Between visits from family and petsitting, it’s been difficult for Jen and I to settle into any sort of routine here at the new place. There has not been much time to document cooking and the cooking we’ve been doing has been of the classic sort. We’ve been making some old simple favorites over and over to get us through the work-week.

But of course, my creative mind can’t ever leave well enough alone when cooking up tried-and-true favorites. I always find the need to tweak here and there, or in this case, substitute ingredients entirely. Last night, the craving for gyros hit again (as happens often to an old salt-hound like myself). I could have followed recipe for Chicken Gyros that I recently shared. For once, I had all of the correct ingredients; even fresh yogurt for tzatziki.

But I was lazy and hungry. I opted to use ground beef instead taking the time to finely chop chicken.

For beef gyros, follow the recipe for chicken gyros, just add a pinch more of each spice and don’t use any cooking oil. If possible, use leaner ground beef (sirloin or round) as you would ideally use for hamburgers. Twenty-percent or less fat should be more than enough to fry the gyros in and soak up the flavors of the spices during marination, the less fat the better here.

Last night, instead of broth, I used the briny liquid at the end of a jar of heart of palm I had finished the day before.

How do you make your gyros? What are your favorite meats, spices or techniques?