Sambal Chicken Skewers

I made this because my husband asked me to "cook the cover" which happened to be last June's issue of Bon Appetit. I'm always going through old cooking magazines looking for ideas and I leave them all over the house. This one caught his eye. Chicken cut into chunks, skewered, grilled and basted with a sticky, spicy chili and sriracha sauce. 

I apologize for the lack of photos...my family was sitting at the kitchen counter harassing me about their hunger as I tried to take pictures. And then they ate all of it—fast. And then my husband starting doing the dishes, so I vacated the kitchen—fast, and ran upstairs to listen to the radio and sort my tee-shirt drawer. Don't judge. Everyone relaxes in their own way and getting control of this drawer by sorting my cotton tops into long sleeved, short sleeved, turtleneck and time-to-go and folding them into neat little geometric piles makes me feel like a person who has drawers that look like this, who never miss an appointment, who always get the forms in on time and never walk the dogs in their pajamas with yesterday's mascara raccooning their eyes. Like Babe Paley. Except Babe Paley probably didn't own 23 tee-shirts. Nevertheless, I'm sure her drawers of say, Hermes scarves, looked as good as my tee-shirt drawer does now making it just as effortless for her to choose which scarf to tie on to the handle of her handbag or over her coif as it will be for me to select a tee that perfectly complements my cargo pants or jeans. Babe and I have much in common. 

Sambal Chicken Skewers

adapted slightly from Bon Appetit

Serves 4

1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken thighs

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chili paste/sambal olek

1/4 cup sriracha

1/4 cup fish sauce

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

1. Cut chicken into 1 1/2 - 2" chunks and place in a shallow dish. 

2. Combine all sauce ingredients in a container and stir to mix. Pour 1/4 of sauce over chicken and toss to coat. Thread chicken onto metal skewers. 

3. Pour remaining sauce into pan and bring to a boil then simmer until reduced by half and thickened, about 10 minutes. Set aside about 1/4 of the sauce for passing at table. 

4. Grill skewers over medium-high heat dabbing every few minutes with remaining sauce and turning frequently until coated, a little charred and cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Serve with rice or couscous, shredded cabbage tossed with a bit of rice vinegar and oil and some plain yogurt with a little lime zest and salt stirred in.