The Lernier Family: Lernier Family Recipes - Rick and Glenn's favorites

Lernier Family Recipes - Our favorite dishes.

Author's note: More Recipes will follow.

Middle Eastern Chicken Kebobs

Servings: 4-6

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Total Time: 35 Minutes, plus 8 hours to marinate

Ingredients

· 1 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt

· 2 tablespoons olive oil

· 2 teaspoons paprika

· 1/2 teaspoon cumin

· 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

· 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if you don't like heat)

· Zest from one lemon

· 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon

· 1-3/4 teaspoons salt

· 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

· 5 garlic cloves, minced

· 2-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, trimmed of any excess fat and cut into large bite-sized pieces

· 1 large red onion, cut into wedges

· Vegetable oil, for greasing the grill

Mix the marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl. Put chicken and onion wedges on skewers and place them in a gallon size freezer storage bag and cover with the marinade mixture. Place in the refrigerator for 8 hours before grilling.

YELLOW JASMINE RICE

This savory Yellow Jasmine Rice combines warm and fragrant Indian spices and chicken broth to make the most flavorful rice you've ever tasted!

INGREDIENTS

· 2 Tbsp butter

· 2 cloves garlic, minced

· 1 tsp turmeric

· 1/4 tsp cumin

· 1/8 tsp cinnamon

· 2 cups uncooked long grain jasmine rice

· 3 cups chicken broth

· 1 bay leaf, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add the butter, garlic, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon to a medium sauce pot. Sauté over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or just until the garlic has softened.

2. Add the dry rice to the pot. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes to slightly toast the rice. You may hear a slight popping or crackling noise as the rice toasts.

3. Add the chicken broth and bay leaf to the pot. Place a lid on top, increase the heat to high, and bring the pot to a rolling boil. As soon as it reaches a full boil, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer (with the lid in place) for 20 minutes.

4. After letting it simmer for 20 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest (do not remove the lid) for an additional 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

RECIPE NOTES

*I use Knorr Chicken Boullion to make my broth, which provides plenty of salt to flavor the rice.

I also add frozen peas and corn to the chicken broth as well as one 15 oz. can of black beans (rinsed and drained) to add variety to this dish. I warm the chicken broth with the vegetables before adding it to the pot with the rice.

Orange Rosemary Chicken

Marinade:
1. 1 1/2 cups orange juice
2. 1/4 olive oil (or vegetable oil)
3. 3/4 cup chopped chives (we use chopped onion instead)
4. 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
5. 1 teaspoon salt
6. 1 teaspoon black pepper

7. 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (we cut them into thirds)

Mix all the ingredients together, except chicken. Then pour over chicken and marinate overnight. Chicken can be cooked on the grill, under the broiler, or on the stove top (we prefer the stove top).

If grilling, reserve the marinade and brush on the chicken as it cooks, same under the broiler. On the stove top, we cook the chicken in the marinade. Chicken comes out moist and delicious...family loves it with rice as a side.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches -

Place a pork loin roast in the slow cooker and cover it with a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce. Let it cook all day. Just before serving, remove the pork loin roast from the slow cooker, pull it apart using two forks to shred it. Place it in serving dish and put on the table with a bottle of BBQ sauce for those who want it smothered in sauce, along with hamburger buns and your favorite cole slaw.

Curry Beef - JJ's Favorite (at least it is for now)

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
2-3 large apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 15 oz. can stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons of curry powder
cooked rice

Directions:

Break up the ground beef into a frying pan, add apples, and onion. Cook until the onions are translucent and the beef is done. Add the stewed tomatoes, breaking them up with a spatula, and the tomato sauce. Add the curry powder and stir everything well. Bring the mixture to a full boil, then lower the temperature to simmer. Simmer on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the flavors to mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. We don't usually add salt and pepper, but some of our guests do.

Serve over rice with your favorite steamed vegetables

Since we don't have a lot of time to cook anymore, here are a few good recipes for cooking with a crock pot (slow cooker):

1.   Pot Roast with new potatoes, baby carrots and onions.  Pan sear a 2 lb. roast and place in the center of the slow cooker.   Wash the potatoes and carrots and place around the roast.   Peal and slice the onion and scatter over the meat, potatoes and carrots.   Season with your favorite spices.   Ours are powdered garlic, salt, and pepper.   Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours.   Remove the roast and let rest while you make gravy from the drippings.   Slice the roast serve with a tossed green salad, potatoes, carrots and gravy.   Gravy:   Add 3 to 4 cups of water to drippings.   I like to cheat by adding Knorr Beef Boullion Cubes (read the directions for reconstituting) to enhance the flavor along with a couple of packets of Sazon Goya (Achiote y Ajo).   I thicken it with flour or cornstarch depending on what is on hand.   Blend 1/2 cup of flour with a small amount of water until it makes a smooth paste.   Add to the drippings and water and use a whisk to mix it until it is smooth.   Heat to a boil or until it has thickened to the desired consistency.

2.   Chicken - place 2-3 lbs. of skinless, boneless, chicken breast in the bottom of the slow cooker.   Cover with your favorite BBQ sauce or marinade and cook on high for 4-6 hours.     Potatoes - cut new potatoes into quarters and place in a medium mixing bowel.   Dice a medium onion and add it to the potatoes.   Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary to taste.   Stir the potatoes until thoroughly coated with oil and spices.   Place in a separate slow cooker and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours.

3.   Easy Chicken Soup.   Place chicken carcass in the cooker and added 2 stalks of diced celery, two cloves of crushed garlic, 4 sliced medium carrots, one diced medium onion.   Add water to the crock until it is about 2 inches below the top of the crock.   Put the lid on and cook overnight on low for 8 to 10 hours.   The next morning drain the broth into a container.   Remove the bones and dispose of them.   Add the vegetables and meat to the broth and refrigerate.   When you are ready to make Chicken soup, remove from the refrigerator and heat to a boil.   Add your favorite starch (rice or noodles).   Cook at a boil until the noodles are done.   Serve with fresh bread or rolls.
NOTE:   Rotisserie chickens are the best for making chicken soup.   We buy a rotisserie chicken for dinner and then put the bones in the crock pot for soup the next day.

TIPS for using slow cooker:

1.   LIne with aluminum foil to make cleaning up easier.   Remove the food and pull the foil out.
2.   Make sure the lid of your slow cook fits tightly otherwise it won't cook food properly.   If there is a gap between the lid and the crock, place a layer of aluminum foil over the top of the cooker and then place the lid on top of the foil to prevent heat from escaping.

Today it's main dishes:     Main Dishes

1. Spaghetti Sauce – serves 6-8

a. Ingredients:

i. 1 lb. hamburger

ii. 1 medium onion, diced

iii. 1 teaspoon garlic powder

iv. 1 teaspoon basil (dry)

v. 1 teaspoon oregano (dry)

vi. 1 – 15 oz. can stewed tomatoes (substitution: 1 – 15 oz. can diced tomatoes)

vii. 3 – 15 oz. cans tomato sauce

b. Directions:

i. Crumble hamburger into a frying pan and add diced onion. Brown hamburger over medium heat. Cook until onions are translucent. Drain grease from hamburger.

ii. In a large sauce pan, combine all ingredients. Heat over medium heat until bubbling. Serve over cooked pasta.

2. Chili Mac

a. Ingredients:

i. 1 lb. hamburger

ii. 1 medium onion, diced

iii. 1 teaspoon garlic powder

iv. 1 teaspoon basil (dry)

v. 1 teaspoon oregano (dry)

vi. 1 tablespoon chili powder

vii. 1 – 15 oz. can stewed tomatoes (substitution: 1 – 15 oz. can diced tomatoes)

viii. 3 – 15 oz. cans tomato sauce

ix. 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

b. Directions:

i. Crumble hamburger into a frying pan and add diced onion. Brown hamburger over medium heat. Cook until onions are translucent. Drain grease from hamburger.

ii. In a large sauce pan, combine all ingredients except cheese. Heat over medium heat until bubbling. Reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

iii. Cook and drain 1 lb. macaroni.

iv. Add macaroni and shredded cheddar cheese to sauce and stir until well mixed. Serves 8-10

3. Swiss Steak – serves 4-6

a. Ingredients:

i. ½ lb. blade steak

ii. 1 jar of spaghetti sauce

b. Directions:

i. Place ½ lb. of blade steak in a roasting pan and cover with spaghetti sauce and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until done.

4. Chicken Enchiladas – serves 4-6

a. Ingredients

i. 8-10 large flour tortillas

ii. 4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed; (substitutions: 2 cans of chicken, rotisserie chicken, etc.)

iii. 1 10 oz. can of cream of chicken soup

iv. 1 4 oz. can of green chilis

v. 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

vi. 1 8 oz container of sour cream

vii. 1 medium size onion, diced

b. Directions:

i. In a small sauce pan, mix the soup, the sour cream and 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, cubed chicken, chilis, and onion. Heat on low heat until the cheese is melted.

ii. Place two to three tablespoons of mixture in the center of each flour tortilla and roll up the tortilla and place seam side down in a 9X13 baking dish. Repeat the process until you have filled all the tortillas.

iii. Pour any remaining sauce over the top of the tortillas and back at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the sauce begins to bubble. NOTE: Extra Cheese may be added on top if desired.

5. Cheesy Rice with salsa and black beans

a. Ingredients:

i. 4 to 6 cups of cooked rice

ii. 1 cup salsa

iii. 1 – 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained.

iv. 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

b. Directions:

i. Combine rice, salsa, black beans and 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese in a medium mixing bowl.

ii. Pour mixture into a 9X13 baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheddar cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until cheese is bubbling. Serves 8-10

6. Chili con Carne – serves 8 to 12

a. Ingredients:

i. 4 - 15 oz. cans of pinto beans or kidney beans, rinsed and drained.

ii. 4 - 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce

iii. 1 small onion, diced

iv. 2 stalks of celery, diced (optional)

v. 1 small green bell pepper, diced (optional)

vi. 1 lb. hamburger

vii. 2 tablespoons chili powder

viii. 1 teaspoon basil (dry)

ix. 1 teaspoon garlic powder

x. 1 teaspoon oregano (dry)

b. Directions:

i. Crumble hamburger into a frying pan. Add diced onion and brown on medium heat until the onions are translucent. Drain the grease off of the hamburger.

ii. In a large sauce pan, combined all the ingredients and heat on high heat until bubbling. Reduce heat to the lowest setting and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so to prevent burning.

iii. Serve hot with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

7. Rice-A-Roni

a. Ingredients:

i. ½ cube of butter (substitution: ½ cube of margarine)

ii. 3 cups of uncooked rice

iii. 1 cup of uncooked angel hair pasta broken into small pieces

iv. 1 can of chicken

v. 3 cups of chicken boullion (5 cups if using basmati or jasmine rice) (if using powder or cubes, reconstitute using 1 cup of water per teaspoon of powder or 1 cup of water per cube)

vi. Pepper to taste

b. Directions:

i. Melt butter in large frying pan.

ii. Add rice and pasta. Brown rice and pasta.

iii. Stir in chicken boullion and chicken. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer for approximately 15-20 minutes until rice is done. Serves 8-10

8. Beef Teriyaki

a. Ingredients:

i. 1 lb. steak (top loin or sirloin) sliced into 1/8 inch strips

ii. ½ soy sauce

iii. ¼ vegetable oil

iv. 4 tablespoons vinegar (substitution: dry white wine)

v. 2 teaspoons sugar

vi. ½ teaspoon ground ginger

vii. 1 teaspoon powdered garlic

b. Directions:

i. Mix all ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl except meat.

ii. Add meat and stir until all meat slices are covered with marinade.

iii. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

iv. Cook marinated meat in a large fry pan until the brown in the center.

v. Removed cooked meat from the pan. Drain juices into a gravy boat. (optional: juices may be thickened with cornstarch. Use 1 tablespoon cornstarch to ½ cup of drippings; add sufficient water to measure ½ cup. Combine cornstarch and marinade-water mixture in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until thickened.

vi. Serve beef with rice and pineapple and cover with juice (or gravy) from gravy boat. Serves 6.

Easy to Make Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Spice Cake Mix (any brand will do)
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Open the cake mix and pour into a medium size mixing bowl. Add pumpkin and chocolate chips. Stir until completely mixed and the dry ingredients ar moist. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheet and drop cookie dough by the teaspoonful onto the cookie sheet. (You can use a tablespoon for larger size cookies; however, you will need to adjust the baking time.) Bake from 18 minutes. Cookies should spring back when touched lightly. If they collapse instead of springing back, they need to bake for a few minutes more.

My apologies for the formatting for the recipes below.....seems I'm not very good at html:

Orange Carrot Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups shortening
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups mashed cooked carrots (1 can mashed carrots works)
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 orange, zested and juiced (the zest is the peel grated) A little canned orange juice works too.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla and carrots. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, fold in the walnuts. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. To make the glaze, put 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl. Grate the rind of the orange into the bowl with the sugar. Squeeze in enough juice from the orange to form a thin but spreadable consistency. Mix until smooth. If necessary, stir in more confectioners' sugar. Spread onto the cooled cookies. Store in an airtight container.

Soft Sugar Cookies

1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Cream the margarine and add the sugar gradually. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition.

2. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt gradually to the creamed mixture, stirring in by hand. Cover and chill dough overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and cut into your favorite shapes. Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheets.

5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 6 to 8 minutes or until cookie has a golden appearance.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Stir in the eggs. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the cinnamon. Roll dough into walnut sized balls, then roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar. Place them onto an unprepared cookie sheet, two inches apart.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be slightly brown. Remove from sheets to cool on wire racks.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed banana
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x5 inch pan.

2. Cream margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, then bananas. Add flour and soda, stirring just until combined.

3. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 1 hour (or till toothpick comes out clean). Remove from pan and let cool, store in refrigerator or freeze

Sausage Tortellini Soup

Ingredients

1 pound Italian sausage
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth (can be 5 beef boullion cubes) and 5 cups more water
1/2 cup water
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
1 cup sliced carrots (can be canned carrots)
2 cups stewed tomatoes (1 can)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini (CAN BE FROZEN)

Directions

1. Remove casings from sausage. Brown sausage and cook until crumbly. Remove meat from pot. Reserve 1 tablespoon drippings.

2. Cook onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Add broth, water, carrots, tomatoes, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and the cooked sausage. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered 30 minutes.

3. Add zucchini, and tortellini. Simmer until vegetables are tender and tortellini is done. Serve with fresh parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.