My Gyros Sandwiches

As I have mentioned in this blog already, Polish cuisine is in some degree influenced by Turkish one. The dishes are so much accommodated and adjusted by Polish kitchen, that sometimes we forget they are not Polish. Polish gyros is probably one of the examples of Polish-Turkish sandwiches. It’s also a popular take-away or a nice homemade BBQ dish.

Prep time: 20 min, easy

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

1 small can sweet corn

Mixed leaf salad

1 large onion or purple onion

1 red pepper

1 courgette

2 tomatoes

200g olives

Optional: 100g Feta cheese

2-3 tablespoons tomato ketchup

2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise

Selection of Spices ‘Gyros’, ask in Polish Shops

6 tortilla wraps

1-2 tablespoon oil

Method:

1.     Wash chicken breasts, chop into small pieces and season them with 3 tablespoons of ‘Gyros’ spices.

2.     Pre-heat oil on a frying pan and fry meat pieces so they golden brown. If you prefer to BBQ them, don’t chop the fillets, but season them in whole pieces, grease with oil and grill them for about 40 minutes.

3.     Make a dressing: put ketchup, mayonnaise and 2 tablespoons of ‘Gyros’ selection, and mix them all together.

4.     Prepare all you vegetables and cheese: wash vegetables and chop them, chop cheese.

5.     Fry courgette and red pepper, or BBQ them. If you use white onion, I’d suggest you fry it too. Purple onion, which is less strong, can be served fresh.

6.     Spread the dressing over tortilla wraps.

7.     Put lettuce, chicken pieces, red pepper, sweet corn, olives, tomatoes, onion and cheese on the wrap.

8.     Fold wrap into half. You can wrap one of its edges in kitchen film, so the wrap holds together, for a take-away version. Or just served on a plate. If you put less amount of ingredients, you can role it. For  fun BBQ version, put all ingredients on a table so your guests can assemble it by themselves.

9.     Serve with Garlic Dressing.

Turkey kebabs

Polish BBQ dishes are colourful, with lots of meat and vegetables. My BBQ favourites include turkey kebabs: a skewer with turkey pieces, red pepper, onion and courgettes. Put next to each other on a skewer, the meat and vegetables will flavour one other. This dish was the first we made on our new BBQ, delicious, pretty looking and fun to make!

Prep time: 10 minutes

BBQ time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 turkey fillets

1 red pepper

1 courgette

1 red onion or 3 shallots

Ready mixed spices for BBQ

Oil

Method:

1.     Get your man to fire up a BBQ

2.     Wash fillets and chop them into fairly large pieces, so they can be put on a skewer

3.     Wash vegetables and chop them in to similar sized pieces.

4.     Put vegetables and meat on a skewer, mixing their order as you go.

5.     Grease skewer with oil and season with BBQ seasoning.

6.     Put them on hot BBQ and grill for about 20 minutes, turning them occasionally.

7.     Serve with garlic dressing and cold beer.

Garlic Dressing

Traditional Polish cuisine uses lots of garlic (but not too much). It’s especially popular in summer, especially at BBQs. This is a recipe for a simple garlic dressing that will go nicely with meat or salads.

Prep time: 15 min

Waiting time: 20 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2-3 cloves of garlic (depending how much you like garlic)

Small pot of natural or Greek yoghurt

Half of green cucumber

2 tablespoons fresh dill

Salt

Method:

1.     Peel and grate cucumber into a mixing bowl. Add some salt and leave for about 5-10 minutes so the water comes out.

2.     Pour the cucumber water out of the bowl.

3.     Squeeze garlic into the cucumber and mix.

4.     Pour yoghurt into the bowl and add chopped dill leaves.

5.     Put in into a cool place and leave to rest for about 10-20 minutes.