11 Food Hacks and Facts I Learned From Guy’s Grocery Games
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11 Food Hacks and Facts I Learned From Guy’s Grocery Games
By: Alyse WhitneyThe fast-paced, twist-filled game show will change the way you shop and cook.
Photo: David Moir
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Every time I’m at the grocery store, I check out the clearance section first. I didn’t know what kind of hidden gems were there until I started watching Guy’s Grocery Games — stream it on Max right now — and now I find it fun to challenge myself to use a surprising ingredient in weeknight meals to both stay on budget and have fun in the kitchen.
Flavortown Market is more well-stocked, vibrant, and full of shocking curveball ingredients than my local Ralph’s, but watching contestants almost literally fly down the aisles, throw things into their carts, and cook up a storm in 30 minutes flat has taught me a lot. The innovation is truly outta bounds with creative contestants putting together dynamic flavor combinations with surprising ingredients. After watching ... maybe three seasons in a row in a single week ... I found myself jotting down ideas like "re-hydrated beet chip and eggplant dip" and "pine nut vegan chorizo." And that’s just the frosted tip of the iceberg!
So I’ve decided to pay it forward and share 11 food facts and hacks I learned from Guy’s Grocery Games, hoping it inspires you to cook something new — preferably without having to break a sweat bolting through the supermarket first.
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This Gravy Is Nuts!
Featured In: Beat the Judges: Vegetarian | Season 31, Episode 4
Fun fact: Guy was a vegetarian as a kid for years. In a Beat the Judges: Vegetarian episode, Chef Mackenzie Devito of No Bones Beach Club shared that if you boil raw cashews, it’s a speedier way to make a blended sauce (cheese sauce, or in her case gravy) instead of having to soak the nuts for 24 hours.
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Beet the Clock
Featured In: GGG Winners’ Face-Off | Season 32, Episode 1
One of the wildcard ingredients in a tough challenge was beet chips. Instead of using them as a crunchy garnish or dipper, Chef Tracey Shepos Cenami chose to re-hydrate them and combine with charred, smoky eggplant and a red wine reduction to make a purée that would definitely also make a great dip...with beet chips!
Photo: David Moir
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Fantastic Fruit Facts
Featured In: Fruit Fest | Season 28, Episode 7
In GGG’s Funkalicious Fruit Fest that had a Fruit-Forward Feast challenge (say that five times fast), I found out that yellow squash, okra, and pistachios are all fruit. The more you know.
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Help Lamb Brie Less Gamey
Featured In: All Un-Gredients | Season 23, Episode 4
During an "un-gredients" challenge where contestants had to make spaghetti and meatballs without pasta or tomatoes, Chef Judith Able made lamb meatballs stuffed with brie, which actually became almost like a sauce and balanced out the gamey flavor. Paired with brown butter and spaghetti squash, it’s a dish I will brie recreating ASAP.
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Waffle Your Cinnamon Rolls
Featured In: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner | Season 29, Episode 1
"I’ve never seen that hack. If I were to tell you top 10 hacks that I’ve seen pulled off in Grocery Games, that’s genius!" Guy told Chef Kevin Cooper when he made cinnamon roll waffles with double-fried chicken wings tossed in lemon butter bacon sauce.
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Karamelized Kimchi
Featured In: DDD International | Season 29, Episode 9
I have always been a caramelized kimchi fan for helping amp up the natural sugars in the Korean fermented cabbage, but I never realized that it can actually have a chemical reaction. When Chef Will Song of BOPNGRILL competed on GGG, he cooked his in butter to "speed up the fermentation process" and bring out more flavor in his diner-inspired kimchi cheeseburger.
Photo: David Moir
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Plenty of Fish on the Tree
Featured In: All-Star Vegetarian Games | Season 25, Episode 3
Chef Justin Warner blew everyone away with his vegetarian fish and chips. He used young coconut to make the "fish," and then blitzed up dulse (seaweed) for a salty, briny seasoning. He then wrapped it in more seaweed and tempura-fried it, and the resemblance and flavor was uncanny to the classic version with actual fish.
Photo: David Moir
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Chorizo Your Own Adventure
Featured In: All-Star Vegetarian Games | Season 25, Episode 3
In the same All-Star Vegetarian showdown, Chef Damaris Phillips made chorizo out of pine nuts sautéed with shallots, garlic, cumin, and paprika. Not only is this a transformed carnivore classic, but she noted it has protein to help bulk up a vegetarian meal. She served it inside tacos with roasted sweet potatoes and cabbage.
Photo: David Moir
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In a Pickle
Featured In: Fruit Fest | Season 28, Episode 7
Using fruit in savory ways is nothing new, but Chef Carlos Perez even surprised the judges when he quick-pickled watermelon using red wine vinegar — uncommon for pickles — and sugar. This added an acidic punch in a pinch, complementing his seared scallops.
Photo: David Moir
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Yogurtta Try This
Featured In: All-Star Vegetarian Games | Season 25, Episode 3
Chef Maneet Chauhan needed to amp up her tomato sauce with limited ingredients, so she chose garlic, red onion, and two tablespoons of yogurt for creaminess. With the natural sweetness of tomatoes and complementary acidity, it wowed everyone upon first bite
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Just Crust Us
Featured In: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner | Season 29, Episode 1
No breadcrumbs? No problem. Chef Chelsea Sargent Lira used ground up pork rinds and pretzels to crust her chicken ... which was used to top a deviled egg with bacon jam. Double the pig, double the fun!
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
