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I went to a new farmer's market this morning; and it was a bit out of my way but I've been meaning to check it out. I picked up a pound of ground lamb that I wasn't sure what I was going to do with.
As I had a long drive home, I thought about trying my hand at one of my favorite pseudo-Greek foods; gyros. I knew I had seen my man Alton Brown do a Good Eats episode on them, but I couldn't remember much about it.
Some gyro recipes I saw called for beef and lamb, or pork and lamb - I just kept it simple - just the ground lamb. Spiced it fairly heavily with garlic, majoram and rosemary. The whole mix went in the food processor until it was a paste. I rolled it out and squeezed it tight with plastic wrap.
Meanwhile, I had purchased cucumbers at the farmer's market, but not yogurt. I needed plain yogurt for the tzatziki sauce, so I got that at Food Lion. I strained the yogurt over a tea towel clipped to a bowl and let it drain for a few hours. The resulting thick yogurt was mixed with chopped cucumbers, garlic, olive oil and a little vinegar.
The meat was a major pain in the rear. I have a Ronco rotisserie that normally works pretty well, but I don't have the 'cage' accessory. I needed something to bind up the meat while it cooked. I tried improvising with wire, but it wasn't working. After that I formed it into a loaf and tried to broil it, only to find my oven's broiler is dead. Finally I broiled it with a propane torch that I had purchased awhile back to fix some plumbing issues at my old house. ( NEVER give up!) After I got a nice char on the outside, I finished it in the oven, which by now was pre-heated.
I gotta say, it turned out really well for all the trouble. The flavor was spot-on, majoram works a lot better than oregano I think, and the rosemary is really nice too. The texture was a little off with a tendency to crumble more than slice, but not bad at all. My wife loved it.
Last edited by arsbadmojo; 09-27-2008 at 09:19 PM..
Reason: I speel gud.
I went to a new farmer's market this morning; and it was a bit out of my way but I've been meaning to check it out. I picked up a pound of ground lamb that I wasn't sure what I was going to do with.
As I had a long drive home, I thought about trying my hand at one of my favorite pseudo-Greek foods; gyros. I knew I had seen my man Alton Brown do a Good Eats episode on them, but I couldn't remember much about it.
Some gyro recipes I saw called for beef and lamb, or pork and lamb - I just kept it simple - just the ground lamb. Spiced it fairly heavily with garlic, majoram and rosemary. The whole mix went in the food processor until it was a paste. I rolled it out and squeezed it tight with plastic wrap.
Meanwhile, I had purchased cucumbers at the farmer's market, but not yogurt. I needed plain yogurt for the tzatziki sauce, so I got that at Food Lion. I strained the yogurt over a tea towel clipped to a bowl and let it drain for a few hours. The resulting thick yogurt was mixed with chopped cucumbers, garlic, olive oil and a little vinegar.
The meat was a major pain in the rear. I have a Ronco rotisserie that normally works pretty well, but I don't have the 'cage' accessory. I needed something to bind up the meat while it cooked. I tried improvising with wire, but it wasn't working. After that I formed it into a loaf and tried to broil it, only to find my oven's broiler is dead. Finally I broiled it with a propane torch that I had purchased awhile back to fix some plumbing issues at my old house. ( NEVER give up!) After I got a nice char on the outside, I finished it in the oven, which by now was pre-heated.
I gotta say, it turned out really well for all the trouble. The flavor was spot-on, majoram works a lot better than oregano I think, and the rosemary is really nice too. The texture was a little off with a tendency to crumble more than slice, but not bad at all. My wife loved it.
They are my favorite...maybe if using ground lamb - make like a meatloaf in a small pan next time -then you can slice, or even on the grill...sounds yummy to me....
I remember Alton Brown did it a couple of ways.. the one in the loaf pan got covered with a super hot ( i think ) brick covered with foil, so the meat got really compressed. That probably solves the crumbliness problem.
Now if I could only find one of those bricks I have laying around at all times!
My DH and I have been thinking of making these for quite a while now. Only reason we haven't is we thought it would be too difficult. Thanks for the inspiration! Now to find some ground lamb.....
My DH and I have been thinking of making these for quite a while now. Only reason we haven't is we thought it would be too difficult. Thanks for the inspiration! Now to find some ground lamb.....
Seriously - farmer's market. If you're anywhere even close to some rurual area it's a good bet someone is raising lamb, and it's always good and fresh.
But don't worry about the difficulty, if you just shape the meat like a square meatloaf, and broil it on each side it would be great.
I'm thinking of ways to beat the cumble so I can get the thin slices, Debsi is right about Alton using a brick - I think really the way to do it is under even more pressure than a brick though. I think a loaf pan, something like a bacon press and some serious C-clamps....and then sort of par-cook it just so it sets, then broil it..maybe...but even though my slices weren't perfect they tasted exactly the same.
I found ground lamb at the local meat market, Yeah!! Just in time's for hubby's b-day dinner tomorrow. I'll post back with the results. Today's the big prep day for the gyros and making of the cheesecake.
I found ground lamb at the local meat market, Yeah!! Just in time's for hubby's b-day dinner tomorrow. I'll post back with the results. Today's the big prep day for the gyros and making of the cheesecake.
You are probably working on now with time difference, best of luck, please let us know and Happy Birthday to hubby!!! You will do great....
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NEVER give up!) After I got a nice char on the outside, I finished it in the oven, which by now was pre-heated. 
