Good morning. Congratulations to our cutting board giveaway winners, Amber, Joel, and Nick!

If you want a maple board of your own, you can pick one up here. We've got more to share about our cutting boards in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out.

INGREDIENT DEEP DIVE 🍳

Yogurt, of course, is milk that’s been cultured with bacteria until it thickens and turns lightly tangy.

For cooking, plain yogurt is the version to keep around because it can be used in place of sour cream, buttermilk, crema, crème fraîche and even mayo, in some cases.

As long as it’s unsweetened, you can use basically any brand or style of yogurt. We’re partial to Greek yogurt for it’s higher protein and thick texture.

What are yogurt’s flavor properties?

Taste: Mildly tangy, lactic, clean

Texture: Creamy; Greek is thick and scoopable, regular yogurt is looser and sauce-friendly

Human: Used globally in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Eastern European cuisines, but almost every country has a version of cultured dairy

Why should you buy some?

One container can replace multiple specialty dairy items. It’s much easier to use up than single-purpose dairy (how many half-used tubs of sour cream have died in your fridge?).

You can use a spoonful here and there for cooking, then use the rest for breakfast — sweeten it yourself with honey, jam, fruit, or granola

Seriously, if a recipe calls for sour cream or buttermilk — don’t run to the store, just try it with yogurt already in your fridge instead (just thin with water if needed). Often the tangy, creamy flavor is indistinguishable in the end product in condiments and baked goods.

What else can you make with it?

Check out all of these and more on cookwell.com

A tub of plain yogurt in the fridge really shines for whipping up quick sauces and condiments:

All of these make use of other fridge items you likely have on hand, and can be mixed together in minutes. Because you’re using yogurt instead of mayo as the base, it’s lower in fat and higher in protein, especially when using a nonfat or Greek yogurt.

Another favorite of our is the pictured creamy buffalo sauce, which is basically just equal parts yogurt, butter, and a hot sauce of choice. Check out the free recipe here:

What are cookbook clubs and why are they popping up everywhere?

Think book club, but instead of just reading, everyone cooks.

Here’s how it works. The club chooses a single cookbook, and each member signs up to make a different recipe, potluck style. You eat through the book together. Some groups compare notes, discuss the spread, and decide what’s worth repeating.

Three reasons we love the idea:

1) Built-in dinner party structure: No host cooks everything. The workload is distributed, which lowers the barrier to gathering.

2) Deeper exploration: Instead of cooking one viral recipe, you experience a full range of dishes from a single cuisine or author.

3) Community + skill building: You expand your cooking repertoire while connecting with other home cooks. The pressure is less on you to come up with an innovative dish, and more on the cookbook.

The bigger picture: Cookbook clubs seem to highlight the desire for offline community and a renewed interest in actually cooking at home. It’s less about scrolling recipes and more about making them!

This week’s dinner winner is Mike S, who made masa biscuits with hatch green chili sausage gravy. What an awesome twist on the classic.

Here are the masa biscuits before and after baking, so you can get a better look at their color before they're smothered in gravy:

Masa harina (nixtamalized corn flour) is a really interesting ingredient to work with.

You can also learn to use masa harina in traditional dishes like homemade corn tortillas, tamales, gorditas, and more. We’ve put together a collection on Cook Well to get you started:

A read: A fine time for American wine

In a minute or less: Microwave salty caramel

What we’re watching: How one of America's best pit masters makes ribs

Use the Cook Well App on iOS, Android, or a browser

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