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’ve been somewhat busy recently so i didn’t update yesterday. But here is what i made yesterday.
So i found this recipe from Epicurious.com. I picked this mainly because the picture looked so good. (Also people that reviewed it liked it) So i did it. It seemed quick and easy and it was. There were only 4 main ingredients: Lamb Chops, Quince, Balsamic Vinegar and Apple Cider. One thing i learned while cooking this is, taste your Apple Cider first! I added sugar as the recipe said but the Apple Cider I bought was really nice and sweet. I’m sure the sweetness of the Cider could of carried the flavor all the way. So i had to water down the final sauce. (But it still worked out great). Also I would have to say maybe wait for the pan to cool down before you reduce the Apple Cider poach juice. I think i was rushing a little and poured the Juice right after i took out the lamb chops and the juice reduced a little too quick. (So it was a good thing i added water). O yea i’d assume people don’t use Quince a lot. Quince is basically what you’d get if a pear and apple had a child. It smells really nice and also tastes really good when cooked.
Here are the pics of this little adventure.
The ingredients were
- 1 Quince sliced into small wedges
- 1 Cup of Apple Cider
- 3 Sprigs of Thyme + a good amount of thyme leaves
- 4-5 Lamb Chops
- 1 Tablespoon Aged Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- Bunch of chopped Oregano and Rosemary Leaves and Basil (I used dried but of course fresh would be better)
That’s basically it. First cut up the Quince. You’ll feel the texture of it but it’ll be nice and soft and smooth after you poach it. Then put the apple cider in a medium-high heat pan and bring to a boil. When it’s boiling throw in the thyme sprigs and and the quince and reduce heat and bring to a simmer. Leave it simmering for around 15-20 minutes until tender and soft. At around 15 minutes start the Lamb Chops. Take some of the Oregano, Basil, Thyme, Salt and Pepper and rub it all over the lamb chops. This will give the Lamb Chops a very very nice taste. Then heat up a medium-high skillet and throw the chops in. It takes around 2-2.5 minutes on each side to get a nice medium-rare. But cook it however you like it. Take out the Chops then let the pan cool down a little. The Quince should be done so take out the Quince and strain the juice into a bowl. Put the pan on medium heat and throw in the poached juice and start mixing up the browned bits on the pan with the juice. After a minute or so take it off the heat and throw in the Butter, Balsamic Vinegar and a good amount of the Rosemary, Oregano and Thyme. Stir it around and the sauce should be formed. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Add some water if the sauce is too thick. Also strain it too. I didn’t strain it but i think you should now that i think about it. Then Plate! Bon App!
So here is the Lamb dish that i talked about last post. When i saw this recipe i thought to myself that i just had to make it. I bought a good amount of lamb so i might eat this again tommorow or try something else. Maybe a traditional herb crusted rack of lamb with mint sauce or something like that. mmmm, just thinking about that makes my mouth water.
Ok back to the dish! So i was a little disappointed at myself when making this dish. The Couscous was a little soggy ;(. That was probably all my fault. I tried the new Whole Foods Couscous and i dunno i made it the way i always make it. Put Couscous in bowl and pour boiling water to the same level and wait. For some reason it didn’t absorb all the water. So it was still somewhat wet. When i went to flake it it was still watery 
qq. O well. I should of followed the directions on the box. Next time i will!!!! I mean the lamb part was perfect. It came out really nice and tasted great but the Couscous was a little turn off. Though the mix of tomatoes, parsley, lemon and oil did make it tasty. O well next time it’ll be more dry and fluffly!
So here are the pics!
The ingredients are
- 4-5 Lamb cutlets French-trimmed
- 2-3 Teaspoons of ground cumin
- 1/2 Red Onion
- 1 Red Chili Pepper
- Handful of Fresh Parsley
- 2-3 Tablespoons of Thyme
- 2 Tomatoes
- 1 Lemon juiced
- 3/4 Cup of Couscous or however much you want
This is another quick and easy recipe. Get some Lamb cutlets and trim it if it isn’t already trimmed. I was hungry so i cut off 5 lamb cutlets but they were somewhat small! Season them with some salt, pepper and ground cumin on both sides. Slice up some thin slices of the Red Onions. Boil some water and put the Couscous in a bowl and pour the boiling water in and fill it up level with the Couscous. (This was the part i messed up on, will probably cook it in the pot next time) Anyways let that sit aside and then put the Lamb cutlets in a medium heated pan with a little olive oil. Let it cook for a couple minutes till the side is browned. Then flip the lamb cutlets and add the onions, thyme, red chili pepper. Shake the pan around so the onion and thyme and pepper gets all around and cooked. Let that cook for a while. The Couscous should be done by then. Flake it up and then mix in the tomatoes, parsley, lemon juice and some olive oil. Then plate the Couscous on the bottom and put the lamb chops on top and cover with the onions. Voila! Should take around 15 minutes total!
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.
