Always on Fridays, when we plan the shopping list, we have to decide what to eat over the weekend. One decision was made for a nice Gyros. So, I digged out my old recipes for lamb gyros.  I used about 30 years old printed photographs – therefore please excuse the quality of the pics. Since we always make 2 or 3 portions in one go, the following recipe is for 6. „tsp means tablespoons“.

   That’s a Gyros. Click on pic. Pic imgagade.

Ingredients.

Pitas:
6 pita breads
6 leafs of Romaine lettuce
2 tomatoes, cubed
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)

   Slicing the meat the right size.

Lamb:
3 cups grilled lamb strips (or beef strips or chicken breasts strips – the original Greek Gyros uses beef anyhow)
4 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp oregano (dried)
2 tsp thyme (dried)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
4 tsp butter for saute

  Prepare lamb for marinating. Keep it dry.

Tzatziki:
2 cups cucumber, finely chopped
1 cup Greek yogurt (in UY we use Queso Blanco Light – or the Yogur Natural)
1 cup sour cream (in UY we use Mascarpone, 1/2 cup)
4 tsp lemon juice
8 garlic cloves, minced
4 tsp fresh minced dill
1/2 teaspoon salt

    Preparing Tzatziki with slicing the cucumber.

How to do.

Making the sauce:
Peel cucumbers and mince them. Mix all of the ingredients together and let it sit for at least 30 min to an hour before using.

Making the lamb:
Slice the meat into 1cm by 1cm thin slices . Mix all other ingredients together (except butter) and stir around the meat. Then place the meat strips into a bag and leave it in the fridge for a few hours to marinate. I leave it even over night, shaking the bag around a few times. If you use chicken you don’t need to marinate, just go on as suggested.

  In case you marinate „wet“ (means with onions, olive oil and drizzle of lemon juice) then you only can saute later on, but not brown the meat well. No problem, its delicious anyway, but it looks different, like meat in a sauce.

If necessary, drain the meat and set marinate sauce aside.
Melt butter in the skillet. Add lamb into very hot skillet. Brown nicely – in small batches – for a few minutes.
Then, just before meat is ready (soft, don’t overcook) ad all of the marinate and heat through. Now it’s ready to serve.
With chicken you will add now the garlic, oregano, cumin and coriander. Saute for 2 min.

Preparing the meal:
Warm up the pita breads. Slice onion and cube the tomatoes. Layer with the lettuce, lamb or chicken, tomato, onion and tzatziki sauce. Wrap it in foil or a paper towel. Eat hot !

   Ready to have a bite of chicken gyros ?

Tips.

Lamb in Uruguay is not to common, so you can decide for chicken or beef. Or even 50:50 lamb and pork. It will taste wonderful if you add a fresh made „Krautsalat“ (coleslaw) and a glass of chilled white wine (see pic far above).

If you don’t like fresh garlic taste, in tzatziki, use less garlic or none. Use fresh minced herbs instead – also a bit chilli. But it is not original anymore. If one does not like the fresh sliced onion as garnish, try to slice the onion very thin and leave it in water for 30 minutes. Or use the softer taste of red onion slices.

    Tzatziki served as a separate dish.

Another great idea is serving Tzatziki without meat. You only have to make a larger portion and add fresh onion slices, black olives and drizzle olive oil. To have it a bit more colored use slices of red onion or slices of green (spring) onion. Then enjoy with some fresh/warm  farmers bread, French baguette or pita.  Glass of nice wine is recommended.

     Gyros serving in a restaurant (left) and from a food truck (right). Both with french fries.