Thursday Recipe - Grilled Lemon Chicken Thighs

I'll admit I'm not very skilled at grilling anything beyond hot dogs. I haven't done it much, mostly because we haven't owned a decent grill until we moved. Last summer, we did some grilling, just enough for me to realize I don't know what I'm doing most of the time.

So today I decided to jump into the deep end and try grilling some chicken thighs. They're cheap, but can be delicious, and because they are fattier than breast meat, they hold up to longer cooking times without drying out.

Mixed success with grilling them. I should have left them cooking for another 5-10 minutes. They were done in the middle, just barely. I prefer them cooked just a little bit more. They did taste good. Now I just need to clean off the grill...

Grilled Lemon Chicken Thighs

2-3 lbs chicken thighs
1 fresh lemon
2 t. salt
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. smoked paprika
1 t. dried rosemary
1 t. lemon pepper seasoning
1 t. dried parsley
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. rubbed sage

The day before: Remove skin from the chicken thighs and discard. The skin, not the thighs.

In a gallon ziplock bag, mix all the dried spices. Shake to mix well. Add the chicken and shake again until the spices are evenly distributed on the meat. Slice the lemon thin and add it to the bag. Seal the bag and squish it around for a while to work the lemon juice into the meat. Pop the whole bag into the refrigerate for at least overnight and up to a day or so.

45 minutes before you want to eat the chicken: Heat your grill to somewhere between 300-400°F. Oil it, if that's your thing. I usually skip it, which is probably why my chicken sticks to the grill. Slap the marinated chicken thighs on the grill. Squeeze the lemon slices over the chicken, then discard the slices. Close your grill and let the chicken cook for about 10-12 minutes.

Open it up and use tongs to turn the thighs over to the other side. Close it up and let them cook for another 10-12 minutes.

Now comes the tricky part. Use a knife to cut the thickest one right near the bone. If the meat is still pink, close up the grill and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Check the meat again. You want to cook it until its not pink anymore, then let it cook for a few minutes longer. Then turn off the heat and close up the grill. Let the chicken sit for 5-10 minutes.

Serve hot.