Monday, February 15, 2010

Chicken Gyros on Homemade Pita Bread

Posted by Erin Wilburn / 13 comments » / bread, chicken

This is a recipe that has been making the blog rounds and everyone keeps raving over.  I’m a little late to the party in making these, but hey, better late than never!

Part of what helped me decide to finally make them, was when Cate posted this recipe for homemade pita bread.  I adore pita bread, and I especially love trying new bread recipes.  This pita bread was so much fun to make.  It was a really soft, and smooth dough.  I honestly had fun working with it.  (Yes, baking bread is my idea of a good time.)  And it truly tastes AMAZING.  Fresh pita bread just does not compare to the store bought kind.  It’s so soft and delicious.

Onto the gyros (pronounced yee-ros, per Elly’s instructions).  I was all set to make the tzatziki, as I’ve actually made it before.  I was shopping at Whole Foods, and had all the ingredients I needed already in my cart, and then… I saw a container of organic tzatziki, with a quick scan of the ingredients list I saw it had exactly the same ingredients as the recipe, no crazy long scientific words.  So, since I already planned to make the pita bread from scratch, I thought a shortcut in tzatziki was ok.  And when I got home and tasted it, it was just as delicious as the version I’d made in the past.

The recipe for the gyros is pretty simple and straightforward.  I used a mixture of light and dark meat chicken.  It tasted delicious, especially with the homemade pita bread and cool & tasty tzatziki.  It’s also healthy!  I’m really glad I tried it, and just wished I hadn’t waited so long.

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Chicken Gyros on Homemade Pita Bread

Chicken Gyros from Elly Says Opa
Pita Bread from Cate's World Kitchen, originally adapted from The Fresh Loaf

Ingredients:

PITA BREAD:
2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (about 90 F)
2 tablespoons olive oil

CHICKEN GYROS:
1.25 lbs. chicken pieces (I used breast this time, but I also love using thighs, or a combo)
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping Tbsp. plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper
1/2 batch of tzatziki
sliced tomatoes
sliced red onions

Directions:

PITA BREAD:
Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and stir with a rubber spatula. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add the flour, salt, remaining water and olive oil and stir with a wooden spoon. When the mixture comes together and is too thick to stir, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. (If the dough seems sticky, add a little flour, and if it seems too dry, add a little water – trust yourself and go by feel).

Grease a large bowl with olive oil and shape the dough into a ball. Put the ball of dough in the bowl and turn a few times to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel and set aside to rise for about 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.

After the dough has risen, fold it over on itself a few times, then cut into 8 equally sized pieces. Let them rest under a damp towel for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 F (with the baking stone inside, if you have one).

One or two at a time, roll the pieces out to about 1/8″ thickness, using a rolling pin, then put them directly on the pizza stone or oven rack. Bake for 2-4 minutes, until they puff up nicely.

CHICKEN GYROS:
Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, yogurt, and oregano in a bowl. Add the chicken and rub the marinade in. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

Preheat the broiler (or grill, or pan on the stove). Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, and then broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, depending what size/type chicken you are using. Allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes before slicing into strips.

Meanwhile, heat your pitas. Top the pita with the chicken, tzatziki, tomatoes, onions. Roll up and eat!