www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts2CmN-MG9g

If you have a lot of people invited for dinner then fear not… go simple! Finger food is the answer and if you do lots of really simple stuff and get everybody to make and bring one dish then party food is no trouble at all. This selection of tapas food proves that if you let the food speak for itself then there’s nothing hard about it at all…

Who for: Large flat share (6-8 people)

Dishes:

• Chilli goats cheese stuffed mushrooms
• Chorizo braised in white wine
• Patatas bravas
• Lemon and cilantro sardines
• Tostada garlic rubbed, tomato and manchego
• Spanish rice

Ingredients:

A dozen button mushrooms
A small round of goats cheese (100g)
1 red chilli
4-5 sardines, gutted and cleaned
Bunch of fresh coriander
Large lemon, quartered
Piece of thick chorizo sausage (150g)
Glass of red wine, rioja is great
3 fresh plum tomatoes
Chunk of mangego cheese, or whatever you prefer (150g)
1 ciabatta loaves
3 cloves of garlic
Mug of rice (200g)
1 vegetable stock cube
Pinch of saffron (or turmeric)
Handful of black olives, pitted
1 red pepper
Bunch of fresh parsley
Bowl of new potatoes
1 small onion
Tin of chopped tomatoes or passata
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Good glug of olive oil
Salt and pepper

How to cook:

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Halve the new potatoes and bring to the boil in cold salted water, then simmer for 12-15 until just cooked.
Drain the potatoes and allow to steam dry for a few minutes.
Peel and dice the onion as fine as possible and fry in a saucepan with a dash of oil for 5 minutes.
Add two crushed cloves of garlic, the cayenne and paprika to the onions and fry for another minute.
Tip in the tomatoes, bubble for 5 minutes before blending to a smooth sauce (optional).
Dissolve the vegetable stock cube in a litre of water with the saffron.
Cook the rice for 8-10 minutes in the stock, then drain when done.
Chop up the pepper, olives and parsley and leave to one side to stir through the rice when cooked.
Score the sardines on both sides then lay in an ovenproof dish.
Season the fish with salt, pepper and a handful of ripped coriander before squeezing over the lemon juice and finishing with a splash of oil.
Pop the stems out from the mushrooms and push goats cheese into the gap.
Top each stuffed mushroom with a slice of red chilli, arrange in an ovenproof dish and drizzle with oil.
Slice the chorizo on the diagonal and toss them into an ovenproof dish with the glass of wine.
Put the mushrooms, sardines and chorizo into the oven to cook for 10 minutes.
Fry the cooked potatoes in a frying pan with a little oil for about 6-8 mins until golden all over.
Half the ciabatta lengthwise and cut into portions.
Drizzle the bread with olive oil then place into the oven to toast for 5 minutes.
Quarter the tomatoes and discard the middles.
Dice the rest of the tomato and the manchego cheese before mixing together with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Scrape a clove of garlic over the toasted bread and then top with the tomato and cheese mix before serving.
Mix the drained rice with the chopped pepper, olives and parsley and serve.
Tip the fried potato onto a plate or bowl and top with the smoky and spicy tomato sauce, garnish with fresh parsley and serve.
Remove the three dishes from the oven and serve as the final additions to your tapas feast!

Serves 6-8 people.

Liberty Living provides student accommodation in 17 university cities across the UK, including Aberdeen, Cardiff, Manchester plus many more.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo0MA2a_CMk

Looking for easy recipes and a little fun in the kitchen?

Well then, it’s time to get SORTED. Whether you’re an armchair foodie or aspiring chef, the SORTED crew will have you and your mates slicing and dicing in no time. From baking the perfect jacket potato to preparing the ultimate date dish, the team at SORTED have all the answers in a series of easy-to-follow recipes and videos. So get your mates around for some foodie fun and enjoy the results.

Feast your eyes on exclusive videos and recipes from the SORTED crew right here on the Liberty Living blog.

Liberty Living provides student accommodation in 17 university cities across the UK, including Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle plus many more.

I started at my university in 2004, bright eyed and fresh faced thinking that as an eighteen year old I knew it all. Clearly I didn’t and I learned the hard way. However, I think I have learned a few things since and if I couldn’t help my self back then maybe I can help you all now?

Fresher’s Week

I threw myself in to that first week thinking that if I didn’t, I would be missing out on important experiences. I armed myself with a small wedge of money and joined every club and society at the fresher’s fair (or tried to – the law society wouldn’t have me. Apparently studying law was a prerequisite for joining the club) and somehow made it back to halls laden down with house plants, posters, a (free!) loaf of bread and numerous free pens.

I have now come to the conclusion that this type of childlike enthusiasm is absolutely normal. A speaker at a recent accommodation event described how students now expect from universities a “Harry Potter experience”. What this means for universities is perhaps for another time but I think that you have to go in to it accepting that you are responsible for your own Harry Potter experience. It will be what you make of it. Throw yourself in to everything, because there is no worse feeling than looking back and thinking ‘I wish I tried harder’.

With that same boundless energy I displayed during fresher’s week, I greeted each new person like they were my new best friend. Following the same scripted conversation that I’m sure you have all memorised by now (“what course are you on”… “where do you live”… “where are you from”…etc) we would eventually lose each other in the crowd, never to be seen again. Because they were not natural relationships, they were forced at the back of a lecture theatre where the desperation to make friends clings to the air. Friendships may not happen immediately but they will happen, just give them time. And when they do, they will be friendships for life.

And then the work begins…

It may sound big headed, but when I was in school I did pretty well without ever really trying. So to get my very first essay back graded as 57% came as a shock to me (seven years later and it’s burned in to my brain!) The whole learning experience was different to what I was used to and so were the lecturers’ expectations of you. At first it seemed like everyone was racing ahead and I felt like I didn’t deserve to be there, but it soon became clear that everyone struggled at first. Unless you’re a certified genius, it’s going to take a while to get used to the change in gear.

Unless you are very lucky, you will be greeted on your first day by quite a lengthy reading list. The temptation is to head straight out and buy up the entire list. There is no need to do this. Unfortunately I was more than half way through my course by the time I fully learned a) how to use the library properly and b) that it has absolutely everything you could ever possibly need. By all means, it’s useful to have copies of the core texts, but at least with library books there is the chance that someone before you may have made relevant and/or amusing notes in the margin.

And what will sustain you through these new found hobbies and long nights in the library? Man (and woman) cannot live on toast alone. And if your canteen is anything like mine was, the sandwich combinations are just baffling (onion bhaji and humous anyone?). There is just one thing for it: learning how to cook. I started my culinary adventure with a stir fry. The stir fry was my friend for a long time. This was swiftly followed by adding vegetables to pre-cooked noodles (for me, this was cooking) and was followed by a long fascination with fajitas. I’m not trying to confirm the stereotype here that students are unable to look after themselves. In fact, a lot of my friends are amazing cooks (and from them I’ve added Swedish meatballs and shepherd’s pie to my repertoire). But I know that for a vast number, the reality of having to take care of yourself is hard. Yet it is one of the most important lessons to learn and what it contributes to your mental and physical well being should not be underestimated.

So that was my first week or two in university: work, rest and play. It is by no means the definitive experience – these can vary hugely and I don’t think anyone has a “typical” university experience. And on that note, I would say that no one should try to; however, make the most of every moment.

Liberty Living provides student accommodation in 17 university cities across the UK, including Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston plus many more.