Guess who's back...

WELCOME.
dash is back, tell a friend :)

Hello chefs, and welcome back to Dash — Pepper’s newsletter covering anything and everything that will improve your time in the kitchen.

If you haven’t been on Pepper recently, highly suggest you check back in! There’s now over 70,000 recipes to fuel your inspiration; plus we’ve launched a ton of new features the community requested. This includes easy-to-follow recipe videos, Cookbooks and more! We’ve also got a massive update coming soon. Stay tuned!

We’re always here if you have feedback or ideas to improve your experience; please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team to help make Pepper the best it can be!

WHAT’S COOKIN’ AT PEPPER?
grind(er) time

Here’s what the Pepper team has been cooking (literally and figuratively) over the last few weeks: 

• CEO Jake shared potentially one of the most controversial breakfast toast combinations of all time: prosciutto avocado mint toast. Crazy or genius?

• COO Matt’s working to finalize Pepper’s newly created Culinary Council. More on this soon.

• Head of Growth Marketing Kayla’s been going to work on Pepper’s social media channels, mainly TikTok & Instagram. How are you all enjoying the content recently?

• Sam & the engineering team are working on some amazing new features that will significantly improve your experience on Pepper. Any guesses?

• We’re testing ways to make the upload recipe process as simple as possible. TEXT ME (yes I’m not joking, number in the graphic above) your recipe, Pepper username, and any recipe information, and I’ll upload it to your profile! Easy as pie 🍰

• Rumors are floating of another Tastescape in the works after such a successful event in January. If you could eat the food of one top creator, who would it be? And what city should we do it in?!

FOOD NEWS FOR YOU.
McDonalds (four) dollar menu

McDonalds has vowed to cut their prices after being dragged by the internet for charging $3 for ONE. SINGLE. MCCHICKEN. While Ronald and Co. swear they’ll soon become more affordable, don’t wait for the dollar menu to be resurrected for you to enjoy an easy, delicious, cost-effective chicken sandwich. Instead, try this copycat Popeyes chicken sandwich or crispy chicken sandwich from Pepper.

WITH OUR FRIENDS AT HEXCLAD.
are you saying I can cook like gordon ramsay?

As Pepper’s official ~professor~, the team is constantly asking me for recommendations to help them become their best chef. One thing I’ve been absolutely loving recently is my HexClad cookware.

Whether I’m crafting the idyllic french omelette, whipping up Crunch Wraps, or cooking Doorman Ren the shrimp pasta of his dreams, I know that HexClad has the pots, pans, and knives to get the job done. I mean, there's a reason Gordon uses them...

HexClad wants the Pepper community to feel as close to Mr. Ramsay himself in the kitchen, so they offered us a 10% discount code exclusively for Pepper users! Use code PEPPER at checkout for 10% off your entire order until March 3rd.

HEAT CHECK.
potentially expensive easter eggs

Avian flu outbreaks in California and Massachusetts have led to increased egg prices. While it’s unlikely that prices will reach their historic, 2023 peak, it’s possible that an Easter Egg hunt might run you a couple extra bucks this year. 

And if you want to remove eggs entirely eggs from the Easter equation, these are some of our favorite egg-less brunch recipes from Pepper: Smoked salmon board, peach praline muffins, and Peruvian french toast with pineapple.

COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF.
plenty of amazing recipes from this one…

FAVORITE RECIPE ON PEPPER. “All of the yummy Asian dishes being shared! Asian cuisine is not one that I’ve made often myself, so I’ve really been able to learn a lot about the dishes, techniques, flavor profiles, etc. from all of the talented home chefs on Pepper. Caithlin Black (@caithlinblack) shared a Mongolian Style Chicken dish that I can’t wait to try next! It looks insanely DELICIOUS!”

BEST COOKING STORY. “From standing on a stool to roll fresh pasta with my grandmother and dad, to cooking meals that comforted those I love, the way cooking can bring people together and deepen relationships is truly so special. Most recently, my 6 year old daughter, Natalie, has began to show more of an interest in cooking. We recently made meatballs and there was so much giggling along the way! Moments with her in the kitchen are absolutely some of my favorite!”

HOW SHE LEARNED TO COOK. “By shadowing my grandmother, dad, and mom in the kitchen ever since I can remember. The foundational knowledge they gave me, and the love of the kitchen they instilled in me, really has helped me to continue to explore my own skillset. I still am learning every day and firmly believe that playing around, getting messy in the kitchen, and taking the time to get to know your ingredients, stove, oven, pots, etc is one of the best ways to learn - you have to trust yourself and explore! Giving myself freedom to get creative, test things out, and make mistakes has really taught me so much! Dishes may not always work out as I envision in my head, but they always teach me something.”

BEST COOKING TIP. “Read through a recipe in its entirety before starting to cook so that you are familiar with the steps, timing, etc. When you aren’t following a recipe per se, this could also look like simply thinking through the steps you’ll take when cooking a dish and getting organized mentally. This truly helps to make the experience less overwhelming and stressful. Also, if you have the time to do so, prepping any ingredients that need to be chopped, diced, etc before you start the cooking process will really help set you up for a more enjoyable cooking experience!”

BIG BRAIN THOUGHT OF THE WEEK.
is that a flying burrito?

Why, yes—yes, it is. Around 2010, Chipotle used to fly these blimps inside NBA and NHL arenas while dropping coupons for free burritos (guac not included, of course) into the crowd. If you ask me, this is the blimp’s finest form.