Elevate your at-home meals or impress your guests with the perfect pairings of beer and wine. Whether you’re missing the local pub and wanting to bring bar bites into your home or hoping to serve a more sophisticated white linen feast, these five books will help you plan the perfect meal and pair it with the best beverages.
For a surprisingly sophisticated guide to bringing beer to the table, try Beer Lover’s Table: Seasonal Recipes and Modern Beer Pairings by Claire Bullen and Jen Ferguson. Every recipe features a “pair with” and “three beers to try” section that includes brews from around the world. You’ll also find a beer guide at the start of every chapter. Learn about lagers including what distinguishes a pale from an IPA or a DIPA. Try dishes like vanilla panna cotta with rhubarb compote, Vietnamese pork belly with noodles, frizzled shallots, and watermelon salad. Mix your favorite pint into the recipe with beer-braised short ribs. Top it off with dessert like the chai-spiced cheesecake. Best for beer and fine dishes.
$19.95, Hardcover
176 pages, 7 1/2 x 9 1/4
Dog ‘n’ Bone
ISBN: 9781911026785
For pub-worthy plates and beer-drenched batters, reach for Bacon, Beans, and Beer by Eliza Cross. This small book features recipes that showcase some of America’s favorite staples: bacon, beans, and beer. Snack on beer-glazed peanuts, beer pretzels, beer candied bacon, or crispy beer chicken wings. Serve up chilis, soups, chowders, and sandwiches. Indulge your meaty sweet tooth with chocolate-glazed bacon brownies. Best for game day grabs.
$14.99, Hardcover
128 pages, 7 x 7
Gibbs Smith
ISBN: 9781423650409
Wine and dine with Italian cuisine from Friuli Food and Wine: Frasca Cooking from Northern Italy’s Mountains, Vineyards, and Seaside by Bobby Stuckey, Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, and Meredith Erickson. This wide, coffee-table book with a linen cover offers more than just recipes. Enjoy a large “winemakers to watch” section that features full color photos and information about people working the vineyards. Sample the best of what Italy has to offer with 80 recipes and pairings. You’ll find cheese and cream rich dishes, pasta, seafood, and scrumptious desserts like tiramisu and gelati. The restaurant guide will help you plan your next trip to Italy’s grape growing region. Best coffee-table book for Italian food and wine.
$50.00, Hardcover
272 pages, 9 1/4 x 11
Ten Speed Press
ISBN: 9780399580611
For a truly inspirational and comprehensive guide to food and wine, check out Wine Food: New Adventures in Drinking and Cooking by Dana Frank and Andrea Slonecker. You’ll find every kind of wine you can think of paired with the perfect recipes displayed in full-page photos. Fill up on knowledge with introductions on both wine and food at the start of every recipe. Try Chablis paired with cast-iron skillet mussels coated in pancetta-chive butter, Rosé with roasted shallot pissaladiere, or Gemischter Satz and spring green picnic rolls. For those looking for simpler dishes, there’s a “pairing cheat sheet” for wine and grilled cheese. Most comprehensive guide to wine and food pairings.
$25.00, Hardcover
256 pages, 7 1/4 x 10
Lorena Jones Books
ISBN: 9780399579592
Lovers of California Wine Country will be delighted by Wine Country Table: With Recipes that Celebrate California’s Sustainable Harvest by Janet Fletcher with photography by Robert Holmes and Sara Remington. This thick and heavy book reads like a food history and offers tons of information on wineries in California. You’ll also find information about selecting and storing foods like figs and olive oil. A number of recipes include wine on the ingredients list, like red wine braised duck legs with dried plums and nectarines in raspberry wine sauce with toasted almond and anise biscotti. You’ll find simpler fare as well, such as kale salad with red grapes, walnuts, and feta. Best for California wine enthusiasts.
$45.00, Hardcover
352 pages, 8 1/2 x 10 1/2
Rizzoli
ISBN: 9780847865437