Gyros

Ah, I miss the Utah State Fair.  We used to go every summer with Jared's family.  The food there was a big part of the fun for them.  I love the gyros we enjoyed.  I've always thought it would be fun someday to try making some.  Tonight, I did it.  With a big help from Jace.  The preparation time is estimated at 3 hrs., 45 min.  That was about right.  I don't think I'll be making this every week.  But it was good.  I found lamb meat at Sam's club.  Here's the recipe:



Tzatziki Sauce:

16 ounces plain yogurt
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
Pinch kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
5 to 6 mint leaves, finely minced

Place the yogurt in a tea towel, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
What?!  How in the world do I do that?!  So I gave Jace my paper towels filled with yogurt and asked him to figure it out.  He's a chip off the old block.  Here's what he came up with:

Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint.  I used two bowls:  One with mint leaves, the other with fresh dill leaves.  They were both so yummy! Serve as a sauce for gyros. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.

Meat:


1 medium onion, finely chopped or shredded

2 pounds ground lamb

1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

1 tablespoon dried marjoram

1 tablespoon dried ground rosemary

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Here's the directions I want to try next time I make it.  But today, I just cooked on the skillet.  I used paper towels instead of the tea towels.  Them Greeks must have had a lot of tea towels!  I found my paper towels to work just as good :) 
 
Process the onion in a food processor for 10 to 15 seconds and turn out into the center of a tea towel. Gather up the ends of the towel and squeeze until almost all of the juice is removed. Discard juice.
Return the onion to the food processor and add the lamb, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, salt, and pepper and process until it is a fine paste, approximately 1 minute. Stop the processor as needed to scrape down sides of bowl.

I think I'll make this again on a day I have a LOTTA time on my hands!!