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Dinner Du Jour and More! by Julie Remer & Paula Weinstein

About.com Rating 5 Star Rating
User Rating 4.5 Star Rating (2 Reviews) write a review

From , former About.com Guide

Dinner Du Jour and More! by Julie Remer & Paula Weinstein

Dinner Du Jour and More! by Julie Remer & Paula Weinstein

The Bottom Line

Cookbooks written by caterers are my favorite. The recipes, which have been put to the test many times under different conditions, must be efficient and economical. And the recipes, which have been served to various customers, must be crowd pleasers both in terms of appearance and taste. In the end, the catering business, events and customers work together as a filter so that only the very best recipes make it into the book. Thus, I found Dinner Du Jour and More!, by caterers Julie Remer and Paula Weinstein, to be a gem of a cookbook.

Pros

  • 180 easy-to-make and delicious kosher recipes
  • Recipes have been tested by the authors' catering business
  • Recipes have been influenced by customer feedback
  • The book includes recipes needed for Jewish celebration and holiday menus
  • Recipes are labeled parve, dairy or meat

Cons

  • More recipes for those with restricted diets (low fat, low carb, ...) would be welcome.
  • Some kosher observant won't serve their recipes using Worcestershire sauce with meat dishes.

Description

  • 180 easy-to-make and delicious kosher recipes
  • Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Vegetables, Side Dishes, Main Dishes, Brunch, Passover, Desserts
  • Handy Spice and Herb Guide
  • Meat and Poultry Roasting Guides
  • Guide to Common Baking Dishes and Pans
  • Organized Index of Recipes

Guide Review - Dinner Du Jour and More! by Julie Remer & Paula Weinstein

The customer is always right. The first two printings of their cookbook Our Customers' Favorites sold out, and requests for the book kept coming in. Fortunately for us, popular caterers Julie Remer and Paula Weinstein listened to their customers and published Dinner Du Jour and More!.

Dinner Du Jour and More!, with recipes from the first book and some new favorites, is a gem. All recipes have been well tested and customer reviewed. As caterers, they used economical recipes that could be quickly prepared, sometimes in advance, for a crowd. And they offered recipes that met their customers special menu needs (Sabbath, holidays, and lifecycle celebrations). And, of course, their dishes had to look and taste wonderful.

I’ve found several Jewish holiday treasures in the book, such as Dairy Noodle Kugel for Yom Kippur Break Fast, Cabbage Rolls for Sukkot, Hamantashen for Purim, and Spinach Lasagna for Shavuot. My Floridian mother-in-law called me in Israel to say she tasted their Matzo Caramel Crunch and needs the recipe for next Passover.

Special occasions aside, many of their recipes have become an everyday part of our home. We regularly use their recipes for Asian Tuna Salad, Parve Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Chicken Marsala.

I use this cookbook so often that it never makes it to my shelf. I like having 180 practical and reliable recipes, wrapped in a succinct spiral-bound paperback, at my fingertips. It should be noted that the book costs about half as much as cookbooks with fancier wrappings. And Julie and Paula donate a portion of the book’s proceeds to breast cancer research.

I received Paula and Julie's first book as a Thanksgiving dinner favor, and I think the book makes an excellent gift. In fact, I think I’ll become the favorite son-in-law by sending my mother-in-law this cookbook, with its recipe for Matzo Caramel Crunch, for Mother’s Day.

User Reviews

 5 out of 5
Dinner Du Jour + Deinner Delicious, Member HarlanY

I love the book and this is coming from a guy who very recently, spent the bulk of his 48 years on the other side of the microwave, not the stove. I am gluten intolerant (a recent development) as I was delighted how many recipes were gluten free or easily modified. In particular, the Pesach Vegetable Pizza recipe has become a new fav (I make it with egg substitute, fat free or low fat Mozzarella and its even healthier and just as delicious. I am a big soup/stew kinda guy - make a big pot on the weekends, freeze some and have the rest during the week. The White Chicken Chili recipe alone is worth the price of admission. First time I made it the bachelor way (rotisserie chicken from the market and canned broth) and was so delicious, I made a double batch using a couple of roasting chickens to make stock from scratch. After I shredded the chicken, I let it marinate for a few hrs in some lime juice, cilantro, a touch of chili powder. I used fresh serrano and jalepanos instead of the canned chilies but added a large can of diced red pepper for some color - this is like a whole food group in and of itself! I also find it's quickly become my go to guide - the instructions are so clear, it makes a great reference for cooking times and other basic info that I never learned (or paid attention to). It covers all of the basic recipes and teaches you what you need to know if you want to take some of them and customize them - I am not longer a guy who doesn't cook!

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