Doner

Its pronounced "Derner" it is a dish served in Germany (well all over Europe) it was brought by Turkish immigrants and has had many variations.


Well Fabian told me that nobody in America could make it. That there was no way that I could make this dish. He threw down the gauntlet...he challenged me and doubted my skill! Can you imagine?? Doubting me...how dare he. I had to rise to the occasion, I could not allow him to doubt me! Since he is leaving in the morning, I had to serve it today.


I started this weekend by digging and looking for an authentic recipe that would be close to what is served in Europe. This is what I learned. Doner is made with almost ever meat possible, but traditionally is made with lamb. The technique of making it is kind of guarded. It is usually made on an upright spit.



Problems?

I do not own an upright spit, there is not anywhere here in our small little town to buy lamb. I opted to make it with beef, there is an abundance of beef here.


According to the recipe the meat is soaked over night in onion juice, which I had to make, mixed with salt, pepper and olive oil, and looked gross and didn't smell much better. Onion juice? Really? Have you ever SEEN onion juice? Oh my, lets just say it is not what you want served at breakfast, no, I will stick to my orange juice thank you.

Then I took it out the next morning and skewered it together with ground beef and topped it with halved tomatoes and wrapped it in aluminum foil to be baked at 250 degrees for roughly 41/2-5hrs.

pre-bake, it actually looked pretty good.

after baking again, looked pretty good, and tasted pretty good too!

I also made the bread that the Doner is traditionally served in. Funny thing about bread though, it is made with yeast, and yeast is fussy. Today was humid, and my yeast did not feel like rising, so it didn't. So my bread was dense and flat, did not rise or spread. It did taste good but looked like a big fat wheat bread cookie....or sort of like hamburger patties.

Also on the menu was the traditional cucumber salad which turned out well.

A happy Fabian after three helpings

My mom enjoying a plate, eating it with *GASP* a fork. Which according to Fabian is a BIG no-no!

Fabian said that my Doner was a good representation of Doner, but not exactly like a traditional Turkish Doner. I told him that I had never claimed to be a Turkish immigrant, so "good representation" is good enough for me and I call it a win. Fabian didn't think so, but honestly, I think he just didn't want to admit that I had won. hahaha.