Happy Sunday.

Today’s newsletter is brought to you by our new home cooking community — which launched today! More info below.

In This Week’s Edition:

Community & Bonus Content 🍿 — Subscription Tiers Announcement!

Try Something New 🤯 — Pickling Framework

Throwback Time 🍳 — Does Flour Type Matter?

The Leftover Shelf 🥡 — Extra Pizza Dough Ideas

Extra Helpings 🤤 — Celebrity Chefs, Viral Negronis, & More

Shopping List ✅ — Sorted Ingredients for Easy Shopping!

Community & Bonus Content 🍿

Want to support this newsletter, the YouTube channel, influence future topics, or get even more content? Consider joining one of the new home cooking community and content tiers:

• Community Tier ($5.99/mo): Interact with Ethan, the team, and like-minded home cooks.

• Community + Bonus Content Tier ($9.99/mo): Access exclusive podcast episodes, an advanced bonus newsletter, recipe illustration downloads, and more.

This newsletter and the YouTube videos will always be free — our hope is to make the usual content even better with the support and extra dialogue from this new community.

​Sign up in the first month to be a Founding Member 👑 and help name the community.

Try Something New 🤯

Expand your home cooking horizons by pickling everything!

Pickling Framework

Note: this is for quick pickling, which is different from canning and preserving vegetables long term.

Pickling Liquid

• 1 part water

• 1 part vinegar

• 2% salt by weight

• Optional flavor adjusters: sugar, whole spices (bay leaves, peppercorns, mustard seeds, star anise, etc), garlic cloves, & herbs (dill, tarragon, fennel, etc).

Pickling Process

1. You can use almost any vegetable, but firm ones usually work best for texture (like carrots, cauliflower, green beans, and peppers). Cut them however you want and add them to a jar.

2. Bring all pickling liquid components to a boil, and then pour over the jarred vegetables, making sure to completely cover them.

3. Store in the fridge. They’ll be ready in a few hours to overnight, but they get more intense the longer they sit (and can last for a month or two)

Notes: The pickling liquid base is just a starting point. You might want your pickles more or less acidic/salty. Adjust the ratios to your preference. Sugar is commonly added to sweeten and balance the pickles. Experiment with different kinds of vinegar and flavor adjusters.

Throwback Time 🍳

Does flour type make a difference? Do you really need to buy pizza flour, bread flour, or Italian 00 to make a great pie?

Video Results: While each flour produced a great slice, the premium flours were easier to work with and produced a more airy crust, thanks to the higher protein (and gluten quality) upgrades from All-Purpose.

Check out the full video for dough science breakdowns, like:

• The differences between bleached, un-bleached, whole wheat, and specialty flours.

• When you might want to splurge for nice 00, bread, or pizza flour.

We’d encourage you to pick up a few different bags and try for yourself. Working with dough is the best way to internalize how different flours behave, and what’s worth buying in the future.

Plus, here are a few ideas to make with any extra dough:

The Leftover Shelf 🥡

Leftovers are back in style…if you know how to use them.

This week’s move:

Leftover Pizza Dough → Truffle Knots, Breakfast Calzones, & Donut Holes

If you don’t just want to make pizza rolls with extra dough, try these instead:

1) Truffle Parmesan Knots

• Roll the dough into a roughly 1” (3 cm) rope, and cut into 3” (9 cm) long segments. Tie each segment into an overhand knot.

• Toss in a 350°F oven until golden brown and cooked through, and toss with truffle oil & grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Melted butter with garlic & herbs also works.

2) Breakfast Calzone

• Roll out the dough into a circle (You can make one larger calzone or multiple smaller ones).

• Add your choice of scrambled eggs, cheese, cooked potatoes, chopped cooked bacon or sausage, and salsa to one side. Fold the dough over the top and crimp and seal the edge, pushing out any excess air.

• Optionally brush with oil or egg wash. Poke a few holes for steam venting and cook into a 350°F oven until golden brown and cooked through.

3) Cinnamon Sugar “Donuts Holes”

• Roll out the dough into golf-ball-sized spheres, and let proof for a few minutes on the counter.

• Shallow fry these in a layer of oil, flipping until both sides are browned and the dough is cooked through, drain on a paper towel, then toss with granulated sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Extra Helpings 🤤

🚀 Viral Eats

Cooking trends explained.

Q: Why did the Negroni Spagliato get so popular?

A: The Negroni Sbagliato craze began when HBO Max’s Tiktok account posted a video featuring House of Dragon stars Emma D’Archy and Olivia Cooke.

Why did the trend catch on? While a traditional Negroni is boozy and bitter, a Negroni Sbagliato is more approachable and balanced:

• It’s equally sweet and bitter, thanks to the fortified wine red vermouth and Campari, and gets a bubbly lift from effervescent Prosecco.

• The lower alcohol by volume (abv) and added dilution from the Prosecco also makes it easier to drink.

Where does this drink come from?

In Italian, “sbagliato” means “mistake.” Supposedly, a bartender grabbed sparkling wine instead of gin when making a Negroni and was pleasantly surprised by the error. The drink stuck.

🧠 Reader Q&A

Q: "What’s your take on celebrity chefs? Are they the best cooks to learn from?" — Jon C.

A: The camera confidence and concise TV segments often seem like the easiest way to learn cooking. The issue is that these polished on-screen lessons don’t show what we have to consider at home — normal home kitchen setups and equipment, dishes to clean, using up fridge ingredients, etc.

While celebrity chefs usually have impressive restaurant experience to pull from, the reality is that home cooking and restaurant cooking are quite different. Home cooks have to think about nesting their cooking tasks to save time, including gathering and prepping ingredients, and then putting everything away.

If you want to see how Ethan approaches cooking a full meal for multiple people in 30-40 minutes (from start to finish including gathering ingredients and cleaning all the dishes), then you might find his steak dinner home kitchen cooking experience helpful.

🏆 Dinner Winner! Reader Photo Submission of the Week

This week’s winner is Dhruv K., who created a twist on Ethan’s Chicken Spiedies recipe with a soy-chili-ginger crispy tofu sandwich on a bed of arugula, topped with pickled onions. Well done.

Reply with a picture of the best meal you made this week for a chance to be featured in a future email.

🍽 More Yummy Content

A Read: Mixing Sushi Rice in a Cocktail?​

In a Minute or Less: Pico de Gallo ASMR​

What We’re Watching: Lifelike Dessert Artwork​

Food Science: Does Real or Imitation Vanilla Make a Difference?​

Upgrade Your Feeds: Connect with Ethan everywhere​

Ready to shop? 🛒

​✅ Shopping List 4/30