Buffalo Ranch Pretzels

I love flavored pretzels, but most of the time they come in small packages, cost the same as a bag of chips, and even though they say there's 9+ servings in the bag, I can polish them off in a day or two.  I'm not proud of it, but my inner fat kid has very little self control when it comes to tasty, crunchy snacks. I buy the cheapest pretzels I can find, normally the store brand.


Buffalo Ranch Pretzels

1 lb bag of mini pretzel twists
6 oz of Frank's Red Hot
2 Tbsp melted butter (optional)
1 pkg of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix

Preheat oven to 275.  Mix the Red Hot, butter and ranch powder in a 1 gallon ziplock bag (or a big bowl) until well combined.  Pour in the pretzels and shake well to coat.  Pour into a large roasting pan or large cookie sheet and spread them out evenly.  Bake 1 hr 15 min, stirring every 15 minutes.  Let cool in pan or spread on paper towels.  If they aren't crunchy enough when they are cool, put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes (every oven cooks a little different).

Frank's Red Hot and butter are used to make a traditional wing sauce, but you can leave the butter out of this recipe if you want to cut fat.

My favorite kitchen accessory

I, like many people, hate cutting onions.  My eyes will burn for hours after cutting an onion.  I searched online for ways to prevent the dreaded burn that always occurs.  I read that you can freeze the onions, refrigerate them, rinse them under water, rinse the knife under water, put a slice of bread in your mouth to catch the offensive fumes or even place a burning candle between the onion and yourself to burn off the fumes.  And if none of these work and your eyes start to burn anyway, stick your head in the freezer for a few minutes.  I've tried it all and nothing helps.  I go to bed hours later and my eyes are still watering like crazy.  I finally gave in and bought swim goggles.  Few have seen me in this lovely accessory, since I look like a dork, but several have asked for a picture.  So here goes nothing.  If not for these, I could never make my favorite onion soup without help.

  Please don't laugh too hard. I think it's totally worth it!

Garlic Onion Soup

French Onion soup used to be one of my favorites, but more and more often when I get it at a restaurant, it has little to no flavor.  I even had it once at a popular restaurant with a hair baked into my cheese.  Blech!  There used to be an Italian restaurant in Bloomington that had AMAZING garlic bread and a great onion soup.  Unfortunately, it closed :(  So I have been working on my own onion soup recipe ever since.  I have no idea what that soup tasted like anymore, but I think this recipe will keep me happy.  Can be eaten right away, but soup, like salsa, is always better the second day. Hope you enjoy!

Garlic Onion Soup
makes 5-6 cups

3 medium white onions, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 cup unsalted butter or olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves finely minced or grated
32 oz Swanson beef broth
2 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2-1 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning


Garlic cheese bread (optional, but great for dipping)

Slice onions.  Melt butter or heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.  Stir in onions, coating in butter or oil and put the lid on.  Cook until the onions are soft and clear, stirring occasionally to make sure they do not burn.  Add the garlic and stir, making sure that the garlic doesn't get to brown or it will taste burnt.  Pour in the beef broth and water.  Add in 2 bouillon cubes, Italian seasoning and Worcestershire sauce.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 1 hour.  Add in 1/2 tsp of Tony Chachere's seasoning and taste.  Add additional if necessary.  I like it a little spicy, so I add a lot.  You can additional salt and pepper to taste.

I like to make a basic garlic cheese bread out of french bread, olive oil, garlic salt and mozzarella, baked in the oven until toasty and melty :)

To reduce the sodium, use 6 cups of low sodium broth instead of the 4 cups broth, water and bouillon. 

Also, Tony Chachere's makes a salt free version of their famous Creole seasoning.  I love their original Creole seasoning and use it frequently.  It's like a spicy seasoning salt and it is fairly cheep.