Grilled Steak Gyros

My take on a greek diner classic. Gyros are usually slow roasted pieces of meat stuffed into a pita with lots of yummy goodness. My version takes marinated skirt steak and grills it to make it flavorful and tender. I then stuffed it into a lightly grilled pita with a tangy and creamy yogurt sauce and lots of crisp fresh veggies. Skirt steak is inexpensive and has a TON of flavor but can be a little tough. By using an acid in the marinade, the skirt steak starts to break down a bit. The next key is to cook it quickly over very high heat. You’ll sear in all the juices and the flavor.  The flavors that burst in your mouth after one bite will not disappoint. I think this just may become a new favorite in my house!


What You Need:

juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 large cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced (can use a micro-plane too)
2 tbs minced fresh oregano (or 1 1/2 tsp dried)
1/3 c olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 c greek yogurt
1 large onion
1 lb skirt steak
4 pita breads
Tomato and cucumber, sliced
lettuce

What To Do:

In a bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, zest, garlic, oregano, oil and some salt and pepper until well combined. Remove half of the marinade and set it aside for later. Pour the other half into a zip top bag with your meat. Make sure you coat the meat with the marinade. Seal the bag and let it do it’s job in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or up to 4 hours.
Preheat your grill on high and remove the meat from the fridge, take it out of the marinade and toss whatever is left over in the bag. Combine two tbs of the marinade that you set aside earlier, with the 1/2 c greek yogurt. Peel and slice your onion into 4 thick but equal rounds. Take the remaining marinade and brush it onto your onions.
Place the onions on the grill along with your steak cooking both for a few minutes on each side. You want the onions to become soft and sweet and you want your steak to be cooked to your desired doneness. I suggest cooking no more then medium. Cooking it well done will only make it tough and chewy. Once it’s cooked remove it and your onions from the grill. Cover your steak with a piece of foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. While it’s resting, warm the pitas on the grill for about a minute per side. To serve, layer come lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced cucumber, 1/4 of the grilled onions and some of the grilled steak onto 1 side of the pita. Top with a bit of the yogurt sauce, fold up your pita and devour!

Note: I’ve made this with a venison loin too and it’s just as good if not better then skirt steak!

Corned Beef Hash and Eggs

Growing up, when my father was home for breakfast, it was an all out food occasion. He liked his big breakfasts! Bacon, or sausage, eggs, home fries, pancakes, and toast, big was not the word for it. One thing he liked a ton was corned beef hash. Do you know the stuff I'm talking about? It comes in a can, is full of salt and fat and quite frankly looks a lot like cat food. Now I'm not saying it wasn't tasty. I've eaten my fair share of it, but being an adult with a family has made me change my mind on a lot of foods that cross my table. If I can make it myself and it's relativity easy and cost effective then I'm all for it! The best part is that when it comes out good, I get to share it with you! However, before I give you the recipe there are just a couple things I want to note. The first is that I make my own corned beef and there are two ways you can do this. The first way is combining salt, water and spices and letting the meat soak and suck up the brine for up to 3 weeks depending on the recipe you use. The next is what I do. It takes 3 to 5 days and uses pickling spices and a special Corned Beef Cure which I purchase from the Sausage Maker website. I also don't use brisket because frankly it's not available to me here so I buy london broil cuts of beef when they're on sale. I also use venison (deer meat) which is what I have used in the recipe below. One more quick note. When you go to season your hash, I highly recommend that you taste it before adding any salt at all. Since the meat is brined in salt to start with, you might not need any in your final dish.

What You Need:

Left Over Corned Beef, cut into a small dice
2 potatoes, cut into a small dice
3 tbs veg oil
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tbs ketchup
2 tbs water
1/2 tsp black pepper
salt to taste

What To Do:

Heat a large sauté pan to medium high and add in the veg oil. Start cooking the potatoes until they start to soften. Add in the corned beef and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until everything is lightly browned. You'll noticed I didn't give a measurement for the corned beef. This is because you can use left over corned beef or a whole corned beef that you've previously cooked just for making hash. You want roughly the same about of corned beef as potato, if not a bit more. When I make it, I'll use about a cup more of corned beef compared to the potatoes. Sprinkle with the thyme and pepper and give it a stir. Mix together the ketchup with the water and stir into the hash. Season with salt. At this point, you can continue cooking the hash as is until the liquid is absorbed and the potatoes are nice and soft, or you can let the mixture cool and shape into patties and freeze for when you want them. To cook them, just heat a bit of oil in a pan and cook until browned on both sides. Serve with Sunny Side Up Eggs on top. You want to the break the yokes and let it mix with the hash. It's the only way to eat it if you ask me!