Think of Donair as a kind of Canadian Maritimes Gyro, usually served with its own distinctive sauce.
I’ve been making them for a while, but then I got the idea to use my own Garlic Dressing and Sauce, and then, I came across a recipe from Food Network Canada that did not include any bread crumbs and thought…
“Hey, I can work with this!”
And so, I did…
INGREDIENTS
Garlic Dressing and Sauce:
•1/2 cup sour cream
•1/3 cup mayonnaise
•2 cloves minced garlic
•1 tbsp white vinegar
•2 tsp water,
•2 tsp lemon juice
•2 tsp sugar
•1 tsp dried parsley
•1/4 tsp black pepper
•1/4 tsp kosher salt
•2 tbsp milk
Donair:
•1 lb lean ground beef
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Pepper Sauce – or your fave hot sauce, to taste
•1/2 tsp garlic powder
•1/2 tsp onion powder
•1 tsp oregano
•1/2 tsp paprika
•1/4 tsp cayenne
•1/2 tsp kosher salt
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Combine the garlic dressing and sauce ingredients together (an immersion blender works a treat) and transfer to a covered container – I like to use a squeeze bottle – and stash in the fridge until you need it. I find that I need it rather a lot.
Note: you can mix the Donair together with your hands, but I prefer the texture I get when I combine all the ingredients in a food processor fitted with the metal blade.
Heat your oven to 350º and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
Combine the Donair ingredients together – truly a few pulses in the processor, and you are good, totally my preferred method.
Shape the Donair into a log on the foil lined baking pan and bake for 50 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing as thinly as possible.
To serve, pan fry the individual slices until lightly browned.
I have served this on a Pizza, topped with Arugula Salad, as tacos, as a Donair Burger with sliced onion, shredded lettuce, and loads of the Garlic Dressing, and, now I am thinking of treating it as a for a topping for a Greek salad. Friends order the Gyro salad at a local Greek diner and I think a Donair version would be just the thing.