When I was little, my family and I were at my paternal grandmothers house. Everyone had just had gyros, so that’s what the house smelled like. I also remember getting sick, puking everywhere, barricading myself in the bathroom and refusing to come out because my cousin was a nurse. And nurses are like doctors. And doctors give you shots. How's that for insight into a child's mind?
Long story short, I up until recently, I associated the smell of gyros and Greek food in general with puke. The association was so strong that the smell actually made me nauseous. This aversion lasted until the fall of 2008 - my first year of law school. I'd been into food for quite some time and knew in my head that, based on the ingredients, I should love gyros. But I couldn't get over the association.
Then, one day after what I can only assume must have been a particularly terrible day in the life of a 1L (because they all are), some classmates and I ventured across Snelling Ave to heaven. By heaven I mean a tiny little place called Black Sea. Its run down, its tiny, its got typos on the menus, and the people who own it speak not-so-great English. But the food, good granny, the food. I'm 1,140 miles away and all I want is their Gyro. Needless to say, I got over the association with vomit.
Now I spend my time thinking of clever ways to deliver Greek-esq food to my mouth, preferably covered in Tzatziki sauce.
Tzatziki sauce is where it's at. It’s a yogurt based sauce with cucumbers in it and a staple in Greek foods. In my book, a good Tzatziki makes or breaks a Gyro. I almost refused to pay for a Gyro someone put ranch dressing on.
So, without further rambling, the Greek Turkey Burger!
Ingredients:
For Burger:
1 lb ground turkey (lean please)
1/4 c. chopped Kalamata olives
1/4 c. crumbled Feta cheese
1/2 t granulated Garlic
1/2 t granulated Onion
1 T dried Oregano
Fresh ground black pepper
For Sauce:
1/2 C. fat free plain Greek yogurt
About 1/4 c. chopped Cucumber, de-seeded
2 cloves garlic, diced small or mashed with garlic press
Fresh ground black pepper & salt to taste
1/2-1 t dried Dill
1t lemon juice
Fixin's:
Pita bread/bun
Lettuce
Tomato
Onion
To make the sauce:
Put your yogurt into a small mixing bowl with everything but the cucumber.
This is about how much cucumber you'll want. Cut it into fourths and remove the liquid-y seeds. Dice it small. The place it into a paper towel and wring out as much water as you can.
Add the cucumber to the mixing bowl and give it all a good mix.
Give some cucumber to your dog, because she's adorable.
And now the burger:
Put all the burger ingredients listed above into a bowl and combine it well, but don't over mix it. You're going to be making 4 burgers, so pat all the meat nicely into a ball in the bowl and divide it evenly, like this:
See the scores? Great! Now shape them into balls and then into patties. Make a thumb mark/dent in the center of each patty, this will keep them from turning back into balls o'burger when they're cooked. I have no idea why, but that’s just what we do.
Place your burgers into a preheated-to-medium cast iron skillet. If you don't have one of these magical pans, shame on you! Any pan will work, but if its oven safe, even better.
Cook them about 5 minutes on each side. If they're still pink in the middle, stick them into an oven on 350 for a while until they're done. Sorry I can't be more specific than that, you're just going to have to watch your burgers.
Put your sauce and fixings on the bun/pita, add the wonderful burger and -- Enjoy!
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