Gyros!!

I Love Gyros!  I just had to try my hand at making them at home…

Pretty straightforward: Pita + Gyro Meat + Tomato + Onion + Feta + Tzatziki Sauce

The extra large version above was our dinner, but a smaller version would be great for lunch as well… or you could make it into a salad instead of rolling it in a Pita...

Make some Gyros Meat (recipe follows), after cooking slice thinly & sear slightly in a non-stick pan sprayed with Olive Oil.  If the meat is cool (not freshly cooked) cook a bit longer in the pan to warm it up nicely.

Have on hand or make ahead some Tzatziki Sauce (link is to my light recipe).

Slice up some Onions & Tomatoes, crumble up some Feta (I use a Fat Free variety).

Warm the Pita Bread (make your own if you like), I like to warm it in Microwave Tortilla Warmer (see Toys tab) that's been lined with Paper Towels.

Slather a Pita with Tzatziki, add Gyros Meat & Feta & sliced Onions & Tomatoes, roll it up & enjoy… Mmmm!!

Gyro Meat (loaf style):
  I saw two recipes online that sounded good, one was an Alton Brown recipe, the other was from the All Recipes site.  I kinda combined the two, and changed up the meats, and came up with my own version.  Traditionally all kinds of meats can be used, most common in the US is 1/2 lamb 1/2 beef or all lamb.

Ingredients:
  1 Medium Onion
  1 pound Ground Lamb
  1 pound lean Ground Chicken (I use Smart Chicken 99% Fat Free)
  1 Tbl Minced Garlic
  1 Tbl Dried Marjoram
  1 Tbl Ground Rosemary (if whole use 1 1/2 Tbl - it will be ground later)
  1 tsp Dried Oregano
  1 tsp Ground Cumin
  1 tsp Dried Thyme
  2 tsp Kosher or Sea Salt
  1/2 tsp Fresh Ground Pepper

Preheat oven to 325F.

Grind all the dried spices together in a mortar and pestle.

Mince the garlic.

Rough cut the onion, then process in a food processor until a fine pulp.  Remove from processor and use a tea towel to squeeze the juice out of the onion pulp - discard the juice.

Place all ingredients into a food processor and process for about a minute, until a fine mush.  Do this in batches as needed.

Place the meat mush in a loaf pan, pushing meat against the bottom and sides of the pan to remove any air bubbles.

Place loaf pan in a water bath and bake 60-75 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165-170 F.

Remove from oven & water bath, drain off fat, place loaf pan on cooling rack.

Place a foil covered brick on top of the loaf for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 175 F.  This is a step suggested by Alton Brown, my temperature never even reached 170 this way, but fully cooked lamb & chicken is 165 so I wasn't concerned.  Perhaps this step is not needed… ???

Loaf after cooking & cooling...

The whole house (and even my clothes) ended up smelling like gyros… and I purposefully made mine a day ahead just in case I had a flop… but this was no flop!!  Yum!!