Gyro Tacos with Caramelized Onion Yogurt

Here's a new one.  Take any sandwich-esque thing you like, put it in a tortilla, and ruin a perfectly good taco!

I know.  Sorry.  I love it, though!

This one ways Jay's idea.  It was lovely and sunny outside yesterday, which is totes great for photographing food, and I kind of wanted beef and Jay kind of wanted something Mediterranean-ish so....here we go.  

It's got feta and mint, so it's TOTALLY authentic, ok?  If you like a gyro at all, you'll really love this - the flavors of a gyro, MINUS the lamb because legit gyro meat is 1. hard to find and 2. a pain to make, but the flavors are all there, and the Greek yogurt with caramelized onions is just....insanity.  Super delicious, kind of tastes like French Onion Dip, but kind of tastes like tzatziki sauce once you add mint and cucumber to the taco itself.  I CAN'T stop thinking about this.  It's glorious!

For the entire meal, you'll need tortillas, tomato, fresh mint, cucumber, steak, garlic, onions, feta cheese, lettuce, and Greek yogurt. 

I'll talk about the onion yogurt sauce first, but know that you can make this in any order you like since you're an adult.  The caramelized onions take an hour or two to REALLY develop, so you can make the yogurt in advance or earlier in the day.  I made this all at once and started the onions at the same time I rubbed the steaks with the spices.  So, the onions caramelized for 2 hours and the steaks marinated in their spices for two hours.  BUT, to make this meal in a hurry you can have the onions done ahead of time, then just rub and grill and slice the steaks.  Everything else on this taco is raw!

First, peel and thinly slice the onions.  Don't be afraid of the quantity - the onions will cook down by half or MORE - kind of like wilting spinach.  Plus, if you have more onions than you need to make dip just stir them into ANYTHING else you cook in the next few days.  They add great flavor!

To a skillet over medium heat, add the onions, a drizzle of olive oil, and ¼ teaspoon each of sugar, salt, and crushed red pepper.  Then, wander off. 

The thing about caramelizing onions is this:  we want them to cook super slowly and soften, but not brown at the edges if you were, say, searing onions for fajitas or something.  Make sense?  I like to REALLY go for it, and let them cook on the lowest setting (you'll barely hear a sizzle) for 2 hours or more.  They'll be soft and almost falling apart, but with no browned edges.  

These are the onions after 20 minutes:  barely cooking!

And these are the onions after an hour - allllmost halfway there.  OBVIOUSLY, if you want to hurry these up you can turn the heat up and accomplish this in 45 minutes or so, but you'll have to stir more often.  At the low heat I was using, I could wander off for 15 full minutes without stirring to watch Breaking Bad, which was really my goal.  If you're IN the kitchen you can caramelize onions much faster.

While the onions are cooking, since you'll CLEARLY have time, mince a clove of garlic.  

Here are the onions at a ready-to-use state - this took 2 hours and 15 minutes.  I could have let them go longer, but they were sweet enough and I was ready to EAT. 

To make the dip, combine the yogurt, 3 tablespoons of caramelized onions, a sprinkle of salt, and the garlic clove.  Taste, and add more salt if you'd like!  Again, this can be made a day (or three) in advance.  Say...on a weekend afternoon?  Then you'll be ready for the week!

Now, onto the steak and the rest of the taco.  For the seasonings, we'll need garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, olive oil, salt, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon, and oregano.   Totes Greek-ish, and REALLY delicious. 

Grab any steak you like!  These were called top sirloin, and I bought them because they were cheap.  Seriously.  If you cook beef properly and slice it thinly, it'll be flavorful and tender no matter what cut you use!  If you're unsure, flank, strip, or skirt steaks would work beautifully here.  ¼ pound or so per person. 

Season both sides of the steak very lightly (measurements are below, but basically we're lightly dusting the steaks with each of the seasonings), then drizzle them with olive oil and turn them once or twice with tongs to be sure they're coated on all sides with the seasonings.  Let them hang out for 30 minutes or more to come to room temperature, or over night if you're feeling really plan-ahead-y.  I rarely am feeling that way. 

You can cook the steaks any way you like, but I like getting a skillet REALLY hot with olive oil, then searing on all sides of the steak for medium-rare.  1-inch steaks will need five-7 minutes on each side.  We want a really great crust (almost black from all the spices), and to achieve that place the skillets in the pan once it's hot, then let them SIT for at least 4 minutes before you turn them.  The steak should release from the pan easily, if you have to tug it let it keep cooking for another minute or two before you serve it. 

When the meat is cooked as you'd like it, allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes - coming about halfway to room temperature, which is totes fine for these tacos. 

While the meat is resting, tear the mint, julienne the cucumber (or chop it, whatever), and chop the tomatoes. 

Thinly slice the meat against the grain, and I mean THINLY.  Get a sharp knife, take your time, and shave that sh*t.  It's worth the effort, I promise. 

Now, we're ready to build our tacos!  I was a moron and started cooking with only big tortillas, so I made one big taco for each of us, and that was SERIOUSLY enough.  Steak + tortilla is filling!

I love this for a family dinner or party because everyone can build tacos as they like, and a side salad or bowl of tabbouleh would make this a complete meal if you were eating normal-sized tacos. 

Enjoy these!  Caramelize some dang onions tonight while you watch Breaking Bad obsessively and have tacos tomorrow. 

Oh and also - fun week project.  I got a request last week for some scallop recipes. Got any favorite restaurant scallop dishes that you'd like to recreate at home?  What about other fast dinners?  Football apps?  I'm in the market for some fun new ideas, please and thank you!