Homemade Gyro's and Tzatziki Sauce

The next best thing to Azar's!

Based off Alton Brown's recipe

Tip:  This feeds 5-6 folks.  This recipe is easily scalable on the ratios.   Getting soft pita bread is KEY!  Also I often double the sauce.

Ingredients:

For the Gyro Meat:

1     Medium Onion, chopped fine

2     lbs ground lamb

2     T minced or pressed garlic

1     T dried marjoram

1     T dried ground rosemary

2     t salt

1     t fresh ground pepper

For the Tzatziki Sauce

16    oz plain greek yogurt

1      medium, peeled, seeded and chopped fine

5      garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1      T olive oil

2      t red wine vinegar

6      fresh mint leaves 

pinch salt

For the Gyro Meat:

• Process the onion in a food processor for 10 to 15 seconds and turn out into the center of a tea towel. Gather up the ends of the towel and squeeze until almost all of the juice is removed. Discard juice.  Note:  Many times I will use a slap chop and then squeeze the water out if I don'[t want to deal with getting out the food processor. 
• Return the onion to the food processor and add the lamb, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, salt, and pepper and process until it is a fine paste, approximately 1 minute. Stop the processor as needed to scrape down sides of bowl.  Note: again, if I don't get out the processor, I will mix with my hands.

To cook in the oven as a meatloaf, proceed as follows:

• Preheat the oven to 325 ° F.
• Place the mixture into a loaf pan, making sure to press into the sides of the pan. Place the loaf pan into a water bath and bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until the mixture reaches 165 to 170° F. Remove from the oven and drain off any fat. Place the loaf pan on a cooling rack and place a brick wrapped in aluminum foil directly on the surface of the meat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 175° F. Slice and serve on pita bread with tzatziki sauce, chopped onion, tomatoes and feta cheese.

For the Tzatziki Sauce:

• Place the yogurt in a tea towel, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
• Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint. Serve as a sauce for gyros. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.