So in Sparta we eat Beef Gyros(I was going to call them souvlakis but i decided it was more a Gyro than a Souvlaki). Not just any Beef Gyros but Mark’s Beef Gyros! Gyros should really be made with Lamb but i didn’t have anymore Lamb so i used Beef instead. I cooked a large piece of meat but i only used like half of it to make my Gyros. Oh man the Tzatziki was Awesome! I think it would be even more awesome with some dill but i used only mint but it was great! Ohhh it wasn’t the best Gyros in the world but it was actually a really decent Gyro. The best i had was when me and one of the Fobtastic 5 went island hopping in Greece. While waiting for the boat to the next island we had some Gyros… OMG THAT WAS THE BEST 2 BUCKS I SPENT!!!!! If you travel to Greece try whatever the tourbook says once and then go for the stuff the real people eat.
Here are the pics of what Gyros chinese style look like
The ingredients may seem long but really they aren’t
- For the Tzatziki
- 1/2 Cucumber Peeled, Seeded, Chopped and Drained
- 1 Cup Plain Yogurt, Drained (I kinda skipped this one because I was lazy but you should it’s better)
- 2 Teaspoons of Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 Teaspoons of Minced Garlic
- Bunch of Mint chopped (Maybe a handful?)
- 2 Teaspoons of Oregano
- 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
- For the Greek Salad
- Couple leaves of Romaine Hearts torn into pieces (I used romaine leaves which i had)
- Handful of Mint leaves chopped
- Handful Cherry Tomatoes or Grape Tomatoes halved
- 1/2 Seedless Cucumber sliced into disks
- Handful of Kalamata Olives
- 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice
- 1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
- Flat Pita Bread
- For the Beef
- 1 Steak or however much you want (You should really use lamb though)
- Lemon Juice
- Oregano
- Minced Garlic
- Olive Oil
So basically there a couple parts to this. You can do them somewhat in parallel. First I seasoned the Beef. I put the Lemon Juice, Oregano, Garlic and Olive Oil in a bag and threw the Steak in and let it bounce around to coat the whole thing and left it to the side while i turned the broiler on. Then i threw in all the Tzatziki ingredients in a blender and blended it all. That’s basically all there is to do with the Tzatziki. Just throw it in the fridge while you wait. Then i made the Greek Salad. Just throw together all the cut pieces of veggies. Don’t put the lemon vinaigrette yet. Wait till the meat is done to do that. Then when the broiler is ready throw in the meat. I let it sit in there for about 7-8 minutes on each side to get a medium-rare. Take out the beef and slice it into thin slices and let it sit in it’s juice again. Throw the pitas
in the broiler too so they get nice and soft and warm. Throw the Greek Salad Vinaigrette in the Salad and then put together your Gyro. I put the meat then the salad then poured all the Tzatziki over it and wrapped it up in aluminum foil. Bon App! (This takes a little longer than most of my recipes. Probably 20-25 minutes total)
(I actually did this on Thursday but i was busy so i couldn’t write this up)
So i wanted to make something fast and good. The first thing i could think of was Greek Salad in some Pita Bread. I had all the ingredients except the feta. I usually get my feta from Zingerman’s because it is the best place to get feta… (I stopped getting bread from them). Today i decided to give Whole Foods another chance. Last time i got feta from Whole Foods it tasted like ass but I gave it another try because i was too lazy to go to Zingerman’s because i had to pick up some other stuff at Whole Foods.
Here are the pictures!
This is so simple to make. It’s healthy and tasty! (As long as you like feta)
- 1 Tablespoon of Red Wine Vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons of EVOO
- Cherry Tomatoes sliced in half (As many as you think fit)
- Cucumber peeled, deseeded and cut into little disks then sliced into quarters
- Bell Peppers Chopped (I used Red but you should use Green)
- Red Onion Chopped (About half to a whole one or whatever you like)
- Red Radishes sliced into little disks
- Handful of Chopped Parsley
- FETA CHEESE (make sure to get real feta not some crappy fake feta)
- Pita breads
That’s basically it. There isn’t much else to do other than chop the pieces up. Then toss them together. Put the Red Wine Vinegar in another bowl and slowly whisk in the Olive Oil to make the Vinaigrette. Then pour the vinaigrette over the salad and mix. Finally add the Feta and mix again. I usually then wrap the pitas in tin foil and let them bake or toast for a while so they are hot and soft. Then i place just enough Greek Salad in them and EAT! Sometimes i add some homemade Tzatziki. (I’ll show how i make mine in the next post when i make Beef Souvlakis)
So I was thinking what to eat this week. Usually i plan 1-2 days ahead what i am going to cook. So when i’m slacking off or have nothing else to do i browse the web and my recipe books for something that looks good and easy. First I was thinking Eggplant dish but then i realized i made a lot of eggplant dishes 4-5 weeks ago because i got these beautiful eggplants from the farmer’s market so i didn’t want do that again. Then i thought first thing to do is pick the protein. Since the last dish i made i was thinking steak! So i decided on a couple sirloin dishes. A little preview is a sirloin bok-choy noodle, steak and cheese on a baguette with arugula (probably others just haven’t thought that much!). So while looking up steak stuff i saw LAMB. Lamb is my favorite meat. I don’t know why but it is. Anyways i saw this really nice looking lamb with couscous dish and thought i have to make it. So that will be coming up. If i buy lamb i’ll probably make that and some lamb chops with mint sauce. So that’s looking good. I was also going to make some greek salads this week too! Zingerman’s has some really nice feta cheese. I’m pretty sure it’s real feta feta not fake wannabe feta. It’s in a brine behind the counter so you have to ask for it. Usually i get a square cut in a pint cup which is enough for 2-3 salads depending on how much feta you eat. But Greek salads are really nice with a nice homemade vinaigrette.
On a side note i went to the Farmer’s market today. It happens wednesdays and saturdays but today was pretty lame. Last week was not that bad but today there was only 2 stalls :<. I went there hoping to score some nice herbs and veggies but didn’t see much. Sad thing was I was so turned down i forgot to buy pears. I was going to make a nice spiced pear for dessert ;( Also sometime next week i’ll make some Moelleux au Chocolat (AKA chocolate lava cake). Mmmmmmm.
So enough about cooking, I was at Sam’s Club today and saw Guitar Hero 3. Originally I thought i should buy it for the PS3 because online is free but I play halo 3 on the 360 quite a bit when i’m bored and thought i should buy it for that cause of all the extras. I did resist the urge to buy it though. I can’t decide whether to get the wireless guitar with the PS3 or the wired one with the 360!!! Tough choice. I’ll have to think it over some big battle halo 3.
