Entertaining and booze are two of the hottest topics in the cookbook world, and Ryan Jennings and David Steele have continued their winning formula in Entertaining with Booze, the duo’s follow-up to their previous bestseller, Cooking with Booze. Instead of creating recipes with herbs and spices, the premise of Entertaining with Booze is that your liquor cupboard should be thought of as an extension of the spice rack — where you use alcohol to create delicious and unusual dishes for any party you can imagine.

I was treated to the exotic braised short ribs by a friend of mine (the best cook I know). The five-spice powder and red wine combined to create a subtle, tender dish. The book covers standard information on cooking with wine and beer, along with delicious-sounding and unusual dishes incorporating less well-known spirits and liquors from around the world. Sections featuring a single spirit, like the recipes that feature Scotch for Robbie Burns’ Day, contain a description of the history and uses of the featured liquor written in an open, knowledgeable style.

In addition to telling the reader how to plan and host a great party, Entertaining with Booze is filled with party-theme ideas. Feeling the midwinter blahs? Why not have your friends over for a “Smokin’ Hookah Party?” The menu includes a lamb tagine with port and cinnamon, as well as an almond and cardamon baklava.

Since every book club I’ve ever belonged to has existed more for drinking and gossip than any real literary discussion, I chuckled when I read the menu for “Bookworms and Booze.” While I haven’t been served wishing trees with strawberry sambuca vinaigrette, the dish would make a classy alternative to the more typical chips and dip nibbled on by most bookworms.

Part recipe book and part entertainment manual, Entertaining with Booze is much more than a novelty cookbook. Even non-drinkers are covered, with a segment on non-alcoholic party drinks. Another section has practical suggestions on how to get your guests out the door at the end of the bash — drunk or not. Filled with cheeky humour and eye-catching photographs, Entertaining with Booze offers a little bit of everything for would-be hosts and hostesses.