to taste<\/li>\n<li>Oil<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>First heat some oil in a big pot. Once heated, fry your meat chunks until cooked. Sprinkle a teaspoon of\u00a0sugar to caramelise the meat slightly to give a sweet flavouring. Take them out and put them into a separate plate. Place vegetables in pot.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1590 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lifeinstripesblog.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/11\/winter_stew_01.jpeg?w=1344\" alt=\"recipe international student bloggers\" width=\"900\" height=\"1600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Once cooked and tossed slightly, put the can of chopped tomatoes in, the chicken stock dissolved in boiling water, Bouquet Garni, and salt and pepper to taste. Then re-add the meat, stir, and add brandy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular\">\n<div class=\"gallery-row\">\n<div class=\"gallery-group images-1\">\n<div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lifeinstripesblog.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/11\/winter_stew_08.jpeg?w=361&amp;h=642&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"recipe international student bloggers\" width=\"361\" height=\"642\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lifeinstripesblog.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/11\/winter_stew_07.jpeg?w=361&amp;h=642&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"recipe international student bloggers\" width=\"361\" height=\"642\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>If after this, your stew ingredients are not covered with liquid, add boiling water until covered. Then cover with a lid, and simmer on medium-low heat for about an hour, checking every 10 minutes and stirring.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1592 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lifeinstripesblog.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/11\/winter_stew_03.jpeg?w=1344\" alt=\"recipe international student bloggers\" width=\"900\" height=\"1600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>NOTE: Halfway through the cooking time, if you feel your stew is too runny and diluted, dissolve around four teaspoons of flour\/cornflour in water and add to mixture. Be careful that there are no lumps!<\/p>\n<p>Once cooking time is done, stir and make sure you are happy with the consistency and check the vegetables and meat are cooked and tender. Serve with mash and french bread. Voila!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1615 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lifeinstripesblog.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/12\/winter_stew_05.jpeg?w=1344\" alt=\"recipe international student bloggers\" width=\"1344\" height=\"756\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Do not be intimated by making stews or casseroles. I was at first, but this recipe is surprisingly easy and straightforward, with basic cooking skills it will be a breeze! Perfect for those days when you want to curl up for an hour in front of the tv with a hearty meal. It&#8217;s\u00a0also perfect for a student budget as all the ingredients\u00a0are pretty cheap and easy to find (and probably already in your kitchen!).<\/p>\n<p>Let me know how your stew comes out! Did you modify it when you made it?<\/p>\n<p>Read this story and other posts on <a href=\"https:\/\/lifeinstripesblog.wordpress.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nicole&#8217;s personal blog<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shorter days have set in and so has the bitter coldness. If, like me, you can\u2019t stand the cold and spend every waking minute next to a heater, this recipe is for you. It&#8217;s my mums recipe, and it&#8217;s a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":2206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,18],"tags":[573,652,653,676,766,768,769],"class_list":["post-2201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","category-student-experience","tag-recipe","tag-student-food","tag-student-life","tag-studying-in-london","tag-winter-food","tag-winter-recipe","tag-winter-stew"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}