Food Guys

Maeta Heatter - who died recently at the age of 102 - was known as the "Queen of Cake," thanks in part to her 1974 cookbook, "Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts." The moment that 'Food Guy' Greg Patent discovered it, he resolved to bake all 267 recipes in the book. Eighteen months later, he'd done so--except for the recipe on page 107 for Mildred Knopf's Orange Puff Cake .

In May 2019, the journal Cell Metabolism published the results of a small randomized, controlled study comparing two diets: minimally-processed foods vs. ultra-processed ones. According to the article , this N.I.H. study is the first to show causality between degree of food processing and human weight gain. When dinner is chicken tenders and french fries instead of home-cooked roast chicken and baked spuds, we pack in more calories--because we overeat.

The Food Guys summarize Joshua McFadden's "superbly simple" 2018 recipe for pasta with kale sauce , which was inspired by a dish at London's River Cafe. Its vivid green color, from lacinato kale, makes it a converation piece.

You've been making applesauce faster than the sorcerer's apprentice, but every day, more Akane, Discovery and Mackintosh apples appear in your fridge. These early-season varieties won't last. Can you preserve them quickly, for later use? 'Food Guy' Jon Jackson shares his method.

Jon: "Greg, I know you publish a lot of recipes, but falafel? Where’d you come up with falafel?" Greg: "I think the Egyptians came up with it about a thousand years ago." The Egyptians may have used fava beans, but today, you can find falafel made of dried chickpeas at cafes and food stands around the world. Read on for 'Food Guy' Greg Patent's recipe for falafel with tzatziki (cucumber-yogurt) sauce.

If you're in the habit of reading labels, you've noticed some recent style changes: bigger, bolder print, new serving sizes, updated nutritional "daily values," and more. That's because food manufacturers are complying with new labelling rules issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 'Food Guys' Jon Jackson and Greg Patent wonder if the new labels will lead Americans to drink less soda pop, or to ask why there's sugar in cans of beans and jars of pickles.

"I don't want French fried potatoes, red ripe tomatoes
 I’m never satisfied I want the frim fram sauce and the ossynfay 
 With shafafa on the side." Jon Jackson and Greg Patent dissect the enigmatic lyrics of a Nat King Cole song in this Ken Nordine-esque edition of "The Food Guys."

Brittany is well-known for its butter -- as is this small Breton cake, which uses eight ounces of butter to nine ounces of flour. You can quickly whirl together its five ingredients in a food processor. Greg Patent first tried Gâteau Breton on vacation in San Francisco and was enchanted by its slightly chewy texture and Wall Of Butter wallop.

If you're a Food Guy, now is the time to clear out last year's homemade applesauce from your cupboard, to make way for this year's batches. Applesauce lasts a long time -- even longer when you freeze it -- but you'll make headway on the old stuff if you start using it as a topping on pancakes or yogurt, or as a milk substitute when you bake cakes, muffins and some pies and cookies.

Pesto is a gooey, thick, grey-green Genoese sauce composed of basil, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and cheese whose name comes from pestâ, the Genoese word for "pounded ." Its strong flavor can pleasantly mask (or crush) the mild flavors of accompanyments like pasta, chicken, salmon and poached eggs. Pesto is easy to make in a food processor, even though Genoans recommend using a mortar and pestle. It's well-suited for summer, when fresh basil is almost as ubiquitous as zucchini.