Book Review: Cook like a demigod with the official Percy Jackson cookbook

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Official Cookbook

The Percy Jackson cookbook contains over 60 recipes featuring instructions from Grover Underwood, plus helpful tips and tricks from Annabeth Chase. I enlisted the help of my son and his girlfriend (both chefs at Michelin-starred restaurants), but the book’s easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions will ensure that cooks of any age or experience level can be successful.

The book is divided into six chapters—Breads, Breakfast, Lunch, Appetizers, Dinner, and Dessert—but since “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” tells stories based on Greek mythology, we decided to skip the breakfast chapter and make our very own Greek Feast.

Here’s What We Made:

Melitzanosalata (Eggplant Dip)

Even if you think you don’t like eggplant, this recipe is worth trying because the combination of the creamy roasted eggplant with the bite of raw garlic, the freshness of the parsley, and the crunch of the toasted pinenuts may just change your mind. We served this dip with pita chips.

NOTE: We used a blender instead of a food processor, and it worked great.

Htipiti (Roasted Red Pepper and Whipped Feta Dip)

Roasted red pepper dip is a common item on mezze platters at Greek Restaurants, but since this version uses jarred peppers, it’s super easy to make. We served this dip with toasted french bread.

NOTE: It was a little “loose” when we first made it, but it thickened up after being in the refrigerator, so we recommend making it ahead.

Orzo and Grilled Halloumi Salad with Pomegranate Dressing

The story of this recipe is that the ingredients come from Persephone’s Garden in the Underworld, which explains the interesting combination of cooked and raw vegetables. We like that it can easily be adapted to accommodate personal preferences.

NOTE: While the dressing would probably be just as delicious with balsamic glaze instead of pomegranate molasses, we strongly suggest trying this unique ingredient.

Souvlaki (AKA Skewered Minotaur)

Don’t worry—it’s not really Minotaur, but you can certainly pretend it is. The classic Greek dish calls for pork tenderloin, but it could easily be made with beef or chicken. Vegetarians could also use the same marinade and skewer cubes of tofu.

Spanakopita

This popular spinach pie can be made as individual triangle-shaped “hand pies” or in large baking dishes (like a lasagna), but we love this version because the crispy, buttery phyllo crust surrounds the spinach filling.

Moussaka

Moussaka is one of our favorite Greek dishes – and we’ve tried several different recipes over the years – but this one ranks at the top.

NOTE: Our only “alteration” for next time would be to use crushed tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes because the sauce was a little watery, but it still tasted delicious.

Melopita (Greek Honeyed Cheesecake)

This traditional Greek cheesecake drizzled with honey is very easy to make – and not too sweet. We used ricotta cheese instead of mizithra, but would definitely try to find mizithra if we make it again to see if it tastes different.

Floral Lotus Cookies

Of course, we had to end our Greek Feast with the Lotus Eaters’ favorite dessert. This recipe calls for a few unusual ingredients like rose water, orange blossom water, and freeze-dried raspberry powder (all of which we found on Amazon) but it was definitely worth the effort. These cookies are basically raspberry shortbread but with a little crunch from pistachios.

We made a stencil out of parchment paper to get the lotus shape.

NOTE: If you want to skip the orange blossom and rose waters, we think they’ll still turn out great, but the floral flavors definitely add to the storytelling.

Something to note (though we didn’t make any of them) is that this Percy Jackson cookbook includes several bright blue dishes, including a Blue Smoothie, Blue Velvet Cake, and Blue Chocolate Chip Cookies, plus a (not blue) pet-friendly treat.

Click here to order Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Official Cookbook.