Phoenician Night

I didn't quite know what to name this thread. Went to Phoenicia, which is a specialty store on the west side of Houston. They carry all kinds of Mediterranenan foods, fresh baked breads, bakery items, etc. as well as some other European foods. I finally found some tipo 00 flour to make pizzas with (without having to pay an arm and a leg for it!), but that's for another time.

Picked up a bunch of goodies - I admit I went a little nuts, because that place is so cool. Its hard to stop at a just a few things. Came home with different kinds of bread, some fresh feta cheese, fresh baked Persian cookies of some kind, meat pies, kibbe, and lotsa other things. The main protein for the night was going to be kababs made out of chicken and beef:


I wasn't about to pan fry these guys, so I loaded them on to skewers and fired up the Egg.


Grilled these at about 500°F with the lid closed. They didn't take long to cook. The aroma of the spices and meat was beautiful!


All done:


Threw some Armenian bread on to warm up:


And then made up my dinner plate - chicken and beef kababs, fresh feta, homemade tzatziki sauce, ikra (spicy eggplant), dolmeh, and the bread.


The kababs were amazing, some of the best I have had or made. They were very moist, spicy and garlicky. The Mediterranean or Persian style kababs I have had in the past have had a lot of flavor, but have been somewhat mild. Not these ones - the spiciness was just right (I prefer a little more heat). It was a pretty easy meal to put together, and very enjoyable.

Thanks for looking!

aks801 said:

That looks fantastic! I enjoy all those foods, but have never had ikra but will check it out. Both of those meat skewers are incredible.

Phoenicia definitely is a wonderful store.

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I think ikra is an Armenian item. It is quite spicy with a tomatoey flavor. Its really good! Goes very well with tzatziki or feta. I almost kicked myself because I had almost forgotten what a great place Phoenicia is.

HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:

How wide are those big skewers? Where did you get them?

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They are 1" wide and about 24"long. i bought them at the Phoenicia store 2 years ago, about $2 each back then I think. I have seen them used at Mediterranean restaurants before - Turkish and Persian places too.