Lamb Meatball Gyros With Yogurt And Mint Real Simple Mag Recipes

Steps:

• Place an oven rack in the second-highest position and heat broiler.
• Combine the lamb, raisins, cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the bread crumbs, egg, and three-quarters of the scallions in a large bowl.
• Shape the mixture into golf ball?size meatballs and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.
• Broil, turning once, until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes total.
• Divide the flat bread among individual plates and top with the meatballs, yogurt, mint, and the remaining scallions.

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg.
• FOR THE LAMB LOAF.
• Combine lamb, bread, egg, milk, onion, garlic, parsley and seasonings in mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly, kneading. Shape mixture into a 7" X 4"loaf.
• Place loaf on rack for drainage and bake.
• 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until temp of 180 deg. Allow the loaf to rest. Can be used at this time to make your gyros, or covered and stored in the frig until the next day.
• FOR THE SAUCE.
• Whisk together the cucumbers, sour cream, yogurt, green onions, lemon juice, salt, white pepper and mint. Store in frig until serving time.
• HEATING AND ASSEMBLING GYROS.
• Put slices of the lamb loaf on a flat grill pan and heat on low to medium heat. Meanwhile, put pita rounds between two sheets of aluminum foil, crimp the edges, and put in oven to warm.
• Put portions of the hot meat on the warmed pita round, and pile the sweet onion slices and tomatoes on top. Serve the gyro with a generous side dish of the cucumber / yogurt sauce. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Two to three days before:.
• Cut the meat into small cubes, removing only large pieces of fat. Grind rosemary until fine, add the garlic, oregano, rosemary, salt, pepper, and lemon zest (fine grated from one lemon) and process a bit. Do not add the onion!
• Place the meat and spice mixture in a plastic bag, mix well, seal tightly and chill, turning now and then.
• 8 to 18 hours before serving:.
• Coarsely chop the onion and process it in the food processor until it is mushy with no onion pieces in it. Pour it out onto a clean fine weave cloth, gather the cloth up around the onion and squeeze out the liquid very well until the onion is very dry.
• Working in batches, grind the meat cubes in the food processor until finely ground. Add the onion to all the meat and mix well. Then re-process in batches until the mixture is reduced to a fluffy paste -- this may take two or more minutes per batch. Knead the meat mixture very well, form into a compact log 8-10 inches long with blunt ends, and wrap very tightly in plastic wrap (see picture). Chill for 3 to 18 hours.
• 1.5 to 2 hours before serving:.
• Remove plastic wrap and re-wrap tightly in foil. Put on indirect heat on the BBQ 375-400 degrees, turning every 15-20 minutes for about 60-70 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. Remove from grill and leave in foil for at least 20 minutes. Final temperature should be 160-165.
• Slice very thin horizontal slices. If you like your gyros meat crispy, saute the slices in a hot skillet for a few minutes before serving (I like mine soft, so I just zap it very briefly if I need to warm it up!).
• Serve with tzatziki (try #59336) and warm pita.

Steps:

• Heat olive oil over medium high heat; add onions and garlic and saute for five minutes. Add red pepper flakes. Add lamb and cook until there is no pink left.
• In a small bowl, combine the parmesan cheese, oregano, cumin, and pepper. Mix, and add to lamb, stirring well to evenly coat the lamb.
• Cook for five minutes, then add the sliced mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes. Cook until fully heated.
• Serve on flatbread or pita bread: sprinkle feta cheese and olives to taste (about one ounce of each), add the lamb mixture. Add a cucumber sauce if you like, and serve.

Steps:

• When you've got your lamb off the bone and are faced with a large slab of meat, you'll want to do a little more trimming to get it ready for the grill. Go ahead and remove the excess fat and any remaining membranes that you see.
• Cut the lamb up so that each chunk you cut off is uniform in size. Some pieces will be thicker than others, but that's perfectly fine. This way you can just pull each piece off the grill individually as they reach your desired doneness.
• Now that your meat is trimmed and ready to go it's time to mix up the marinade.
• Start by adding the olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, rosemary, oregano, salt, pepper, and garlic to a mixing bowl and whisk together.
• When it's thoroughly mixed, add it to a large zip top bag or shallow baking dish and add the lamb.
• Make sure you toss the meat around so the marinade covers everything and then let it sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Longer is better in this case, so if you can prepare this three or four hours in advance, that's great. Even overnight is fine if you're pressed for time. If you do marinade it for a longer period of time just be sure to occasionally toss or turn the pieces of meat to make sure they are staying well-covered by the marinade.
• After the meat has marinaded for your desired time, pull it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes prior to cooking to allow it to come up closer to room temperature.
• While your meat is resting you can go ahead and get the grill started. Gas or charcoal, doesn't matter. Use what you're comfortable with and what you have.
• Bring the grill up to a medium heat and begin cooking the lamb. If you have a few pieces that are much thicker than the rest, add those first and let them cook for a couple of minutes before adding the rest so that way most of the meat should get done at around the same time. Turn frequently. Continue cooking until the meat reaches around 120-125 degrees for medium-rare, or about 130 degrees for medium. When you pull the meat from the grill at these temperatures and let it rest, the meat will continue to cook and increase at least another five degrees.
• This is where having a good meat thermometer comes in handy, but if you don't have one and you're familiar with cooking steaks and testing their doneness, you can use the same method here.
• Once the meat has rested for about 10 minutes, slice bite-sized pieces, against the grain where possible and dump all of the meat into a large serving bowl. If you'd like, you can add a drizzle of olive oil and a little salt and pepper to the bowl and toss to coat to give it a little finishing touch.
• Finally, take your pieces of pita bread and throw them on the grill, still at medium heat, and let them warm up. We're not looking to get the bread crunchy or anything, but just want to toast it lightly and warm it throughout. It should take just 30-60 seconds.
• Instructions for Tzatziki Sauce:.
• Start by peeling two medium cucumbers and cut in half lengthwise.
• Take a spoon and scoop out the seeds, then give them a rough chop. Once chopped, put the cucumber into a colander or strainer in the sink and sprinkle the kosher salt on top and toss to coat. This step is important because the salt will draw out some of the excess moisture that would otherwise make your tzatziki very thin in consistency. Let the salted cucumber sit for 30-60 minutes.
• For making the sauce a food processor can come in handy, but you can just use a grater to grate the cucumber into small pieces and then chop the herbs and garlic very fine by hand.
• If you have a food processor, add the cucumber, garlic, and dill to the processor and pulse to puree.
• Add the mixture to a bowl and then add the yogurt and lemon juice and fold to incorporate everything. Let it sit in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, but overnight is best. Enjoy!