Gyros
Why I Love This Recipe
New Zealand and Australian lamb have a stronger flavor and are slightly less fatty. If you can get your hands on one of these, I would drop the beef and use 2 lbs of lamb. If you simply combine the processed onion with the meat, spices and toss in an egg mixing by hand, you can form into patties and grill up some Gyros "Burgers".
Ingredients You'll Need
1 Red onion, chopped
1 lb ground lamb
1 lb ground beef (You can use another pound of lamb, or veal which ever you prefer, but commercial gyro meat is a combination of beef and lamb)
1 1/2 TB finely minced garlic
1 TB dried Marjoram
1 TB dried Thyme
2 tsp dried Mint
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp Dill Weed
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Mace
1/8 tsp Clove
2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
Directions
In a food processor with the blade attachment, process onion until fine, move to a tea towel, gather the ends and squeeze out as much onion juice as possible.
Return squeezed onion to the food processor along with the Lamb, Beef, garlic, marjoram, thyme, mint, lemon zest, dill weed, cinnamon, mace, clove, salt and pepper.
Process this into a kind of paste.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Press the mixture into a loaf pan and bake in a water bath for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 min. (Temp should be about 170 degrees.
Remove from the oven and pour off any residual liquid fat, place on a cooling rack and cover the surface with foil.
Place a heavy weight such as a (clean) brick or cast iron bacon press with pantry cans placed on to compress the meat while it rests for about 20 minutes (The internal temp should climb to about 175).
Remove weight, turn out the meat “loaf” onto a cutting board, slice and combine with Tzatziki, tomato, red onion, and feta on flatbread (not pocket pita).