(Part 2) Best homebrewing and kitchen books according to redditors

Yes! The Avignon Papacy sealed the legacy of the legendary wines of the Rhone Valley, particularly that of Chanteauneuf du Pape ("New Home of the Pope"), which are some of the finest wines in the world.

So my sources on this are limited, but I did do a fair amount of research on this during graduate school. However, this is very outside my specialty, so I welcome more qualified responses to this explanation.

Before the Avignon Papacy, the region was a friendly hub for Judaism. While the Rhone Valley had already long been established as a wine staple in France, it was a large producer of Kosher wines (local Cistercian monks also produced wine in the region). When Clement V put the wheels in motion for moving the Papacy to France, he basically selected his favorite grapes and had vineyards grown on the Papal property, which is now the appellation known as Chateauneuf du Pape.

These wines have a cult following and are quite delicious and more affordable than the robust wines of Burgundy or Bordeaux.

Sources:

-I worked with a famous CDP wine portfolio while studying this in graduate school;

-[Les Juifs du Pape] (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/les-juifs-du-pape-ren-moulinas/1120029327);

-[Monks and Wine] (http://www.amazon.com/Monks-Wine-Desmond-Seward/dp/0517539144); and

-[This article] (http://www.marvellous-provence.com/gastronomy/drink/wine/wine-and-the-avignon-popes) and [this one] (http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-03-21/news/bs-md-backstory-wine22-20130321_1_chateauneuf-du-pape-wine-bar-avignon-popes) have some good info, too.

edits: Formatting

Adapted from The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book

2 tbsp oil
2 onions
1 large sweet potato or 2 medium ones, chopped roughly
2 carrots, sliced thin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small knob of ginger, minced
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups chicken broth (from bouillon)
1/3 cup spicy peanut butter
2/3 cup crunchy peanut butter

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until nearly soft and transparent, then stir in carrots , garlic and sweet potatoes. Cook for about 60 seconds, then add ginger and spices. Stir to coat, then add broth.

Bring mixture to simmer, stir in peanut butter until smooth, then cover and cook for 30 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice

This is my full list of books from /r/homebrewing but it includes pro level books:

New Brewers:

• How to Brew - John Palmer
  
• Brewing classic styles- Jamil Zainasheff
  
• Designing Great Beers - Ray Daniels
  
• The Complete Joy of Homebrewing - Charlie Papazian
  
  Continued Learning:
  
  
• Water - Palmer and Kaminsky
  
• Yeast - Zainicheff and White
  
• Malt - Mallet
  
• Hops - Hieronymous
  
• Experimental Brewing - Drew Beechum and Denny Conn
  
• Radical Brewing - Randy Mosher
  
• Brewing Better Beer - Gordon Strong
  
  Specialty/Advanced/Other:
  
  
• American Sour Beers - Michael Tonsmeire (/u/oldsock)
  
• Brewing with Wheat - Stan Hieronymus
  
• IPA: Brewing Techniques - Mitch Steele
  
• Farmhouse Ales - Phil Markowski
  
• Brew Like a Monk - Stan Hieronymus
  
• New Brewing Lager Beers - Gregory J. Noonan
  
• Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers- Stephen Harrod Buhner
  
• Drink: a cultural history of alcohol - Iain gately
  
• Principals of Brewing Science - George Fix
  
  Business Books:
  
  
• Brewing Up a Business - Sam Calagione
  
• Brewers association Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery - Cantwell, among others
  
• SO you want to start a brewery - Tony magee
  
• Beyond the Pale: The Story of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co - Ken Grossman
  
• Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery Paperback –Steve Hindy & Tom Potter
  
  Technical Readings (Textbooks might be expensive):
  
  
• Brewery Operations Manual - Tom Hennessy
  
• Beer Packaging - Master Brewers Association
  
• Technology Brewing and Malting - W. Kunze, 5th Edition
  
• Malting and Brewing Science, Volume 1 - Many Authors
  
• Malting and Brewing Science, Volume 2 - Many Authors
  
• Brewing yeast and fermentation - Boulton and Quain

If you're interested An Edge in the Kitchen is great book all about the subject of kitchen knives, from how a knife cuts and sharpening skills, to various cutting skills, and even several solid blade recommendations.

Try this in English.

Check out the rest of her channel - she has hundreds of recipes in English French and Arabic.

If you want a really nice cookbook, try Paula Wolfert's Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco I've been using it for years - I'm sure there are some good bread recipes in it. She lived in Maroc for years, and explains a lot more than the recipes.

What I really miss is SFINJ (I don't know the plural!)
I used to get them often early in the morning when I lived in Marrakesh - they would make them right before you and string them hot on a palm leaf. I loved watching the guy make them.

Buy this one and read it first:
https://www.amazon.com/Vineyards-Rocks-Soils-Lovers-Geology/dp/0190863285

Then grab this one and read it next:
https://www.amazon.com/Sunlight-Handbook-Grape-Canopy-Arrangement/dp/1875130101

Even though I am a homebrewing nerd; I think this is one of the best applied chemistry textbooks out there.

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Brewing-Science-George-Fix/dp/B006776OL4/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342082291&sr=1-4

his books are very good also. And so are Don Gazzagnia's cookbooks. http://www.amazon.com/No-Salt-Lowest-Sodium-Cookbook-Donald-Gazzaniga/dp/0312291647

Since being diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure a few years back I swear by No / low salt. Last year I was diagnosed as no longer having heart failure. I'm sure it's from the salt reduction.

I hope your friend is doing better. I changed up my diet so that my macros are now 20% carb/35% protein/45% fat. All of my fat comes from olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, or fatty fish. I don't use butter or cream (in small amounts in recipes, maybe), I don't eat egg yolks, and I only eat red meat once a week. Every meal is full of veggies, and I tend to stack my carbs in the morning for energy (most at breakfast, moderate at lunch). I have a few vegetarian meals throughout the week, and I eat more fish than an orca at SeaWorld.

A great book to start with is Against the Grain. Since you like to cook, it's a great place for recipes. I also picked this one up. It's a longer read but it's got a ton of information about nutrition in it.

I use it in lots of recipes instead of butter. It's just such a fantastic and flavorful cooking medium. For example:

• I rub it all over a chicken before I roast the chicken. Makes the otherwise excellent chicken skin taste even better.
  
  
• I sauté (or pan fry) the onions, carrots, and chicken in it when I make chicken soup. Adds an unbelievable quality to the soup.
  
  
• I rub it on a potato before I bake it.
  
  In his book, The Food of France, Waverly Root essentially divides French cooking media into the following:
  
  
• Olive oil: associated primarily with Provence and the southeast.
  
  
• Butter and cream: associated primarily with Normandy and the northwest.
  
  
• Animal fats (pork, goose, and duck): associated primarily with the Gascony and the southwest.
  
  So when you think about cooking with rendered duck fat, you can pretty much think about the cooking of southwest France.
  

Initially, when I turned 21, I received a copy of Gorssman's Guide to WIne, Spirits, and Beer. I let it fall open to the Bordeaux section and went to the Liquor store and matched what I had read to some wines and got a few (in my price range).

Then documentary SOMM for me as well, really kicked up my intrest. There is something about seeing how passionate others are about somethings that really piques my interest. The nuances and intricacies of things as well being able to really dig into something.

Also, as I have progressed out of my youthful early 20's, I have looked for hobbies and interests that will stand the test of time and that can grow with me. Wine seams to fill that as well.

So after that, a quick search of the local wine scene reveled some wine classes, and the rest is history after that!

I have a cookbook obsession, I have roughly 500 that are somewhat organized so I feel like I can be of great use here. I will break it down by type to make it easier.

Bibles

• Baking Bible
  
• Cake Bible
  
• The Pie and Pastry Bible
  
  Bread
  
  
• Beard on Bread
  
• Bread
  
• Bread Baker's Apprentice
  
• Flour Water Salt Yeast
  
• Josey Baker Bread (I just genuinely like this guy tho lol)
  
• All of the Tartine books (just get all of them, Chad is the man when it comes to bread)
  
  Caramels/Candys/Ice Cream
  
  
• Ample hills creamery
  
• Artisan caramels
  
• Chocolates & Confections
  
• The Sweet Book of Candy Making
  
• Sweet Cream And Sugar Cones
  
  Jack of all trades
  
  
• Baked Occasions
  
• Baker's four seasons
  
• Flour
  
• Flour Too
  
• Model Bakery Cookbook
  
• Momofuku Milk Bar
  
• Ovenly
  
  Pastry/Pies
  
  
• The Art of French Pastry (this is one of my all time favorites)
  
• Creative Eclairs (whole set is great for beginners to intermediates)
  
• First Prize Pies
  
  Textbooks
  
  
• Baking and pastry
  
• On Baking
  
  
  I'm sure I am leaving out a bunch of great ones but if I had to suggest just 1 to anyone it would DEFINITELY be The Art of French Pastry. Best for somebody who has done basics already and looking to try a little more. Even as a professional baker I find myself coming back and just reading the little spots like how he burned himself on his caramel. Great, great book!

Modernist Cuisine at Home by Nathan Myrvold.

Maximum Flavor by Kamozawa and Talbot.

The New Best Recipe by Cook's Illustrated Magazine.

Also, it's not out yet (published on Oct 28), but if they are gourmets they might be interested in Dominique Ansel's The Secret Recipes. He's the guy who invented the cronut, and the recipes are going to be from his bakery in NYC.

First steps in wine making by CJJ Berry. https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Steps-Winemaking-C-Berry/dp/0900841400

Okay I can't pick just one, so I'll give you a range of prices so you have more options.

Reuseable Shopping Bag

Slow Cooker Cookbook

Noodle Bowl Set

Board Game

Dishes

Clue

Any kind of Legos

Animal Treats

Just some more suggestions. Anything hobby related, books, movies and music are good. Toys, we all need some toys. :D

Peter Greweling's Chocolates and Confections discusses the science behind it as well as the different techniques. I highly recommend this book if you're looking to get into chocolate / candy-making.

I suspect they would be more of a Williams-Sonoma fan.

I still can't figure out what "Top Secret Recipes" is supposedly about.

Cooking better than your mom?
Cooking better than Jesse Pinkman?
Cooking better than Hans von Dach (as per vol. 2 of his most famous book)?

Even the torrent's description (in translation) just says: "Someone who might want to have some secret recipes". Well, what kind of secret recipes? How to make Coca Cola? How to make the secret sauce? Do I really have to download a torrent that may or may not contain content distributed in contravention of copyright just to find out?

EDIT: Okay, so a little birdie told me that the "Top Secret Recipes" torrent-linked content is apparently just a compilation of some or all of the recipes from this book, many of which appear to be instructions how to recreate the food served in American corporate big brand restaurants like KFC, Wendy's, IHOP, etc. So this isn't about cooking meth or chemical weapons or explosives or whatever; my apologies in case this disappoints anyone. Don't shoot the messenger.

a fun well made book the recipes work do not worry about them being accurate follow how they are written and they are proportionate!

http://www.amazon.com/Molto-Gusto-Easy-Italian-Cooking/dp/0061924326

I completely agree with Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything as essential... would add that the Donna Hay books "New Food Fast", "Off The Shelf", and "Flavors" are all excellent for inspiration. They have beautiful photos and great simple recipes, but are condensed full of info (unlike the trend of many cookbooks to be mostly large type and large photos: little content).