Lamb Gyros

Gyros are one of the most loved street foods in Trinidad and Tobago. They are quick, tasty and prepared on the spot usually in a vicinity where drinking and liming is taking place.
For this recipe Chef Brigette Joseph takes the “mystery” out of the mysterious large cones of meat we see by the vendors. Learn how to make lamb gyros in the safety of your home!

Special thanks to Bmobile for sponsoring this episode of Street Food Tabanca. #justbelieve

Ingredients

2 lb lamb mince (ground meat) , (if you get some fatty lamb we won’t need the bacon)
7oz streaky bacon , roughly diced
1 onion , diced (brown, yellow, white)
2 clove garlic , roughly chopped (I NEED PLENTY GARLIC)
1 tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil (for frying)

Seasoning Spices:

1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp table salt
1 tsp black pepper

Assembly:

8 pita bread
1 iceberg lettuce , finely shredded
4 tomatoes , halved and sliced
2 red onions , finely sliced
Lemon juice
LONGGG Skewers
Vegetable Oil (sunflower or something with neutral taste)

Instructions

Marinate Meat:

Mix lamb with all the Spices – mix well using your hands.
Cover and refrigerate 2 hours minimum, or up to 24 hours.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 170°C/ 325°F (150°C fan).
Line baking pan with foil.
Check to ensure skewers are long enough to prop on the sides of the pan.

Puree Meat:

Place onion, bacon and garlic in a 8 cup/2L+ food processor. Blitz until it becomes a, paste ~30 sec on high, scraping down sides as you go.
Add meat and blitz on low until it becomes a paste scraping down sides (~1 min for powerful food processors, 2 min for less powerful).

Shape Doner Kebab Meat:

Turn meat out onto work surface. Wet hands with water, then shape into an even block 20cm/8″ long.
Place 2 x 60cm / 2 feet long pieces of foil overlapping each other by 1/3. (Note 6)
Place meat on the end of the foil, then roll it up, tightly wrapping it in the foil.
Twist the ends firmly to form a log 25cm/10″ long, then snip off excess foil. Roll into even log.
Thread skewers through the log.
Place log elevated in pan by propping skewers on the edge of the pan. (Note 7)

Cooking:

Cook for 1 1/2 hours, turning once after 1 hour, until the log reaches 70°C/160°F (up to 80°C/175°F is fine). The log is cooked at this point.
Remove foil from log but leave skewers in place.
Increase oven heat to 250°C/480°F, or as high as your oven can go if it can’t reach this.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, rotating once, until browned all over.

Shaving / pan frying:

Remove skewers then stand the meat upright.
Shave meat thinly – carve as much as you intend to use.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook shaved meat lightly coloured but still “floppy” (not crisped). Use immediately to assemble gyros