Homemade Gyros
After a fun and delicious time at yesterday's cheesecake clinic, I boldly made my way over to Phoenicia on a Sunday to accomplish what I'd said I'd do Friday: make homemade gyros. Bolstered by sugar and caffeine, I deftly made my way through the aisles to grab the ingredients before settling into the happy chaos that waits at the checkout lines.
I recalled a few folks from here commenting on the lines at Niko Niko's being a detractor to going there. I feel the same way, and I realized the irony of trying to avoid that situation by hitting up Phoenicia on a Sunday. Still, it was an authentic experience. The concept of personal space is a very fluid one, and it was with a detached mixture of both horror and delight that I watched the old woman behind me step directly in front of me to start unloading her items onto the conveyor belt. Were I North Korea, this would have been an act of war, but I am only Chris Watkins, so I nodded at the woman's granddaughter smiling apologetically at me, then squeezed myself more tightly into the line and thought about puppies.
Eventually, I made it back to Fort Awesome with only a quick stop for tomatoes en route (the ones at Phoenicia were very sad looking) and started the prep work. For reference, I used the Alton Brown recipe here: http://www.foodnetw ork.com/recipes/ alton-brown/ gyro-meat- with-tzatziki- sauce-recipe/ index.html
It's a simple recipe, and should you decide to do this at home, here are a few notes: 1) Squeezing the liquid out of the onions is important. 2) Processing the meat mixture until it is a gummy paste is important. Other than that, it is pretty straightforward. I went the route of getting things ready for my rotisserie, my imagination filled with images of a cone of meat rotating to deliciousness while pushy old women lurked in the background, waiting to cut in line. I have a vivid imagination.
As I feared, the meat fell off the skewer about five minutes into the process. Undeterred, I just finished the meat on the grill. Perhaps a tighter roll of the meat would have worked; I don't know, but if I do this again, I'll probably just either do a mix of direct and indirect heat with a loaf, or press into flat slabs and grill with direct heat only. No, this will not look like what you get at the gyro place, but read on.
After the meat was done, I cut off some pieces, wrapped them in a pita with tomatoes and onions, put on a few dollops of tzatziki (there's recipe in the link above if you haven't made it before), and went to Chow Town. The flavor is good - we're talking about hot seasoned lamb, of course. It is not the same flavor as what you'll get at a restaurant, nor is the texture quite the same. It's tasty and I'll make it again, but I think expectations should be correctly set. I suspect this is along the same lines of being unable to duplicate Velveeta - there is enough processing going on to stymie the home cook. If you want additional browning, sautéing pieces in olive oil will accomplish this nicely. Either way, I think this would be a fun thing to make and eat at an informal dinner.
I recalled a few folks from here commenting on the lines at Niko Niko's being a detractor to going there. I feel the same way, and I realized the irony of trying to avoid that situation by hitting up Phoenicia on a Sunday. Still, it was an authentic experience. The concept of personal space is a very fluid one, and it was with a detached mixture of both horror and delight that I watched the old woman behind me step directly in front of me to start unloading her items onto the conveyor belt. Were I North Korea, this would have been an act of war, but I am only Chris Watkins, so I nodded at the woman's granddaughter smiling apologetically at me, then squeezed myself more tightly into the line and thought about puppies.
Eventually, I made it back to Fort Awesome with only a quick stop for tomatoes en route (the ones at Phoenicia were very sad looking) and started the prep work. For reference, I used the Alton Brown recipe here: http://www.foodnetw ork.com/recipes/ alton-brown/ gyro-meat- with-tzatziki- sauce-recipe/ index.html
It's a simple recipe, and should you decide to do this at home, here are a few notes: 1) Squeezing the liquid out of the onions is important. 2) Processing the meat mixture until it is a gummy paste is important. Other than that, it is pretty straightforward. I went the route of getting things ready for my rotisserie, my imagination filled with images of a cone of meat rotating to deliciousness while pushy old women lurked in the background, waiting to cut in line. I have a vivid imagination.
As I feared, the meat fell off the skewer about five minutes into the process. Undeterred, I just finished the meat on the grill. Perhaps a tighter roll of the meat would have worked; I don't know, but if I do this again, I'll probably just either do a mix of direct and indirect heat with a loaf, or press into flat slabs and grill with direct heat only. No, this will not look like what you get at the gyro place, but read on.
After the meat was done, I cut off some pieces, wrapped them in a pita with tomatoes and onions, put on a few dollops of tzatziki (there's recipe in the link above if you haven't made it before), and went to Chow Town. The flavor is good - we're talking about hot seasoned lamb, of course. It is not the same flavor as what you'll get at a restaurant, nor is the texture quite the same. It's tasty and I'll make it again, but I think expectations should be correctly set. I suspect this is along the same lines of being unable to duplicate Velveeta - there is enough processing going on to stymie the home cook. If you want additional browning, sautéing pieces in olive oil will accomplish this nicely. Either way, I think this would be a fun thing to make and eat at an informal dinner.
