😋 you need these summer dishes

Hello chefs! Welcome back to Dash — Pepper’s newsletter helping you become the best home cook you can be.

To kick things off with July 4th right around the corner, here’s 3 holiday-inspired recipes we’ve been eyeing:

If you’re looking for more, respond to this email with “food plz” and we’ll send you personalized recipe recommendations.

Before we dive into it, we want YOUR feedback to make Pepper the best tool to improve your cooking experience. Send us an email here to set up a call with our founders. Rumor has it there may be Pepper merch involved 👀

The summer cooking season is finally here! To impress your guests, try these 3 tricks:

1. Master Grill Marks: Make sure to preheat your grill, oil sparingly, and let your food sear without moving it for a few minutes.

2. Enhance Vegetables with Marinades & Seasonings: Marinate for at least 30 minutes using fresh herbs & generous seasonings.

3. Perfect Grilled Fruits for Desserts: Peaches, pineapples, and watermelons grill well due to their firm texture & natural sugars that caramelize beautifully. Brush with honey or maple syrup for the perfect glaze.

Here’s what’s on the menu here at Pepper -

You’re invited to a LIVE COOKING CLASS with Matthew Bounds TONIGHT at 6pm ET. With an audience of 2M+ across social platforms, we’re so grateful for Matthew to be cooking his famous Cajun Bacon Chicken Pasta with us. As a reminder, these monthly classes are exclusive to Pepper+ subscribers. Sign up today within the app for just $2.50 per month and watch here to see why Matthew loves Pepper! Respond to this email if you sign up and we’ll make sure you get the link to join before the class begins.

Our newest FAVORITE feature: Shared Collections! Your Collections of saved recipes just became social and a lot more fun - perfect for organizing a dinner party, keeping family recipes alive, or making a date night dish. Let us know if you’re a Pepper+ subscriber and give it a try; we’ll be highlighting Shared Collections all month!

Help get our Head of Growth Marketing hired full-time! Newsletter subscribers, meet Kayla. Kayla runs all of our socials, events, and keeps our company beaming with energy. Somehow, she’s able to do it while while juggling another job. Well, she’s ready to change that. Our co-founder Matt agreed on a deal to get her working on Pepper full-time! Follow her journey here.

FAVORITE RECIPE ON PEPPER. Indian Butter Chicken by cookingwithsafiaa.

BEST COOKING STORY. “There’s this old stool in my family that looks like it should probably go to the dump! But it’s a stool my maw maw would put me on to reach the counters when she let me help her in the kitchen as a kid. It’s the same stool I used to get in and out of my husband’s truck at the hospital when I went to deliver my son, and it’s the same stool my son stands on in the kitchen with my maw maw now when he helps her! I’ll keep it forever!”

HOW SHE LEARNED TO COOK. “I grew up in the kitchen! It’s always been my comfort place. I pick up whatever cooking knowledge I can from anyone willing to dish it out! When I met my husband, he taught me so much more and it’s just always been my favorite thing.”

BEST COOKING TIP. “When you’re cooking and have something really pungent on your hands, use lemon and stainless steel! Rub your hands good with lemon and then use soap and water and rub your hands along the sink faucet. The smell comes right off! I do this all the time with seafood, garlic, onions, etc.”

Legendary competitive eater Joey Chestnut has been barred from the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating contest after working with a plant-based competitor. Netflix immediately came to the rescue, offering Chestnut a face-off against his rival Takeru Kobayashi in a Labor Day special!

Omsom was acquired by DayDayCook this week. Founded in 2020 by first-generation Vietnamese-American sisters Vanessa & Kim Pham, Omsom is the loud & proud Asian food brand known for its Cooking Sauces & Saucy Noodles! Congrats to all involved on the exciting announcement 🙂

Cottage cheese is having a moment on social media. Have you seen the viral breakfast wrap? Food creators are pulling out all the stops - using cottage cheese blended with eggs, air frying, or cooking in a skillet. Let us know if you try it, and make sure to post it for the Pepper community to see!