Is it summer yet?!  I am ready to grill!

At the chaos house, we all love ribs.  In fact, one of my favorite foods to feed a crowd is baby back ribs because they are so easy and yet people are so impressed.

When I make ribs I cook them low and slow in the oven.  The result is tender meat that falls from the bone.  If you want to make restaurant style, melt in your mouth ribs, that recipe is here.   My better half, on the other hand, makes the smoky, chewy barbecue joint kind of ribs.  Both are delicious, and this rub works equally well for either cooking method.

Rib Rub

• 2 tsp paprika
• 4 tsp garlic
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp coriander
• 2 tsp ancho chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 to 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp marjoram or oregano

1. Combine in a small bowl. Rub ribs all over with seasonings.

For chewy, barbecue style ribs, cook over indirect heat in a covered grill or smoker for about 3 hours at 225°F to 250°F.  Here’s a good tip, if you don’t have a rib holder for your grill use the rack from your roasting pan.  Just flip it upside down and fit the ribs in between the slats.  Presto!

When you use the Internet as much as I do to search for recipes, keeping track of all of the great food blogs out there can be daunting.  There are so many wonderful recipes posted daily that I quickly lose track of everything on my “To Make” list.  Luckily, I have created a virtual recipe box using Google Reader and can now quickly organize and access all my favorite recipes by category.

Let me show you how.

First you have to create an account with Google Reader, which you can do using your existing email address (it does NOT have to be a gmail account).

Once you have created your account, you need to start adding your favorite food blogs using the “Add a subscription” button.  This will subscribe you to the web site’s RSS feed.  You can also subscribe directly from most websites simply by looking for “RSS feed,” “Subscribe to Posts,” etc.  For example, on the right hand column of chaosinthekitchen is a link that says “Subscribe to updates via RSS.”  If you click that link it will ask you which feed reader you wish to subscribe with.  Clicking “Add to Google” will automatically add the feed to your Google reader.

So now that you have added your favorite blogs to your reader you need to create a way to organize your feeds.  First, you need to create folders for the blogs themselves, like “Food Blogs,” “Good Reads,” “Photography,” etc…  Second, you need to create the category folders where you want to be able to store individual recipes-like “Main Dish,” “Soup”, or “Vegetarian.”  Look for the “Feed settings…” drop down menu and choose “New folder…”  Then create as many folders as you like.

You will notice that Google will automatically add your feed to each folder you create, just return to the “Feed settings…” drop down and uncheck the folders you don’t want the feed to appear in.

So now you have all the posts from all of your favorite blogs in one place.  Your feeds will automatically appear in the expanded format, to switch to an easier-to-view “list view,” look at the top right corner of the feed window and choose “Show: List.”  Now you will be able to click on each post and open it individually.  If it is a post you’d like to save for the future, simply scroll to the bottom of the post, and look in the right corner.  Choose the link to “Edit tags:” and type the names of each category folder you want the dish to appear in.  Be sure to tag the recipe with all of the categories it fits into so that when you are looking for a “Main Dish” you will see it, as well as if you are looking for a “Chicken” dish.

Once you have labeled your favorite recipes you can choose the category of the recipe you want to find and see all the recipes with that tag.  I have both general tags (Main Dish, Chicken, Breakfast) and specific tags (Cookies, Grill Recipes, Casseroles) so that if I have no idea what to make for dinner I can scroll through a general category.  Whereas if I know I have chicken that needs to be used up, or if I feel like having a salad, I can look through a specific folder.

Congratulations!  You have now successfully created an online recipe box that you can access from anywhere!

Is it already too hot for soup?  I hope not because I really need to share this one with you.  I think this just might be my new favorite soup.  Full of chunky sausage, tender vegetables, and plump, cheesy tortellini this soup is a filling, yet light meal.  The best part is that it reheats surprisingly well.  I expected the tortellini to turn to mush but it actually held up.  Even so, if you plan to make the soup in advance or for the freezer, leave the tortellini out and add them just before serving.

Sausage and Tortellini Soup

• 1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage, crumbled
• 1 large or 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 1  green bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 large garlic cloves, sliced
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 5 cups chicken stock, homemade or beef broth
• 28 oz canned tomatoes
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1 large or 2 medium zucchini, sliced
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 8 to 10 ounces purchased fresh cheese tortellini
• Parmesan cheese, grated

1. In a large stock pot or dutch oven, crumble and cook sausage over medium high heat until browned.
2. Remove browned sausage to a paper towel, reserving about 1 tbsp fat in the pot.
3. Saute carrots, pepper, and onion until soft.  Add garlic and cook another minute.
4. Add red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits.
5. Add chicken stock, tomatoes and sauce, chopped zucchini and spices.
6. Simmer soup, covered at least one hour or until vegetables are soft and flavors have melded.
7. Taste for salt and pepper.
8. About ten minutes before time to serve, raise heat and add tortellini.
9. Cook, simmering, until pasta is tender.
10. Serve, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

If pizza bread isn’t your thing, you might want to try this one: taco bread.  Taco meat, cheddar cheese, and any other goodies you like in your tacos-sliced olives, diced green peppers, etc-all wrapped up in chewy loaf.  These stuffed loaves make great party food.  They are filling and hearty and yet totally finger food.

The procedure for taco bread (or any flavor stuffed bread) is similar to pizza bread.  Start with a one pound loaf of bread, roll it into a large rectangle, cover it with prepared taco meat and then sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  You can mix any additional toppings into the taco meat before adding it to the dough.  For example, I wanted the creamy, tangy flavor of sour cream so I stirred several spoonfuls into the taco meat before spooning it over the dough.  Canned, diced green chilies, chopped jalapenos, and sliced black olives would all be great additions.

Bake your loaf at 400°F for about 30 minutes until browned.  Allow your loaf to cool for at least 10 minutes or longer before trying to slice it open or you will loose a lot of your filling.