Gyro Meat for SRC

It's that time of the month again;
REVEAL DAY!!!!
Yup, it's Group B's turn to shine.  We're all members of the Secret Recipe Club and we all have blogs and love to Cook and Create in the kitchen.  Or is that Create and Cook?

The Secret Recipe Club consists of bloggers, who are divided into groups, and are randomly assigned another blog every month to explore and make a recipe or two from.  We then 'reveal' our choice on a set day at the same time.  I've been a member of the club for almost 2 years now, and have to admit to the fact that I rarely check out other food blogs, but the SRC means I have to do so at least once a month.  And I am grateful.  I've gotten a lot of new recipes, had my mind blown by some of the incredibly busy and talented and amazing people out there.   All I can say is WOW.

Every month I get a great blog to explore and believe me when I say I explore it.    I've bookmarked and 'pinned' more recipes and ideas than I have time to make, but it's all good.

And this month I hit yet another jackpot.  Grandma Loy's Kitchen.  I've actually gone there for inspiration on more than one occasion in the past, and have already 'pinned' a few ideas from her.   I do like a good recipe source like her blog.   I'm going to try making her recipe for DIY Buttermilk, if I can keep myself from drinking it all when I buy it.  I do love buttermilk, and like to cook with it as well.   And it would be great to have some 'on hand' all the time.   My local grocery store doesn't always have it available for purchase.  And I want to try my hand at her DIY Sweetened Condensed Milk as well.  I think I see a theme going here, hmmmm

For today's reveal, I decided to make her DIY Gyro meat.   I've been craving a Gyro for quite some time now, and this recipe just jumped out at me.  I even ducked. 

Sorry, couldn't resist that one. 

And now for my SRC reveal:

DIY Gyro Meat.

1  small onion, cut into chunks
1 lb. ground beef, 
1 lb. ground lamb, (I ground my own)
1 T. minced garlic
1 t. dried oregano (I used some fresh oregano from my garden)
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. dried marjoram
1 t. ground dried rosemary
1 t. ground dried thyme
1 t. coarse ground black pepper
1/4 t. ground allspice (I cut this in half as I don't care for the taste of the allspice)
1/2 t. ground coriander
1 1/2 t. salt

Grind your lamb and hamburger if needed.   I did grind up some lamb. 

Using my new toy to make finely minced garlic.

I 'smooshed' up the fresh oregano with my mortar and pestle before putting it in with the onion.

Place the onion in a food processor (I use my small chopper) and process until very finely chopped. 











Place meat and onion in a large mixing bowl.  Add all seasonings and mix with your hands until everything is well combined. 

Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend.  Grandma suggested putting the meat into food processor and processing it until it was a thick paste, but I just put the meat into my KitchenAid mixer and walked away for a few minutes while it mixed up.  I did keep an eye on it, but I let it mix for a little while.   Pack into a 9x5-inch loaf pan, making sure there are no air pockets.(Next time I make this, I will form it into a loaf, and then put it into the pan, as I did get a couple of air pockets.)

  Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel.  Place the loaf pan on the towel inside the roasting plan and place in a 325 degree oven.  Fill the roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. You are basically making a 'Bain Marie' here.  I don't have a roaster so used an aluminum bake pan set on a rimmed baking tray.    Bake 1 hour or until the temperature reaches 165 degrees on a meat thermometer.  Safety Note Here:  Remove loaf pan from the roasting pan, when done.  Don't even try to take out the hot water, let it cool in the oven for a little while.  They will be very hot.  Be very careful if removing immediately. Drain the loaf pan of any accumulated fat, or just fork up the baked loaf and set to cool.  Grandma Loy said to place several 1lb. cans on top of the meat and place in the refrigerator to cool and set up overnight.  I didn't do that, real life got in the way and I had to hurry up and just get the loaf into the fridge.   

Slice meat very thinly and grill or brown in a skillet before serving.   I sliced up the whole loaf and froze most of it.   I can now have Gyro's anytime I want to, giggle.
Serve on flat bread with lettuce, tomato, onion and sauce of your choice. 

The flavour of the meat was spot on.  I've had worse Gyro's in restaurants.  My only quibble with this was the pita bread I made.   I need to try a different recipe.   But the Gyro meat was great.   As was the Tzatziki Sauce I made to serve with it.   Serves 8 to 10.
 *And it also makes a easy breakfast, especially if you're hungry.  All you need to do is slice up some lettuce, tomatoes and onions.