Lamb gyro burger

This week's burger was based on a Greek gyro sandwich. My love of the gyro started with getting them at Yankee stadium or behind Yankee stadium before the games. Since I was at the stadium today to run in the first annual Damon Runyon 5k for Cancer research I decided to recreate the gyro. Traditionally a good gyro uses thin sliced lamb that is slow roasted on a spit while the fat drips down. Another great place to get a gyro which I discovered this past summer is Gyro Bob's on Route 206. It is a little place that serves gyros, burgers, and hot dogs. The lamb gyro is my favorite served by Gyro Bob himself with an order of fries. Anyway, the traditional gyro is thin sliced but I am making burgers so I formed a ground lamb patti. In a large mixing bowl I hand mixed ground lamb, crumbled feta cheese, cumin, red pepper flakes, chili powder, onion powder, garlic, salt and pepper. The cumin is the star of the seasonings. At gyro Bob's there is a definite cumin flavor to the lamb so I tried to mimic that as much as possible. I think mixing the seasonings into the burgers rather than coating the outer layer makes a huge difference. Its totally changes the flavor of the meat. Also, the crumbled feta in the burger instead of melted on top creates a more balanced burger where you can taste the lamb much better without the cheese melted on top. I am not sure of it was the lamb or the feta inside but these burgers when I put them on the grill and closed the lid really created some drippings which flamed up the grill big time. The grill got up to 600 degrees when the cover was closed. It didn't take long before I flipped them and the lamb burgers were done a perfect medium. Finally I used a whole wheat flat pita and topped with fresh diced tomato and fresh romaine lettuce. To give it some moisture and to add a final touch I topped it off with some plain Greek yogurt and a touch of honey. This burger was a hit. I have to say that Gyro Bob himself would have liked this one. The lamb was excellent and the cumin perfectly added a smoky flavor while the Greek yogurt with honey made a great sauce. It was to tough to get a good picture because I couldn't get the sandwich to fold over in positions to take a picture so I just took the picture flat. If I were getting these behind the stadium they would wrap it up in some butcher paper and it would be deliciously messy. The gyro is meant to be a messy sandwich on the go. I might have to come back to lamb again before this blog is over. Week 12 here I come. See you next week.