Ground Beef Gyro

So the theme this month has been street food from around the world. And I have to tell you I didn't think I would have been so difficult to narrow down the dishes that made me all warm and fuzzy inside but it was. What I also realized was that a lot of our street food favs are international dishes. Tacos, potato tornados, or  dishes like the doner kebab which  are famous in Turkey as well as Germany. A street food fav of the whole family, that is similar is the gyro. Whether chicken, lamb or beef we love gyros. I've been dying to get this recipe right and I think I finally have. It's one thing to introduce a dish that no one has ever tried before. It's a completely different thing to try to make a dish that everybody (even the kids) loves.

When feening for Mediterranean food we typically head to our favorite place downtown. We are particular fans of Adnan food. Adnan is Syrian and  the owner of our favorite falafel place. From the shawarma to the kofta kabob, Adnan has the perfect mixture of spices when it comes to his dishes. Now I know I probably wouldn't be able to make it exactly like his but I've been experimenting with various mixtures of spices off and on for several years. This mixture is the best of them all. So I'm sharing it with you.

Ground Beef Gyro
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound of ground beef
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon lemon

Sauce
8 ounces yogurt
1/3 cup peeled and finely chopped cucumber
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon sugar

4 Pita bread
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 large tomato chopped
1 red onion sliced

Directions:

Finely chopped cucumber and place in a strainer.

Sprinkle cucumber with salt and allow it to sit out for 20 minutes (salt removes some of the water from the cucumber for a better sauce).

Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a blender/ food processor.

Place sauce in fridge.

For the meat filling place onion, garlic and lemon juice in a blender and combine well.

Add onion mixture to meat with the above seasonings.

Mix well and shape into patties.

Cook patties in a pan/ grill over medium high heat for 10 to 12 minutes.

Cut patties into thin slices.

Add beef slices to pita bread with lettuce, tomatoes and onions.

Top with yogurt sauce. And you're done!!

Feel free to use this combination of spices to make a chicken gyro and let me know what you think.