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Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce
The gyro is believed to have originated in Greece, as the word gyro comes from the Greek word for “turn.” The first gyro served in the United States was served in 1965, in Chicago’s Parkview Restaurant. With more and more Americans trying out gyros each year and becoming interested in Mediterranean cuisine, we thought it was about time to add a delicious, traditional gyro recipe to our arsenal.
If you are into arm workouts, this is for sure a great recipe to try out. There is a lot of squeezing involved, and you will eventually have to wrap a brick in aluminum foil and lift that up too, so you can put it on top of the meat. Depending on how strong your arms are, this may be the most intense part of the whole recipe.
For the yogurt used in the tzatziki sauce, Greek yogurt is the best option. If you absolutely must substitute, go for a thick plain yogurt made with whole milk. If you end up with sauce leftovers, it can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.
Everyone who tried Jeff’s gyros thought they were delicious and rather authentic. The only thing lacking in authenticity was the meat, since it wasn’t skewered and spinning ominously in the background, waiting to be shaved as he prepared the tzatziki sauce. Flavor wise, everything was one hundred percent spot on. Serve the sliced meat with tzatziki sauce, feta cheese, tomato, and chopped onion on pita bread. If you are concerned about what to call your creation, “yee-ro” is a typical rendition, but you can call it whatever you please as long as you enjoy eating it.
Ingredients:
- Ingredients for meat:
- 1 lb. ground lamb
- 1 lb. extra lean ground beef (96/4)
- 1 medium onion, minced or shredded
- 2 Tbsp Gyro Seasoning
- Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients:
- 16 oz. Greek Yogurt - low fat
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped or grated
- Pinch of Kosher salt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced finely
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
- 5-6 mint leaves
- 2 tsp. Dill
- Pitas
Instructions:
- In a food processor, mince the onion. Place onion in cheese cloth, or a kitchen towel and squeeze as much of the juice out as possible. Place back into food processor.
- Add the lamb, marjoram, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper to the food processor. Process until you have a paste. Add the ground beef to the mixture and process until well incorporated into the paste.
- Place meat mixture into an ungreased loaf pan, and press into pan so there is no air. Place pan into another pan, (like a glass cake pan), and fill with water half way up the loaf pan. Bake in oven at 325F for 60-75 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165F. Remove from oven and drain fat. Take a brick wrapped in aluminum foil and place on top of meat for 20 minutes.
- Slice thinly and serve on pita bread with red onion, tomatoes, crumbled feta, and Tzatziki sauce.
Directions for Tzatziki Sauce:
- Peel, seed and finely chop or grate cucumber. Place in cheese cloth or a kitchen towel and squeeze as much juice out as possible. Discard liquid.
- In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint and mix well. This will store in refrigeration for up to a week.
Makes 8 servings.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 1 hours and 15 minutes
Ingredients for this recipe:
Dill Weed
Starting at: $4.27
Kosher Salt
Starting at: $3.17
Gyro Seasoning
Starting at: $3.89