Made Gyros for dinner last night, and they turned out amazing!! The Hub kept saying "this is REALLY good" every few bites, and I will be incorporating this into the rotation of things we have once a month or so for sure!!
Midway thru dinner, The Hub said "did you take a picture of these?" (He seems to think they were blog-worthy) and looking down at our devoured dinners I was bummed that I had not...
To make them I used 3 pretty scrawny lamb shoulder chops, which I cut the bones out of and diced into cubes (about 3/4 inch square). I browned the cubes on all sides and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and oregano, then removed the skillet from the heat and covered while I sauteed a chopped green pepper (and some chopped white onion and fresh tomato in a small skillet, just for me)..
I heaped the meat and veggies on a big plate, squeezed some lemon juice over the meat, and served with a pile of warm pita bread and (since I forgot to grab the ingredients for Tzatziki ) a small bowl of ranch for The Hub to drizzle over his (I don't like sauce on my Gyros) - he seemed to really like the ranch, I would probably just use it next time too, and skip the added step of making sauce...
A few things that I think really made the difference between last night's dinner and other times I have made gyros:
-I really concentrated on not overcooking the meat - I just browned each side and then covered and let the leftover heat in the pan do the rest - so it was tender-as-could-be...
-I kept the seasoning simple... just the oregano with some S&P let the flavor of the meat come through - in the past I have used a mix of seasonings - but lamb has such a distinct flavor and we both enjoyed being able to taste it..
-Using shoulder chops and cutting the meat myself.. in the past I have used lamb stew meat, which could come from any part of the lamb - tough or tender, flavorful or bland... The shoulder meat was perfection!
With the addition of a big Greek Salad with plenty of feta and olives, this will be a Sunday dinner with friends in the not-too-distant future, I am sure... it would be easy to feed a crowd and it is sure to please everyone!!
Midway thru dinner, The Hub said "did you take a picture of these?" (He seems to think they were blog-worthy) and looking down at our devoured dinners I was bummed that I had not...
To make them I used 3 pretty scrawny lamb shoulder chops, which I cut the bones out of and diced into cubes (about 3/4 inch square). I browned the cubes on all sides and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and oregano, then removed the skillet from the heat and covered while I sauteed a chopped green pepper (and some chopped white onion and fresh tomato in a small skillet, just for me)..
I heaped the meat and veggies on a big plate, squeezed some lemon juice over the meat, and served with a pile of warm pita bread and (since I forgot to grab the ingredients for Tzatziki ) a small bowl of ranch for The Hub to drizzle over his (I don't like sauce on my Gyros) - he seemed to really like the ranch, I would probably just use it next time too, and skip the added step of making sauce...
A few things that I think really made the difference between last night's dinner and other times I have made gyros:
-I really concentrated on not overcooking the meat - I just browned each side and then covered and let the leftover heat in the pan do the rest - so it was tender-as-could-be...
-I kept the seasoning simple... just the oregano with some S&P let the flavor of the meat come through - in the past I have used a mix of seasonings - but lamb has such a distinct flavor and we both enjoyed being able to taste it..
-Using shoulder chops and cutting the meat myself.. in the past I have used lamb stew meat, which could come from any part of the lamb - tough or tender, flavorful or bland... The shoulder meat was perfection!
With the addition of a big Greek Salad with plenty of feta and olives, this will be a Sunday dinner with friends in the not-too-distant future, I am sure... it would be easy to feed a crowd and it is sure to please everyone!!
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