Black Beans

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it.
Add beans, tomato juice, and salt.
Continually stir until heated through.
Just before serving, stir in the cilantro.

(**NOTE** you can add a can of corn, drained, to the beans with a dash of cumin and chili powder.)

Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1 cup chicken broth
3 pounds potatoes, thinly sliced
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
Handful of chopped green onion

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix cream cheese, sour cream and broth in large bowl until well blended.
Add potatoes, onion, 1-3/4 cups of the cheese; stir gently to coat all ingredients.
Spoon into 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake 1 hour or until casserole is heated through and potatoes are tender.

This is such a versatile recipe - add ham, different cheese etc. This recipe accompanied the sugar glazed pork below... don't trust the potato picture, it's much tastier than it looks.

Chicken Pie & Garlic Mashed Potatoes

This is a variation on a pie that my brother's girlfriend made for us over Christmas. The ingredients in brackets are my variation. You can make it either way and feel free to add your own extra's.

Ingredients:
Roast chicken, stripped (2 cooked chicken breasts cubed)
1 chopped onion
4 rashers of bacon, raw (10 rashers of streaky/American bacon, raw)
2-3 cans of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (3 cans of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup)
puff pastry

(I added: a good shake of paprika and a few handfuls of baby carrots cut into thirds.)

Method:

Put chicken, onion, bacon (chopped and raw), soup and anything else you fancy into a bowl and mix.
Put mixture into a 9x13 pyrex dish.
Cover with pastry. I use one package of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry. Fold under the extra dough around the edges to lift it off of the soupy mixture a little.
Score the top of the pastry but don't cut all the way through it - this helps it puff up better.

Bake at 375'f for 45 minutes.

Garlic Parmesan Mashed potatoes
Ingredients:
Potatoes with skins still on - I make enough for leftovers to go with the leftover pie.
Butter
Milk/sour cream
Garlic powder
Salt and Pepper
Parmesan cheese

Boil the potatoes until soft and strain
Put potatoes, a good nob of butter, good shake of garlic powder and a splash of milk in a big bowl.
Use a handheld whisk or food mixer to whisk the potatoes.
Once chunks are all out add more milk, salt and pepper, mix again.
Taste. Add more of what you think it needs. You can also add some cream cheese to it.

Once it's the consistency you like - I like them light and fluffy so I whisk them on high for a bit and add a touch more milk to fluff them up.
Once it tastes good put it in an over safe dish, don't squish it down.
Put a few pats of butter on top and sprinkle parmesan cheese over.
Put in the oven with the pie for the last 20 minutes or so of baking.

Cream Cheese stuffed Jalapeno Poppers.

These are simple and delicious.

Get a bunch of decent sized Jalapeno Peppers - 2-3 inches long,
Slice them in half length ways and scoop out the seeds - you might want to wear goggle when you do this :S
Fill them up with cream cheese and then wrap them in a 1/3 of a rasher of bacon,
Use a toothpick to spear the whole creation together.

Bake them at 375'f for 20-25 minutes.