Gyros

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Process the onion in a food processor until it's finely chopped, 10 to 15 seconds.

Transfer the onion to a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Editor's Tip: After gathering the towel around the chopped onion, I've found it's easier to twist the top of the towel to press out the juices rather than squeezing with your hand.

Return the onion to the food processor. Add the beef, lamb, garlic, salt, oregano, thyme, rosemary, cumin and pepper. Pulse until the ingredients are mixed, two to three times, scraping down the sides. Process the meat mixture until it's sticky and paste-like, about one minute. Editor's Tip: Processing the meat until it's sticky means that it will hold together well once it's spread into the loaf pan, so don't be timid while pulsing the ingredients.

Transfer the meat mixture into an ungreased 9x5-inch loaf pan. Press and smooth the top of the mixture with a rubber spatula, packing it tightly into the pan.

Place the loaf pan into a larger baking pan and add 1 inch of hot water to the larger pan. Bake until a thermometer inserted into the meat reads 165°, 60 to 70 minutes. Remove the loaf pan from the water bath and immediately transfer it to a wire rack. Editor's Tip: This recipe is one of many reasons why you need an instant-read meat thermometer. It's next to impossible to gauge the doneness of the tightly packed ground meat just by looking at it.

Place a second 9x5-inch loaf pan, bottom side down, onto the meat mixture in the pan. Weigh down the top pan with several cans. Cool it for 30 minutes. Remove the weighted pan and drain off the grease from the loaf pan. Return the loaf to the pan and refrigerate it until it's chilled, about three hours or overnight. Editor's Tip: Pressing the meat compresses it, so you can slice it very thin without it crumbling. Use cans of the same weight for evenly pressed meat.

Remove the loaf from the pan and cut it widthwise into 1/4-inch slices. In a large skillet, heat some oil over medium-high heat. In batches, cook and stir the meat slices until they're lightly browned, three to five minutes, adding more oil as needed.

Serve the gyro meat in pita breads with toppings as desired.