We purchased a leg of lamb for easter (great price, $2.99/lb). I finally decided, I am going to cut it up in 1 inch cubes and use it for gyro sandwiches. Anybody have a marinade that would be good for this? I plan on putting the marinated meat on skewers and throwing them on the grill, let me know if that sounds right. Thanks for all the help.
lamb kebabs for gyro sandwich
- Thread starter Erik G
- Start date
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Do try the gyro recipe sometime, Erik. As a marinade, see the recipe at the link David posted and take the first 9 ingredients--but cut the garlic to 2-3 cloves) and place in a bowl; add 2 t granulated onion. Mix in 2 T fresh lemon juice and 3/4 cup olive oil. Stir well to combine, pour into a Zip-loc, add the lamb chunks, and marinate all day, flipping the bag every once in a while. Shake off excess marinade before skewering, skewer, salt lightly, and grill direct, turning every 1-2 min, till done to your liking. Drizzle with tza-tziki for serving, if desired. (I replace the dill with mint in these circumstances but your choice.) Enjoy.
Thanks Kevin, I used your recipe. The meat is marinating in the refrigerator while we speak. It was the perfect amount for 3.25 lbs of meat. My question for you is when you put all the ingredients together, how do you know to use 2 teaspoons of each ingredient? Have you played around with this in the past? Was this initially a guesstimate and it worked out or possibly even the final recipe after tweaking many times? When I think of lamb, I think of garlic, rosemary, lemon, olive oil and possibly even oregano (since it's quite popular in Greece), but wouldn't think of marjoram and thyme? Everytime someone requests a recipe, you're the first one to jump at it. How do you do it and for that matter, how do you do it successfully?
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Whether I do it successfully is always an open question--see what you think of your results and let me know if it was successful for you.
I've cooked for a long time. If I am not in a kitchen cooking I create recipes in my head (though I do this even while I'm cooking) and as I put things together in my head I taste them in my head.
For your request that is what I did. I cut the garlic back because I knew I'd be using oil. Some of garlic's flavors are fat soluble and the oil carries them well. The 5 cloves called for in the recipe get minced and worked into 3 lbs of meat; I felt 2-3 cloves in approximately a 1 cup marinade would be garlicky enough. As for the herbs and other seasonings, those amounts work for me as I 'taste' them. I added the granulated onion because its subtle sweetness balances the fresh garlic and the lemon. Thyme works so well with onion and garlic and it and the marjoram balance the oregano which, to me, can take on almost an astrigency, especially when mixed with lemon juice and especially when cooked a long time (you won't be doing that here but still, imo, the marjoram is good for balance as it is a 'sweet' herb).
Marjoram and thyme are very Mediterranean in terms of flavor and use--they are both quite Mexican as well. One sees them in the cuisines of both Greece and Mexico though they are not often identified with either. Though it is quite true that one often sees a mix of olive oil, lemon, oregano, salt and pepper as a marinade for Greek-style lamb (my Greek friends in San Diego use this blend), I find it lacking; I add the other flavors of onion, thyme and marjoram and white pepper because I feel that they fill out the flavor profile nicely. See what you think.
For a rosemary-biased marinade I would do something similar to the one you just did except that I would cut the thyme to 1 t, replace the oregano with an equal amount of minced fresh rosemary, and cut the marjoram to 1 t. I think that this would work well.
See here for a little more info on how I come up with things and a method you can use to increase your recipe development skills on your own.
I've cooked for a long time. If I am not in a kitchen cooking I create recipes in my head (though I do this even while I'm cooking) and as I put things together in my head I taste them in my head.
For your request that is what I did. I cut the garlic back because I knew I'd be using oil. Some of garlic's flavors are fat soluble and the oil carries them well. The 5 cloves called for in the recipe get minced and worked into 3 lbs of meat; I felt 2-3 cloves in approximately a 1 cup marinade would be garlicky enough. As for the herbs and other seasonings, those amounts work for me as I 'taste' them. I added the granulated onion because its subtle sweetness balances the fresh garlic and the lemon. Thyme works so well with onion and garlic and it and the marjoram balance the oregano which, to me, can take on almost an astrigency, especially when mixed with lemon juice and especially when cooked a long time (you won't be doing that here but still, imo, the marjoram is good for balance as it is a 'sweet' herb).
Marjoram and thyme are very Mediterranean in terms of flavor and use--they are both quite Mexican as well. One sees them in the cuisines of both Greece and Mexico though they are not often identified with either. Though it is quite true that one often sees a mix of olive oil, lemon, oregano, salt and pepper as a marinade for Greek-style lamb (my Greek friends in San Diego use this blend), I find it lacking; I add the other flavors of onion, thyme and marjoram and white pepper because I feel that they fill out the flavor profile nicely. See what you think.
For a rosemary-biased marinade I would do something similar to the one you just did except that I would cut the thyme to 1 t, replace the oregano with an equal amount of minced fresh rosemary, and cut the marjoram to 1 t. I think that this would work well.
See here for a little more info on how I come up with things and a method you can use to increase your recipe development skills on your own.
A Gyro sandwich without the 'pressed, mystery' meat and cubed lamb kebabs instead = a souvlaki sandwich.
We used to get these all the time from street vendors in Athens and Glyfada. Usually cooked over a small hibachi like grill on a cart, seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano. Served in a fold of pita bread, dressed with chopped tomatos and onions, a dollop of tzaziki sauce and dusted with paprika. <UL TYPE=SQUARE>
Tzaziki Sauce
<LI>1 pt yogurt (drained)
<LI>6 cloves of garlic (finely minced)
<LI>1 cucumber (seeded, shredded and wrung dry)
<LI>3 T olive oil
<LI>1 t salt (or more to taste)
Best to prep this a day in advance to let the flavors come together.[/list]
Better if one can find truly thick 'Greek' syle yogurt (we get it at the Int'l Farmers Market in Decatur, Ga).
We used to get these all the time from street vendors in Athens and Glyfada. Usually cooked over a small hibachi like grill on a cart, seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano. Served in a fold of pita bread, dressed with chopped tomatos and onions, a dollop of tzaziki sauce and dusted with paprika. <UL TYPE=SQUARE>
Tzaziki Sauce
<LI>1 pt yogurt (drained)
<LI>6 cloves of garlic (finely minced)
<LI>1 cucumber (seeded, shredded and wrung dry)
<LI>3 T olive oil
<LI>1 t salt (or more to taste)
Best to prep this a day in advance to let the flavors come together.[/list]
Better if one can find truly thick 'Greek' syle yogurt (we get it at the Int'l Farmers Market in Decatur, Ga).
Sorry Kevin, I haven't checked the forum for awhile. The recipe worked out great. To accompany the lamb kebabs, I made chicken kebabs and ground lamb (with some parsley, fresh garlic, and olive oil) and the lamb kebabs went first. It came out absolutely delicious. I was afraid that the oregano would be overpowering, however it was perfectly balanced. Thanks again for your help. The meat was topped with Tzatziki sauce. I used a pint of greek-style yogurt (from Trader Joe's), drained that over night, added 3/4 cup of english cucumber (drained, salted and drained again), 5 cloves of garlic, and 2 tbls of EVOO (very similar to Keith's above). Everything was great.