How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking
A rising star in the food world, Michael Psilakis is co-owner of a growing empire of modern Mediterranean restaurants, and one of the most exciting young chefs in America today. In How to Roast a Lamb, the self-taught chef offers recipes from his restaurants and his home in this, his much-anticipated first cookbook. Ten chapters provide colorful and heartfelt personal essays that lead into thematically related recipes. Gorgeous color photography accompanies many of the recipes throughout....
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A rising star in the food world, Michael Psilakis is co-owner of a growing empire of modern Mediterranean restaurants, and one of the most exciting young chefs in America today. In How to Roast a Lamb, the self-taught chef offers recipes from his restaurants and his home in this, his much-anticipated first cookbook. Ten chapters provide colorful and heartfelt personal essays that lead into thematically related recipes. Gorgeous color photography accompanies many of the recipes throughout. Psilakis's cooking utilizes the fresh, naturally healthful ingredients of the Mediterranean augmented by techniques that define New American cuisine. Home cooks who have gravitated toward Italian cookbooks for the simple, user-friendly dishes, satisfying flavors, and comfortable, family-oriented meals, will welcome Psilakis's approach to Greek food, which is similarly healthful, affordable, and satisfying to share any night of the week. The Barnes & Noble Review Part memoir, part instructional recipe collection, Michael Psilakis' book is more personal and unabashedly sentimental than most cookbooks. He describes not just his trajectory to celebrated chef from waiting tables at a T.G.I. Friday's, where he met his wife, but offers a gushing tribute to his late father, who "taught me how to hunt, garden, fish, and how to kill and skin a goat" -- and compete in Cretan dancing. In the past decade, Psilakis has become one of the Olympians of the New York culinary world. His upscale midtown Manhattan restaurant, Anthos, is the only Michelin-star-rated Greek restaurant in America, while his recession-proof, crowd-pleasing Upper West Side taverna, Kefi, draws hordes hungry for his souvlaki, tzatziki, and grilled octopus. His first cookbook reflects this breadth, ranging from the healthful, convivial, Cretan-inflected family-style cooking he learned from his mother while growing up in a Greek culture bubble on Long Island, to the complex, new Greek haute cuisine he has evolved from the classics for Anthos. Despite its carnivorous title, How to Roast a Lamb offers plenty of vegetarian dishes along with meats and fish, but -- sweets lovers be warned -- no desserts. Psilakis opens with down-to-earth, manageable recipes such as Artichokes and Potato or Grilled Swordfish with Tomato-Braised Cauliflower, and builds to the more adventuresome, elaborate Anthos offerings. Poached Halibut with Cypriot Shellfish Salad, Cucumber-Yogurt Broth, and Caviar, for example, requires dozens of ingredients and multiple processes. It's fascinating to see what goes into these sophisticated compositions, though the Braised Quail with Fennel and Apricots is more my speed. I only wish he'd included a recipe for his Duck Gyros with Golden Raisin Marmalade and Caramelized Onions. Perhaps in his next book. --Heller McAlpin
\ InsatiableCritic.com - Gael Greene\ Be seduced by chef Michael Psilakis, passionate son and champion of Greece. Fired by his philosophy of kefi-the transcendence of celebration-he has forever changed our experience of Greek cooking.\ \ \ \ \ author of Vegetable Love, from the Foreword - Barbara Kafka\ Anyone who reads this book-a delight of love and memory-will have a treasure trove of excellent and original recipes.\ \ \ InsatiableCritic.comBe seduced by chef Michael Psilakis, passionate son and champion of Greece. Fired by his philosophy of kefi-the transcendence of celebration-he has forever changed our experience of Greek cooking.\ \ \ \ \ author of Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking, Mediterranean Grains and Greens, and The Slow Mediterranean KitchenHere's a Greek cookbook as warm and welcoming as the Greeks themselves...filled with wonderful family stories, rewarding insights, and, last but not least, utterly delicious recipes. Bravo!\ \ \ \ \ Esquire food and travel columnist and author of The Encyclopedia of American Food & DrinkMichael Psilakis is a true original. While respecting the savory traditions of Greek cookery, he has been able to refine it into a modern global cuisine. How to Roast a Lamb gives the home cook every indication of just how wonderful Greek-American food can be.\ \ \ \ \ Esquire"The cooking [at Anthos] establishes Michael Psilakis as the Mario Batali of nouvelle Aegean cuisine.\ \ \ \ \ EsquireChef of the Year.\ — November 2007\ \ \ \ \ \ Food and WineBest New Chef.\ — April 2008\ \ \ \ \ \ Bon Appetit Magazine EditorsChef of the Year.\ — October 2008\ \ \ \ \ \ GourmetNew York City goes Greek...but no-one does it as luminously as Michael Psilakis.\ — August 2007\ \ \ \ \ Time Out New York"Michael Psilakis elevates Greek cuisine to Olympian heights.\ \ \ \ \ New York MagazineThe cooking [at Anthos] establishes Michael Psilakis as the Mario Batali of nouvelle Aegean cuisine.\ — January 2008\ \ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyPsilakis, highly acclaimed chef and owner of New York City's Kefi and Anthos, honors Greek cuisine in this nostalgic and charming book. More than a collection of recipes, this book is a celebration of Greek culture and its extraordinary effect on the author. Each section begins with a personal story demonstrating how his love of food was ingrained in him. The recipes that follow are organized by the foods tied to the experiences he describes. “My Father's Garden” pays homage to the family garden and includes a tantalizing recipe for sweet and sour eggplant and onion stew. “Open Water” includes grilled swordfish with tomato-braised cauliflower, and “Kefi—A Time to Dance” offers fried pork and beef meatballs and a variety of spreads including chickpea with roasted pepper and feta. Psilakis recounts a moving story about raising a young lamb and kid, resulting in recipes for both roasted leg of lamb and braised goat. The author includes a helpful list of ingredients for those less familiar with Greek cuisine and offers optional shortcuts, such as using high-quality prepared ingredients to aid those pressed for time. Complete with full color photographs of many dishes and numerous black and white family photos, the work enables readers to embrace not only Greek cuisine but its culture as well. (Oct.)\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalAward-winning chef Psilakis co-owns four Manhattan restaurants, including Anthos (the only Greek restaurant in the United States to be awarded the Michelin Star). His first cookbook serves 150 dishes (salads, stews, meat dishes, and sauces and spreads) and offers tips on where to buy hard-to-find Greek ingredients and suggested substitutions (drained whole-milk yogurt in place of Greek yogurt). Although clearly written, recipes are aimed at more experienced cooks who know how to "sear" and "deglaze a pot." Psilakis's personal essays add context to the recipes and make his book a treat for foodies who enjoy getting to know famous chefs. Novice cooks will prefer Theoni Pappar's more accessible Greek Cooking for Everyone.\ \ \ \ \ New York Magazine"The cooking [at Anthos] establishes Michael Psilakis as the Mario Batali of nouvelle Aegean cuisine."\ \ \ \ \ \ The Barnes & Noble ReviewPart memoir, part instructional recipe collection, Michael Psilakis' book is more personal and unabashedly sentimental than most cookbooks. He describes not just his trajectory to celebrated chef from waiting tables at a T.G.I. Friday's, where he met his wife, but offers a gushing tribute to his late father, who "taught me how to hunt, garden, fish, and how to kill and skin a goat" -- and compete in Cretan dancing. \ In the past decade, Psilakis has become one of the Olympians of the New York culinary world. His upscale midtown Manhattan restaurant, Anthos, is the only Michelin-star-rated Greek restaurant in America, while his recession-proof, crowd-pleasing Upper West Side taverna, Kefi, draws hordes hungry for his souvlaki, tzatziki, and grilled octopus. His first cookbook reflects this breadth, ranging from the healthful, convivial, Cretan-inflected family-style cooking he learned from his mother while growing up in a Greek culture bubble on Long Island, to the complex, new Greek haute cuisine he has evolved from the classics for Anthos. Despite its carnivorous title, How to Roast a Lamb offers plenty of vegetarian dishes along with meats and fish, but -- sweets lovers be warned -- no desserts.\ Psilakis opens with down-to-earth, manageable recipes such as Artichokes and Potato or Grilled Swordfish with Tomato-Braised Cauliflower, and builds to the more adventuresome, elaborate Anthos offerings. Poached Halibut with Cypriot Shellfish Salad, Cucumber-Yogurt Broth, and Caviar, for example, requires dozens of ingredients and multiple processes. It's fascinating to see what goes into these sophisticated compositions, though the Braised Quail with Fennel and Apricots is more my speed. I only wish he'd included a recipe for his Duck Gyros with Golden Raisin Marmalade and Caramelized Onions. Perhaps in his next book. --Heller McAlpin\ \ \
