Party Like a Culinista: Fresh Recipes, Bold Flavors, and Good Friends [Paperback]

Jill Donenfeld (Author), Josetth Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2011

Party Like a Culinista is your guide to throwing dinner parties using fresh recipes that balance health, fun, and class. The culinista way to party means letting loose in the kitchen with unforgettable menus full of flair and fun that will wow your friends without weighing them down. With a healthy body and environment in mind, culinistas are all about minimally processed whole foods and lots of greens and grains — but they also remember to balance our indulgent side, including plenty of recipes that splurge in just the right places.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I love the fact that Jill and Josie are both believers in the importance of having dinner with your family and friends whenever possible.  In fact, the dedication for their book says, 'This cookbook is dedicated to our families who taught us to cook with love, share the table, and celebrate'."-- Susie, Return to Sunday Supper

About the Author

Jill Donenfeld is the founder of The Culinistas, a weekly home chef service in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.  But books, new business ventures, and killer parties make her repertoire a touch more eclectic.  Since writing restaurant reviews for Time Out New York and then living in Madagascar where she was inspired to write a cookbook (Mankafy Sakafo: Delicious Meals From Madagascar), Jill has been interested in how mealtime rituals influence societies.  Her next cookbook, Party Like a Culinista is recently in stores and published by Lake Isle Press.  She writes for The Huffington Post (a column called Band Bites) and worked on location to write a cookbook for an Indian hotel in Tamil Nadu. her style, food, and travel has been chronicled in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, The LATimes, Daily Candy, Goop and Entrepreneur.  She splits her time between Malibu and Manhattan and almost always says "yes" when invited elsewhere. 

Chef Josetth Gordon cooks and entertains in NYC with the following in mind: 

If you can sit with someone and enjoy a nurturing experience with them, you will forever be linked to that person and the entire moment builds your spirit. Your life is forever changed!  She strives to encourage these experiences on a daily basis.  As a truly spiritual experience, she caters parties "for the love of food and everything that comes with it".

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Lake Isle Press (October 16, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891105507
• ISBN-13: 978-1891105500
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Have a perfect party with this book. October 8, 2011

By Valerie S

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Just looking at the cover of Jill Donenfeld and Josetth Gordon's new cookbook, makes me smile. It generates happiness. I am excited and inspired to have a dinner party right now! I have a huge number of cookbooks but none quite like this one. This book is an absolute gem.

Party Like A Culinista has an amazing format. Not only are there menu suggestions, each recipe is designated as "easy", "make ahead", "vegan" or "vegan flex", as well as offering the cooking order. The book even suggests when to change into your party clothes! How fun is that? The photos of the prepared recipes in the book are beautiful and make my mouth water because they look so delicious. The chapters in this book offer suggestions for all different kinds of parties from the casual daytime party to a last minute party, an anytime party or even a big "blow out" more formal party.

I have tried quite a few of the recipes in this book and found them all delicious, unique with a nod towards healthy preparation and ingredients. Though everything has been absolutely excellent some of my favorites are: the Chicken and Apricot Falafel, the Seafood Cobb, the Warm Squash Salad with Faro, Hazelnuts, and Currants, the Arugula and Mozzarella Salad with Eggplant Caponate and the Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas. The Chorizo Red Pepper Polenta Squares are fabulous and a snap to make.

As for ease of use, I think the pictures are really helpful, the directions are very clear with tons of information so that even an inexperienced cook can prepare an impressive, flavorful and healthy meal that will be an enormous hit with his or her guests. The authors offer suggestions for the substitution of hard to find or out of season ingredients.... Stated prep/cooking times seem right on, and since many of them require less than an hour, it's pretty easy to pull together a meal quickly. I appreciate that the advance preparation and hold times for the refrigerator and freezer (if applicable) that are given for each recipe. I almost feel as if I am in an expensive cooking class. The introduction includes good information about ingredients, preparation and even equipment. Variations to the recipes are also provided to make them vegan. Finally, I think there are numerous recipes that would appeal to people who like lean proteins with healthy, flavorful sauces, too. If you like lots of flavor, you won't go wrong with this book. It is sure to become one of your favorites. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brillant Recipes & Easy to Follow October 10, 2011

By SheraineKG

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm a big party planner and I was enthused to find a cookbook that offers refreshing recipes that are easy to follow. You can get recipe ideas for simple cost effective dishes but there are also plenty of decadent and indulgent recipes to follow. I'm a big fan of preparing dishes in advance so I'm not overwhelmed the day of the party and "Party like a Culinista" has created an easy guide to show those dishes that can be prepared in advance. I bought this book last week and I've made two dishes already. Each dish turned out Fab and my cooking skill ratings have gone up as a result ;). I would say this cookbook is a necessity.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Menu Inspiration for Every Party Occasion October 17, 2011

By Dee Long

Format:Paperback

Catering professionals Jill Donenfeld and Josie Gordon make a strong case for bypassing prepared and frozen foods as party fare and jumping in with both spoons to create freshly made party fare that will dazzle and delight your guests.

The suggested menus cover a range of party occasions, from impromptu and daytime to anytime and just a party of two. The creative recipes feature great color and flavor appeal to not only look good on the serving tray but taste delicious on the tongue. And these gals are great at tweaking standard favorites to create something new and sublime, such as the Five Spice Whipped Cream used on apricot Shortcake or designing a salad using squash, farro, currants and hazlenuts or serving a rosemary and olive oil popcorn with cocktails.

Each recipe comes with a "notes" section offering important preparation or serving tips and there is a good selection of color photos showing off the finished dishes. "Party Like a Culinista" will actually have you looking forward to creating fresh menu offerings rather than relying on prepared re-heats.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great ideas for serving something differnt on the healthy side December 29, 2012

By Kathryn thompson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book offers Great ideas for serving something different and on the healthy side. Love the recipes and the ideas. this makes a great gift for those who like to entertain and cook on the creative, healthy side.

5.0 out of 5 stars agreat gift December 13, 2012

By J. Smitj

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

A great gift for my 20 something Great neice. I look forward to her parties and the goodies she will come up with

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book! August 27, 2012

By Jannimal

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Great easy recipes that lean towards classy/healthy. Geared towards party settings- but good for any dinner. Lots of the ideas can be incorporated into other recipes to make them healthier, like using a large boiled collard leaf to wrap burriots.

YUM!

5.0 out of 5 stars Book to organize your party January 5, 2012

By George Erdosh

Format:Paperback

This superbly organized cookbook reflects Donenfeld and Gordon's background as caterers. Party Like a Culinista was written for home cooks who like to entertain. It is a large-format, beautifully illustrated trade paperback jazzed up by full-page photos as well as series of thumbnails of techniques. The authors divided the book into five sections: Anytime Parties, Daytime Parties, Party of Two, Last-Minute Parties and Blowout Parties. Each section contains a number of menus with recipes for each menu. For every menu item designation at a glance is given whether it is speedy, make ahead, vegan and/or vegan flex (easily converted to vegan). It also gives wine pairing, a very useful cooking order and (since the book was written for women), wardrobe change schedule. For each recipe a generous preparation time is shown and good tips on variations and preparation. The recipes are clearly written, carefully placed on single pages and ingredients are easily available. The authors like sustainable and organic ingredients which also means extra cost (purple potatoes, agave syrup, brown rice flour). In addition to the recipes they include many useful extras (tools, ingredients, pantry, techniques). Index is very good. This book really helps you get organized in cooking.