Friday, March 16, 2012

Food, Food, Food - Chicken Gyros

I have had so much good food this week! Pan-seared steak with butter sauce, asparagus, and a sweet potato; chicken gyros; beef and Guinness pie; Irish soft tacos; and chocolate Guinness cake. Obviously, parts of this weeks menu were for Saint Patrick's celebrations. My favorite item of the week, though, was the chicken gyro. I have never had a gyro and, quite frankly, can't stand the thought of lamb. I have really weird food issues when it comes to things like that. haha Nothing that was a baby (lamb, veal), nothing uncooked or rare (caviar, sushi), and nothing with bones (ribs, most fried chicken). I embrace my oddities.

I didn't have a recipe for the gyros, but went along with what I thought might be good. Below is my supposed recipe for chicken gyros. I say supposed because I didn't measure anything, which usually makes remaking my recipes a little difficult. At any rate, I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did (yes, even Alexander).



Chicken Gyros (4-6 servings)

1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
3 teaspoons minced garlic (approx. 6 cloves), divided
4 teaspoons chopped parsley, divided
1/4 cup each of Kalamata olives and Greek black olives, chopped
1 tomato, seeded and diced
2 teaspoons of minced shallots
1/2 cup feta
3 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
olive oil
pepper
paprika
salt
4-6 pieces of naan or flatbread

To make the tzatziki combine diced cucumber, sour cream, Greek yogurt, half the chopped parsley, and half of the minced garlic in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for an hour (longer if you want) for the best flavor.
To make the tapenade combine chopped Kalamata and Greek black olives, the remaining minced garlic, and the remaining chopped parsley in a bowl. Refrigerate if desired.
Combine the diced tomato and minced shallot and season with salt and pepper in a bowl. Refrigerate if desired.
Crumble the feta or, if lazy...um...efficient, just pop the lid off of your favorite pre-crumbled feta.
Warm skillet on medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and paprika. When the skillet it hot add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add chicken and cook until done, about 7-10 minutes. If you want to be sure then use a meat thermometer and call it done when it reaches 165 degrees.
Warm naan or flatbread in the oven. My recommendation is to brush a little olive oil on the top before heating. If you're at work and eating as leftovers the microwave, minus the olive oil, will suffice.
When all is done lay the flatbread on some aluminium foil, layer the chicken, tzatziki, tapenade, tomato, and feta. Wrap/fold the naan or flatbread in the foil to make eating it a little less messy.

Enjoy!

No comments: