Orexi!: Feasting at the modern Greek table Hardcover – April 9, 2019

Purchased this book as part of an Auction Gift Basket for my children’s school. I love it so much plan on purchasing another one for myself. The illustrations are beautiful and recipes are spot on.

Gorgeous! Absolutely beautiful cookbook, lovely pictures and a wide array of recipes that make greek food attainable for any home cook! Makes a great gift for any chef. Absolutely love this book

What's not to like about Greek cooking? It's got all the flavors and covers all the cooking techniques that I love: Grilled foods, with their char, caramelization and succulence; sauces of yogurt, tomato, olive oil, garlic; lamb, every which way; beans, cooked slow and in soups; and veggies, veggies and more veggies. So, I've indulged myself with several Greek cook books. Somehow, this one, by Theo Michaels, gives very satisfactory coverage to all of that and more. And it surprises me, because this is a relatively small book with way less than a hundred recipes.Theo Michaels does more than provide recipes. He tells the story of Greek life, coaches and gives tips. He uses personal history and family recipes to expound on traditional Greek flavors and cooking techniques.Who is Theo Michaels? I was not aware of him before I picked up this book. But I will tell you something that might help convince you to pick up this book too: Do you relate to Lidia Bastianich, her PBS television shows and her books that feature Italian and Italian-American foods? I like her! She is always so personable, and she has so much experience and she loves to teach and share good things and good thoughts. Well, delving into this book, I immediately saw a striking resemblance between the Italian-Croatian Lidia and this Greek Theo Michaels. He's personable. He loves to teach and share. He seems very conscientious in his demeanor. He's like a Greek Lidia. (Hope he does not take offense to me comparing the two--here in a review of his book.....)Some observations on "Orexi!":--There are many fine sauces and marinades in this book, and, of course, they can be used with the recipes they are associated with in this book. But they are also great for other dishes. There are several "keepers": A Fiery Tzatziki Sauce, a yogurt sauce for marinating lamb for grilling; a sauce for salmon, either on the grill or in the oven, another sauce for fish in packets.--There are many fish recipes--and they are versatile in that you can always change out one fish for another with similar characteristics.--There are many lamb recipes, too. I especially love one that uses cubes of leg meat, marinated in a yogurt sauce (that I've already mentioned above). Down in Texas, we don't see lamb featured at the grocery store. But I can always find a leg of lamb. I debone it, and portion it into pieces, butterfly the portions for grilling. This idea to cube the leg meat, marinate it, skewer it, then grill it, gives us a much-appreciated change-up.--We also love beans at our house: The giant beans baked in tomato sauce is very good, although I make the dish a bit soupier. There is a Cypriot White Beans In Tomato Sauce that we like, too. There again, we like the sauce to be a bit looser.--A real winner is a ceviche of white fish, "cooked" in lemon juice and mixed with watermelon cubes. Fishermen who are looking for ways to use their walleye catch will love this easy recipe for a light dinner or appetizer after a long, hot day in the boat.This author likes to use a pinch of this, a glug of that, a quarter teaspoon, etc. That's the only thing, really, that I don't go for in these recipes. We like more liquid, so I interpret a more generous pinch and glug than this chef does. With some experience, it is an easy adjustment. With the pinch and glug technique, you get the authentic version of a Greek home cook, with a little of this and a little of that.Regarding the layout: I can't really comment on that because I received an early temporary download from the publisher. I can say that there seems to be a beautiful full-color photo of every dish. The instructions are very clear. Ingredient lists are decent enough--although you will see ingredients like "one eggplant", and you won't have a clue as to the size or weight of it.

This book is filled with mouthwateringly divine dishes. Everything we tried was company-worthy. I adore Greek cookbooks and this one’s my personal favorite to date. Super fresh, super flavorful, good for you, and pretty to boot. Most of the recipes are pretty easy, and if there are a few extra steps, it’s worth it. Everything was absolute perfection.My thoughts and pics of the dishes we tried:1) Grandmother’s Meatballs – p 41. These are easy and terrific.2) Seared Goat’s Cheese with Hazelnuts & Honey – p 22. We loved this. It’s a combination of earthy vegetables with the tangy goat cheese that picks up a little nuttiness when seared and then dressed with hazelnuts.3) Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Fiery Tzatziki – 149. Really simple but perfect. My kids don’t like lamb or duck because they find it gamey, and they both really enjoyed this. He uses a lot higher salt ratio than I usually use with meat. I’m going to try that with duck next time.4) Charred Courgettes (Zucchini) – p 132. Strong lemon and garlic flavor. These are craveable.5) Spicy Chicken Souvlaki – p 151. Easy and strongly flavored. My grocer didn’t have any red (fresno) peppers, so I substituted in jalapeno.6-7) Smoky Chocolate Baklava – p 173. We loved this. His instructions are for smoking the chocolate on the stovetop, but I have a big smoker in the backyard, so I just smoked it in there after I pulled dinner off. I think I’ll actually bake it off right in there next time to make it even smokier. Killer baklava. There’s no honey involved. He has you make an espresso syrup to compliment the chocolate.8) Pork Fillet with Smoky White Beans & Pickled Apricot Salsa – p 90. This is heavenly. The pork tenderloin is brined, seared, quickly roasted, and then rests while you finish everything else. The result is the juiciest tenderloin. The beans are flavored with bacon, onions, garlic, bay, wine, and chicken stock. The pickled apricots balance everything perfectly. This one has a few steps but is way beyond worth it. Gorgeous dish!9) Greek Salad – p 109. Simple perfection.10) Cauliflower with Tahini – p 37. Lots of flavor with just a few ingredients and a quick roast in the oven makes this a great side dish.Some others I have flagged to try: Salt Baked Beetroot with Wild Garlic – 17 * Rainbow Tomato Salad – p 18 * Vegetable Tempura – p 30 * Prawns Baked in Feta and Tomato Sauce – p 63 * Hake ‘En Papillote’ with Fennel & Preserved Lemon (I will probably need to substitute cod unless it’s a particularly lucky day at the grocer) – p 64 * Lamb Sirloin with Cumin Crust – p 74 * Ten Cloves Garlic Lemon Chicken – p 97 * Feta & Mint Greens – p 102 * Oven Baked Vegetables with Harissa – p 118 * Fresh Figs with Goat’s Curd & Orange – p 126 * Grilled Aubergines (eggplant) & Feta – p 132 * Barbecued Salmon in Spiced Yogurt Marinade – p 137 * Cod with Kalamata Olives wrapped in Dry-Cured Ham – p 141 * Skewered Goat Cheese, Date & Pancetta Parcels – p 146*I received a copy to explore and share my thoughts.