Last night we had some more tasty Greek food. After making that Greek Chicken Salad a couple weeks ago, I was really wanting to make Souvlaki again. For those who are wondering, I got the whole scoop from Jeremy tonight about Souvlaki vs. Gyros.
Okay, so as you probably know, Jeremy served his mission in Greece. So he knows Greek food. One of the most common things to get in Greece is a gyro (pronounced "yee-ro" NOT "jy-ro"). A gyro refers to the type of meat which is cooked on a vertical spit that spins (like the word "gyroscope" - it spins around)around next to a heat source (oven kind of thing) and is then shaved off in thin slices. Anyway, so it is usually pork, lamb, beef, or chicken. In Greece it is served on a pita with tzatziki, red onion, tomato, and french fries. (Yeah, I missed the tomato and french fries).
Now, souvlaki on the other hand basically means a kabob and it is pork or chicken that is cooked on a skewer and then served on a pita with the same fixings as a gyro. So there you go. Both words technically refer to the meat I guess, not the whole thing, but they're always served that way, so it's kind of confusing. So what we had last night was souvlaki, not gyros. And it was delicious! I also made a greek salad, which is essentially this without the lettuce and chicken. Yum! This post just has the recipe for the meat, but I've posted the recipes for the pitas and the tzatziki below.
Souvlaki
2 lbs. of chicken (you could use pork too), cut in 3/4 inch cubes
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. of freshly ground pepper
1 T. sea salt or kosher salt
2 T. fresh parsley, chopped
2 T. olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
Combine all ingredients in a ziploc bag. Turn to coat the meat evenly. Refrigerate for 6-8 hours.
Using 8 inch skewers, thread approximately 6 pieces of meat on each. This should make about 12 skewers. Grill the meat turning until well browned, about 15 minutes.
Serve on pitas with tzatziki, chopped red onion and chopped tomatoes.
Sources: Jeremy Nowland and About.com
4 comments:
I feel so educated now! I made something just like this a while ago but the recipe I had said they were gyros! Now I know. I didn't know Jeremy went to Greece, that's awesome. I vote you take a romantic trip back sometime! thanks for the recipe, mine weren't fabulous so I'll try yours out!
OK, this is officially on my list for next week's menu! I'll check back in when we make it and let you know how it goes. I've never had Greek yogurt before...is it a lot different than just normal plain yogurt? I don't know a think about it.
PS - your pitas look so good, and made my brain spin off into the direction of homemade scones...oh dear me...
Ummm...I meant that I don't know "a thing", not "a think", about the yogurt. Nice.
I'm glad you checked this out Julianne! Okay, so Greek yogurt is a lot thicker than regular yogurt. If you use regular plain yogurt you can strain it with a cheese cloth or even a thin towel or something for a few hours and a lot of liquid will come out of it leaving it a lot thicker. If you don't want to do that, and you don't want to buy Greek yogurt, you can use regular yogurt. It just won't be as thick. I've done all three methods before (Greek yogurt, regular strained yogurt, plain yogurt) and they're all delicious. That's the deal! Hopefully that makes sense. I should have explained that in the recipe. Oops. I hope it turns out!
Post a Comment