Bangor - Cathy took us through making traditional greek Gyros, and some deserts Friday morning...

Gyro Recipe

Gyro Loaves:

½ lb. ground lamb
½ lb. ground meatloaf mix
½ medium onion, grated
1 large garlic clove, pressed
1 Tbsp. parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp. Greek seasoning
¾ tsp. kosher salt

Ingredients:

4 Pitas
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced onions
Shredded lettuce
Tzatziki sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F.  Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.

In a large bowl combine all gyro loaves ingredients until thoroughly mixed.  Divide mixture into fourths and form each into a 4” x 3” x 1”-thick loaf.  Lightly oil skillet.  Place loaves into skillet, leaving space between each.  Cook loaves, about 3 – 4 minutes on each side, until browned.  Place skillet in oven and bake for 5 – 8 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165°.  Remove from oven, cover with foil and allow loaves to rest for 10 minutes.

While loaves are resting, heat pitas in a skillet with olive oil until lightly browned on each side.  Cut each gyro loaf into ¼” thick slices lengthwise.  Place one sliced loaf on a pita, top with tomatoes, onions, lettuce and sauce. 

Serve.

 

Baklava Nests with Yogurt & Fresh Fruit

Yield:  8 servings

Ingredients:

1 - 8 oz. package frozen phyllo, thawed overnight in refrigerator
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
½ cup finely chopped walnuts
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
4 cups fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries), cleaned and cut up
2 cups Greek yogurt
½ cup honey

Directions:

Process the sugar, walnuts, cinnamon and cloves in the bowl of a food processor until finely ground and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Without unrolling the phyllo log, cut 4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices crosswise from one end.  (Rewrap and save the remaining phyllo for another use.)

Carefully unfurl the slices of phyllo on a work surface, discarding any plastic rolled within.  Gently separate the strands, keeping them parallel, then gather into 8 groups, about 10 strands each.  Cover 7 groups with plastic wrap.  Hold one end of remaining (uncovered) group of strands and gently brush with some melted butter, then sprinkle with some of the walnut spice mixture.  Flip over and repeat on the other side.  Loosely coil up the coated strands to form a small nest and place on prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining strands to form 7 more nests.

Bake the nests in center of oven until golden brown about 8 – 10 minutes.  Cool nests on sheet on a rack, 10 minutes.

While nests are cooling divide fruit among 8 bowls.  Top each with ¼ cup of yogurt, 1 Tbsp. honey and one baklava nest. 

Serve.

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