Celebrate Easter, Passover (or spring in general!) with butterflied leg of lamb on the grill

It’s kind of strange that I find myself with these ingredients during such trying circumstances, but a well priced on-line special on semi-boneless leg of lamb and another on organic asparagus presented itself when I was scrambling to find groceries yesterday. Somehow, a delivery spot opened up — not always easy. An Easter/Passover miracle!

Maybe it’s by design on the part of the grocer: holiday foods on holiday special. If that’s the case, maybe it has happened to you as well. Or maybe later this spring you’ll find yourself in possession of a leg of lamb. If so, here’s what I’m thinking: Dust off the Weber (or whatever your grilling set-up; our base-model Original Kettle is already set up on our tiny patch of townhouse patio).

Since we’re outside so much less these days, and it suddenly turned into a gorgeous day in Dallas, grilling our non-or-every-denominational holiday dinner feels like just the thing to do.

A simple marinade of red wine vinegar, garlic, cilantro, mint and olive oil goes on the lamb two hours (or more) before you grill it. If you don’t have those particular herbs, but you have some thyme or rosemary — even dried — that’ll work just as well.

Because you open up the butterflied leg rather than tying it, there’s more surface area for grilling and a shorter grilling time. Depending on how hot your coals are and the size of your lamb leg, it should take between 12 and 22 minutes.

If you’re doing asparagus as well, just toss that in a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and put it on the grill when you flip the lamb.

Here’s the recipe:

Happy spring, happy holiday. Hopefully happier days are ahead!

How to grill the best Southeast Asian crispy-skinned chicken thighs

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There are days – usually on lazy summer weekends – when nothing hits the spot like grilled Southeast Asian-style chicken. The thighs are ideal: They turn out plump and juicy, super-flavorful, with incredible, nicely charred crispy skin. 

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Toss together a marinade in the morning – fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, lime, cilantro stems, scallions and such (you get the picture!)  –  and let them loll about, soaking up flavor, till you're ready to grill. So many Asian marinade recipes include sugar or honey, but I prefer one that's not sweet, and this one (I have to say!) is pretty great. 

Thighs are fabulous for grilling, first because dark meat takes so well to smoky flavor, and it doesn't dry out easily. And second because their fairly uniform shape makes it easy to cook them evenly. 

Still, a little care (and time) is required so they don't char to blackness while they're still raw inside. I use bone-in thighs because feel like the bone adds depth of flavor, but you can use boneless ones if you prefer. 

The trick is building a good, hot charcoal fire (I use an old-fashioned Weber grill) and moving the coals to one side. That's where you'll sear them till they're nicely charred but not burned, about 5 minutes on each side. Then move them to the less-hot side of the grill, cover the grill and let them cook till they're just done – about 20 minutes or so. Have an instant-read thermometer on hand in case you're not sure – they should be 165 degrees when tested at the thickest part.  

Got it? Here's the recipe:

Let 'em rest about five minutes, then get ready for crispy-skinned happiness.