Chicken Gyro's

 Well the local Greek Church just had their annual Greek Festival full of mighty fine tasting food and it inspired me to try out making chicken gyro's myself.  I found this fairly simple recipe online.  Of course I needed to adapt parts of it.  This is one recipe however that the credit needs to stay with Mel's Kitchen Cafe and Chef in Training because I adapted very little of the recipe.  I kept the Naan recipe and the Tzatziki sauce exactly as they created it. 

First you should start by making Mel's Kitchen Cafe's Recipe for Naan:

3-4 cups of flour (I used 3 1/2 cups of white whole wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp active dry or instant yeast (I used active dry)
1 1/2 cups of milk (I used 1 percent)
1 tsp sugar
3-4 tbsp melted butter (I used maybe 1 tablespoon)

Pour the milk into a liquid measure and heat in the microwave until warm to the touch (it took 1 1/2 minutes for me or until instant-read thermometer reads 110 degrees F).  If using active dry yeast, mix the sugar and yeast into the milk and let sit for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is foamy and the yeast has activated.

Once the yeast/milk mixture is foamy pour the mixture into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and add the salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour (proceed with the second paragraph of the recipe). If using instant yeast, pour the warm milk into a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add the sugar, instant yeast, salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Proceed as directed below.
Mix well to combine. Continue adding flour gradually in small amounts, until a soft dough is formed that cleans the sides of the bowl.
Knead the dough by mixer or hand until it is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes in the mixer or 10 minutes by hand.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl (this was only spot I found the need for the melted butter) and let it rest at room temperature, covered lightly with greased plastic wrap, for about 2 hours.
After the dough has rested, turn it onto a lightly floured surface (I like to use my roul’pat for this) and divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, rounding each into a ball shape. Cover the pieces with a towel and let them rest for 30 minutes.
While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F and place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven.
Once the dough has rested for 30 minutes, one by one, roll each piece into a circle about 6-8 inches wide, depending on how thin or thick you want your naan (***or use a tortilla press like I did- perfect each time and same size each time). Lay the circle of dough on the hot pizza stone and spritz lightly with water.
Close the oven and bake the naan for 2-4 minutes, until it is lightly puffed (some pieces will puff more than others) and brown spots begin to appear on the top.
Remove the naan from the baking stone and place on a cooling rack. Brush lightly with melted butter (rereading the directions I guess this is where you use the butter.  Oops!).  Stack the hot naan on top of each other as it comes out of the oven.
Cover with a towel and let the naan cool completely or serve warm.

Gyro Chicken Recipe:

6 tablespoons white white (original recipe said use 2 medium lemons)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 cloves of garlic minced (or jared minced garlic 4 tsp)
2 tsp oregano (I used dried)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 5 chicken breasts)

Place everything but the chicken in a zip lock bag.  Mix ingredients and then place the chicken in the bag and seal.  Marinate in the fridge for 2-4 hours turning the chicken frequently.  Grill the chicken over medium heat until the juices run clear. 

Tzatziki Sauce: (*not my recipe)
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup cucumber grated finely (squeeze out excess liquid)
2 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp vinegar

Mix together and serve over gyros. 

Here are some photos of the process.  I will post a finished picture of the gyro as we eat them for dinner tonight!

 

 

 

** If you are interested here is the link to the tortilla press we bought.  I love it.  It's compact and uses very little arm strength to flatten the dough out.  I got nice even naan each time.  Would definitely recommend getting one of these.  Made the process so much easier and you can use them to make your own soft taco tortillas...one less thing to buy from the store that is full of lots of unknown named ingredients.  (Can you tell I'm not a fan of processed foods!)

 

*** Also the process seems lengthy, but I promise you it's not.  The sauce took 2 minutes.  The chicken marinade took 2 minutes then you grill.  The naan was lots of steps, but no one step took a long time.  Well worth it for the taste!

 

Enjoy!!