So I mentioned on Twitter a while back that here at Casa Local Dish, we stumbled across an excellent recipe for gyros that I can’t wait for you to try. (Is the correct pronunciation now common enough that I won’t be thought pretentious for saying yeer-ohs? I hope so. I cannot say jai-rohs with a straight face.)

Greek-American Lamb Gyros

Personally, I never really thought about where gyros came from. You know, they get sliced off that rotating tube of meat behind the counter of the local Greek cafe. Before I knew realized that the meat had all these herbs and spices blended into it, I kind of thought it was a rotating haunch of meat up there. Not that thoughts of whole haunches stopped me from eating gyros. Because they are just that tasty.

And a little complicated. There are a lot of steps, but all the steps are simple and the end product? Let’s just say I thought I died and went to Jake and Telly’s.

And here is where I learn what that haunch-like tub of meat is. Gyro meat is basically a meat loaf which is cooked, cooled, sliced thin and then crisped. The loaf consists of mostly of ground lamb and bacon, onions and oregano, which I got from Ranch Foods Direct, Sunflower Market and my patio garden respectively. (I forgot the to put the bacon in entirely, and yet it was still great. Bacon would probably elevate the meat to a new level of awesomeness previously unknown. Except by people who have eaten homemade gyros prepared, you know, according to the directions.)

Seriously, who came up with this? It seems so obvious once I thought about it. After all, American meatloaf sandwiches with lots of ketchup are quite tasty. The hamburger — which if you mix in spices, onions or anything else — is basically a meat loaf sandwich. And so the gyro idea is standard, but then why does it taste so uncommon and special?

You like my free-form loaf? Man, lamb is sticky.

For the last step, this recipe calls for crisping the meat in the oven on broil, and we thought that worked fine. If you want to use a little oil in a pan, though, I won’t judge you. While the meat finishes, you slice up some onion, tomato and cucumber, and get out the yogurt-based, tzatiki-like sauce — which is included in the recipe.

And assemble.

We served our gyros with Tabbouleh with Mint and Pistachios. So really all we need now is falafel. And spanakopita. And souvlaki. And baklava.

I think our next dinner party might just be all Greek, all the time. After dinner, we’ll watch Spartacus.

Related Recipes

• Greek-American Lamb Gyros
• Tabbouleh with Mint and Pistachios