August 2008

Pita Bread
Ingredients
3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp yeast
1/4 C olive oil
1 to 1-1/2 C tepid water
Directions
For bread maker, dump all the ingredients except for the water into the bucket and start it up on the dough setting. Gradually add enough water until it spins itself into a slightly tacky but smooth ball. Use a spatula to incorporate all the flour into the ball if necessary. Allow it to run its full cycle, usually about 1 hour 20 minutes for it to double in size.

Without a bread maker, mix the ingredients and enough of the water to make a tacky ball. Flour your board and knead dough until smooth. Allow to proof to double in an oiled covered bowl, 1-2 hours depending on your climate and weather. Pour out dough onto a generously floured surface, flouring the top of the ball, your knife, and rolling pin. Keep the flour nearby. Knead the dough for a couple of turns to redistribute the air bubbles, then divide and roll into tennis-ball sized balls, placing each ball on an oiled sheet. Preheat your skillet to medium. Meanwhile, roll out a ball of dough into a flat pita, a scant 1/4" thick. Spray or wipe your skillet with olive oil, and toast the pita until bubbles form on top and the bottom starts to brown nicely. Lift it off, oil the pan, and flip the pita and finish cooking on the other side. It takes a couple minutes on each side so roll out your next pita while you wait. When done, remove them to a covered container, like a plate with another plate inverted on top. I use two pie pans. If you don't cover them after you take them off the heat, they will dry and get crispy. Keeping them covered makes for a super soft moist pita perfect for wrapping your gyros. If they do dry out, they're great with hummus.

Gyro Meat
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground lamb
1 lb. ground pork
2 cloves mashed garlic
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary

Directions
Mix ingredients well, cook right away or refrigerate overnight. Form meat into a thick log. Place in a large baking pan lined with foil. Broil from the middle rack, turning often. Slice outermost part of cooked meat thinly and return the log back to the broiler. Keep the sliced meat on a covered serving plate. Repeat until you get to the core and slice the rest. If necessary, warm in the oven prior to serving with warm pita, sliced tomato, cucumber, and onion.
 
Tzatziki sauce
Ingredients
4 oz sour cream
1 clove of garlic, minced finely
1-2" cucumber slice, chopped finely
dash of red wine
dash of olive oil
dash of salt
finely chopped parsley

Mix ingredients and serve with gyros. Also makes great vegetable dip.

Hummus
Ingredients
1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans
1/4 C olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp salt
paprika

Drain almost all liquid from chickpeas. Process in food processor, drizzle olive oil and lemon and process until smooth, add salt and process to mix. Transfer to serving container and coat with paprika, garnish with cilantro. Eat with dried or toasted pita.
 

The Tabouleh was mostly from a box, which called for olive oil, lemon juice, and chopped tomato. It comes with the wheat, spices, and herbs, but I added a load of finely chopped cilantro and parsely for added freshness and green.