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- Beef gyros (from the streets)
If you stop at the corner of West 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan…
Two smells hit you at the same time.
The sizzling meat aromas from my favorite Mediterranean gyros cart...
and the exhaust fumes from gas generator that powers it.
After spending countless late nights eating there, that strange combo is hard to separate from my food memory.
Beef gyros (from the streets) with Mediterranean tabouli and cucumber-yogurt sauce
People get the wrong idea about chefs.
They assume that chefs who cook with truffles, foie gras, and lobster will naturally sit down to a meal of champagne and caviar after work.
But after a sweaty, 10-hour shift in the kitchen, nothing's further from the truth.
We want something cheap, filling, and very high in calories.
That craving (obsession?) drew me back uptown at least once a week, for another greasy, spicy, over-sauced plate of gyros after finishing my shift near Union Square.
Rice portions were larger than the servings at sumo wrestling schools.
Steaming meat was piled on top.
A nuclear-red chile hot sauce was drizzled on top, then a white sauce that everyone overdosed on; never asking what the ingredients were.
Better not to know.
But for all its faults, there was no place I'd rather eat in the whole world on those nights.
I haven't been back to West 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue in 11 years, so I did the next best thing - recreated the dish at home.
(But healthier.)
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Now picture one of those giant cylinders of gyros meat as it spins in a lazy circle on a gyros cart.
Can you smell the meat juices sizzle as it slowly browns next to the orange electric broiler?
Well, that’s essentially a Middle-Eastern meatloaf.
And once you realize that, you can make basically the same thing with ground meat mixed in a bowl with herbs and spices, then cooked in a loaf pan in your oven.
To finish, just slice the meat thinly when the loaf has cooled.
If you want to brown it under the broiler, that’s extra credit - not essential for this dish.
I substituted lean ground beef for ground lamb, which isn't widely available in the U.S. (and isn't very popular, either, for that matter.)
And instead of steamed rice, I paired it with a lemony Mediterranean tabouli, bursting with fresh parsley.
A quick sauce made with cucumber and Greek yogurt gives the dish a tart creaminess that dresses the tabouli and coats the meat nicely.
SIMPL Tip #3: How to use fresh herbs
Before you use fresh herbs in the kitchen, understand the difference between the two types:
Robust herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme, marjoram, bay leaf)
Delicate herbs (basil, parsley, dill, cilantro, tarragon)
Robust herbs hold up well during cooking, and release their flavor during a long cooking process. To use these herbs, first wash and dry them. Then, pick them off the stems, slice them with a sharp knife, and add them to dishes like soups, stews, and braises.
Delicate herbs, on the other hand, should not be cooked because their flavor will quickly die. Instead, pick them off the stems after washing and drying. Then, slice them finely with a sharp knife, and fold them into your dish just before finishing.
Here's the nutrition breakdown for 1 serving of this recipe:
Nutrition
Calories: 744
Protein: 63g
Carbs: 14g
Fat: 48g
Beef gyros (from the streets) with Mediterranean tabouli and cucumber-yogurt sauce
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