The Amazing Home-made Gyro

Being part Greek, food from the Mediterranean is one of my favorites. As we're trying to eat at home more, I thought let's bring the Greek food home, and thought I'd try gyros. First thing was first, where do we get lamb? Turns out Harmon's had a little bit of a selection, and was the only place in our area we could even find it! Hopefully it's easier to find in your area, but these are worth the trek.

There are two parts to this recipe, the gyro loaf and the tzatziki (cucumber sauce) The rest is just assembly of your amazing pita sandwich.

Part 1: The sauce

2 cups greek yogurt
1 medium cucumber - peeled, seeded and finely chopped
pinch of salt
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
5-6 leaves fresh mint finely chopped

Here is our finely seeded cucumber:

Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel, and wring to remove excess moisture. Combine yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, oil, vinegar and mint in a medium mixing bowl. BAM. This stuff is harder to spell then it is to make!

Warning: This yields 2 cups of sauce. It's a lot. So cut it in half, OR plan on having a lot of dip!

Part 2: The lamb

Preheat oven to 325

1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 lb ground lamb
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp dried marjoram
1 Tbsp ground dried rosemary
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 brick, wrapped in tin foil

Pulse onion in food process for 10-15 seconds, and dump out onto a tea towel. Gather up the ends of the towel and twist tightly and squeeze out as much juice as possible.

Put onion back in processor with lamb, and rest of ingredients. Process into a fine paste, about 1 minute. You'll get something that looks like this:

I know, not appetizing, but believe me, so worth it.

Place mixture into a loaf pan, making sure to press into the sides of the pan. Place a separate 13x9 pan filled about halfway with water into the oven, and place the loaf pan inside of it. (Called a water bath) and bake for 60-70 minutes until internal temperature is about 170. Remove from oven and drain off the fat.

Place pan on a cooling rack, and place the foil wrapped brick on top of the loaf.(I also recommend adding a heavy frying pan or other weight on top of the brick, as ours didn't compress as much as I wanted) Let sit for 20 minutes until core temp reaches 175. Slice thinly and serve in pita with tzatziki sauce, fresh tomatoes, sliced onions and feta cheese.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

This delicious Pizza was inspired by the California Pizza Kitchen pizza of the same name, with just a few changes.

I had to enlist the help of the wife since Little was being such a grump. She wouldn't let me put her down. So all of the dough prep was done by my lovely woman.

First the dough:

3/12 cups AP flour
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 pkg dry rapid rise yeast
1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees)
2 Tbsp olive oil + 2 tsp for greasing your bowl.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix.

add water and olive oil, and stir until dough forms. Add more flour at this point if it's too sticky (it should be firm enough to knead) Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until you have a smooth dough.

When done, put back in an oiled bowl and cover with a towel to rise for 1 hour. After rising, you'll beat down the dough and work through with your knuckles removing any large air bubbles. Makes enough for one large cookie sheet, or split into two for two 14" round pizzas.

For the toppings:
1 large chicken breast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
dash garlic powder
1 Tblsp Olive Oil
4 slices of gouda (we used a pre-sliced version)
1 cup fresh mozzarella (we sliced ours for that pizzeria feel!)
1/2 cup Bull's Eye bbq sauce (or more... we used more!)

Preheat oven to 425

Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic. Cook chicken in the oil in a large skillet over medium for 5-6 minutes until golden brown and done in the center. Cut into bite-sized pieces and dress with 1/4 cup bbq sauce.

 

Spread the remaining bbq sauce over the pizza, enough to coat. I wish we'd used a little bit more, it was TASTY!

 Cover with cheese, and chicken!

Bake for 16 min (for the cookie sheet size) and check for doneness. Then ENJOY. Mmmmmm.

Dorm Room Lo Mein

 

Today's recipe is a quick weeknight dinner I guarantee your kids will LOVE. It got it's name from the noodles we'll be using instead of traditional Lo Mein noodles.... Ramen! Actually, Ramen is a type of Lo Mein noodle. True fact. Well today it gets dressed up a bit.

Dorm Room Lo Mein:

3 small chicken breasts, cubed

1 whole carrot, peeled and sliced

1 stock celery sliced

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 packs of ramen cooked without seasoning

salt/pepper

Pinch of garlic powder

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Cook noodles per package instructions (minus seasoning) drain and set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the chicken with salt and pepper in the vegetable oil. Cook until just done, add carrots and celery and cook for 2 minutes.

 

Add noodles, soy sauce and garlic to the pan. Toss ingredients until everything is coated and warmed through. 

And voila. 10 minute dinner, super kid friendly. You could now top with crispy noodles, or thin sliced almonds for some crunch. Yum.

Mac and Cheese Grilled Cheese

 

Today's lunch was made from our need to use up last night's leftover mac and cheese (That recipe is coming soon. Believe me, you'll definitely want to make it!) This recipe can be done with any kind of leftover mac and cheese (even boxed if you need)

       Ingredients (per sandwich)

             2 slices bread

             2 slices american cheese

             1/2 cup leftover mac and cheese (or enough to cover the slice of bread)

             1 Tbsp oil or butter for pan

Place a slice of cheese on each slice of bread, and put macaroni and cheese on one slice so it covers the slice to the edges. Assemble sandwich and pan fry over medium low heat (keep it a little low so it heats through)

 To keep the sandwich together while cooking, give the sandwich a good smash before adding to the pan (this was a good job for Big) 

As was eating the yummy results. These are hearty sandwiches perfect for using up the leftovers in a fast and very kid-friendly way. Is it a chilly day where you are? Add a bowl of tomato soup to this for the perfect winter lunch.

Easy Peasy Tuna Croquette

For our late Sunday lunch, the wife and I were stumped what to make. So we raided the pantry and realized we had all the stuff for Tuna Croquettes. If you're not familiar with the term, think crab cakes... but with tuna.

This is such an easy recipe, I even had Big help me out. You'll need:

     2 - 5 oz cans Solid White Albacore tuna
     3 tsp Dijon mustard
     2 large eggs, beaten
     1.5 tsp lemon juice
     3/4 tsp salt
     1/2 tsp black pepper
     1 cup breadcrumbs
     olive oil for sauteing
     Tin foil

Combine all ingredients, but only 3/8 cup of breadcrumbs in medium bowl.

Divide mix into 8 rounds onto a pan lined with tin foil.

Put remaining bread crumbs in a pie plate. One at a time, flatten and coat each croquette with breadcrumbs on all sides.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a frying pan over medium heat. Make sure your oil is hot before you add your first croquette, or you'll end up with a really greasy result. Add the patties and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden.

Let cool on a pan with paper towels, serve warm.

You could serve these with tartar sauce, but they only lasted about 30 seconds before we devoured them.

5-Minute Queso dip, and a welcome to my blog

What a good day to post this recipe. It's over 100 degrees here in Utah, and we needed a quick before dinner snack, but didn't want to leave the house. The pizza dough is rising (that recipe later!) and we were starving. So we concocted this quick 5-minute queso from what was in our fridge. Turned out amazing so I think I'll share!

                                                Ingredients:
                                                 1/2 block of Velveeta white cheese
                                                 1 can diced green chilies (small can)
                                                 1 tsp lemon or lime juice
                                                 1/2 tsp garlic seasoning

                                               Heat over medium low heat, stiring until melted. That's it!

This was a hit with the kiddos as well. Big is 6 and loves anything with cheese in it, and the green chilies weren't too hot for her. Of course little is only 4 months old and can't enjoy yet, but I'm sure she'll be a fan too!

So this blog idea is something the wife and I came up with. Being a stay-at-home-dad for about 8 months, I've been taking on more and more of the home responsibilities, and having to learn how to as I go. I've found a lot of fun in cooking for my family and learning some new skills. I hope you'll join me. Maybe you're also new to the homemaking thing like me, or maybe you just want some simple recipes and home tips.

This should be a fun journey. Come along for the ride.