My flights got moved around this week due to Memorial Day weekend, which means Green City Market day now falls on my 'in need of a huge meal because I haven't eaten in 24 hours' day.  Thankfully, in addition to wonderful samples, there is prepared food available.  The crepe stand has delicious offerings.  Options include plain, mixed berry jam, cinnamon and sugar, caramely maple syrup from the rolling hills of Indiana with pecans, and a savory herb and cheese.  Still hungry.

I pass by the demo tent featuring food from Bin 36, and some chicks from Top Chef-- hunger before gardening tools, right?  The wind blows the scent of charcoal in my direction.  I make a sharp left and journey 'till I find a tent with smoke rising in the back.  Burgers look ok, elk burgers better.  Next line reads elk bratwurst, followed by lamb bratwurst.  Can be covered in sauteed mushrooms and/or green onions.  Done.

I go easy on the grainy mustard so the flavor of the sausage comes through.  The sausage is far from fatty, and genuinely tastes of the elk and lamb.  If I had never had lamb before, I could accurately determine its flavor profile from this sausage.  Very clean flavor, but still hungry.

With sausage on the mind I exit the market on the east side, where the Mint Creek Farms tent is, home of wonderful lamb products.  That's a lie.  I grab a rhubarb galette, then make my way out.  Lamb bratwurst and chorizo procured, which is a good thing.

Going home I have no idea what I'm going to do with the goods.  A mile deep into lakeshore I recall a wonderful article about the marriage of paprika and mint.  It may sound odd at first, but it's really a brilliant combination (read the article for quality descriptors and history).  The new mission is to create an improved gyro using lamb sausage and integrating mint and paprika.

Steven's pork salad.Since a pound of lamb sausages won't be enough to feed the two of us, my brother decides to make a pork salad for first course.  The dish showcases the importance of prep work.  Serrano peppers, cilantro, nam pla, ginger, garlic, green onion, and lime juice co-star with the stage hog.

While he's busy at work, I start the most time intensive part of the dish-- roasted tomatoes.  Most gyros are topped with raw onion and tomatoes, but there isn't much love in said accoutrements.  I'm going to cut roma tomatoes in half, douse in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, wrap in foil, then bake at 350 Dg for an hour.  At this point, since I like to live dangerously, I'll peel the now papery skin from the tomatoes without letting them cool first.  My final step in the preparation is to mash these with a wooden spoon in a strainer, so the juice and seeds part ways, leaving me with warm, chunky, oven roasted tomatoes to put in my gyro.

Summer watermelon salad with mint and lime.Next, I stir paprika and mint into [greek] yogurt with garlic paste and lemon juice.  I make a large batch because I know I'll end up eating half of it while tasting for seasoning.  Once the yogurt is resting in the fridge, I start my favorite summer preparation of watermelon, with lime juice and fresh mint.  Not only is this delicious, but it will ensure that no fresh herbs go to waste-- something I loathe.

In a small pan I begin to saute whole green onions as another gyro topping.  This is to replace the raw white onion that is traditionally on a gyro.  The idea is also being stolen from the list of available toppings back at the green city market stand.

Finally, it's time to cook the lamb sausages.  I start by melting butter in a pan, and adding paprika.  This cooks for a few minutes, to act as a poor man's compound butter, which I also hope will color the sausage.  After five minutes, I find that everything is near completion sans les saucisses.  The beautiful red butter is also starting to turn black.  Oops.

I turn towards the sink and see something I should have been using from the beginning, dry vermouth-- also known as a wonderful white wine substitute in cooking that has a significantly longer shelf life.  I pour the black butter off into the sink.  Next, I pour enough vermouth in the pan so the sausages look like they're hanging out in a simmering kiddie pool of death.  Lid on; walk away.

Open-face gyro.After a few short minutes, the sausages are fully cooked, and full of an unplanned, yet beautiful flavor.  Just have to warm some pita bread and construction will be able to commence.

I start by laying a warm, giant 12" diameter pita down on the plate.  This leads to paprika-mint yogurt, and then more paprika-mint yogurt to cover.  Next a bed of the crushed, oven roasted plum tomatoes is made.  One lamb sausage looks so sad, so small, so lonely on the vast canvas, so a second is put down as a snuggle buddy.  Finally, the plate is topped off with the sauteed green onion.

It's now time to get a knife and fork to tackle the overflowing plate.  But, since I like to live dangerously, I say no.  I roll the pita closed.  I pick it up, stare it in the side opening, and bite.  I'm hungry, no more.

The monster.