Your Best Use of Lemon, Thyme and a Grill

Just a few robust ingredients, smartly applied: lemon (zest in the marinade, juice in the dressing); thyme (sprigs in the marinade, minced in the dressing); garlic (chopped fine for the marinade, roasted whole for the garnish), plus butter, balsamic and some handsome veal chops.

Check out thirschfeld's cool marinating technique: You start by laying down a sheet of plastic wrap, and placing a few thyme sprigs on top (bonus: whole sprigs means no leaf-stripping!)

Then sprinkle on some lemon zest and minced garlic

And plunk a well-seasoned veal chop on top (we tested this recipe with both loin and rib chops -- both were excellent)

Repeat.

Double-decker chops (we halved the recipe)

Then wrap it all up like a present. A weird present (with lots of promise).

And cart it off to the fridge to marinate, on a plate to catch any wayward drippings.

Now turn to your roasted garlic -- a best supporting garnish if there ever was one.

Oh, the humanity.

Merrill jumps at the opportunity to smear on butter with her fingertips.

Amazingly, none of this butter puddles in the dish as the heads roast -- it all melts deep into the cloves, gently confiting them.

Don't save this step till the last minute: at 325 degrees, it took our garlic an hour and a half to become soft and caramelized.

On the other hand, whisking together the vinaigrette takes mere moments (especially for us, since we forgot the minced thyme -- oops!)

Ready to grill!

Scrape off the bulk of the marinade and throw the chops on the hottest grill you can muster.

Before and after (only a few minutes after they hit the grill, they're ready to flip).

In the final moments, thirschfeld instructs us to warm up the roasted garlic on the grill -- a thoughtful step.

A perfectly medium-rare chop, as you can see from the faint pink stripe through the center.

It took three of us a good 15 minutes to pick 1/4 cup of thyme leaves (half of what the recipe calls for).

Baby spinach cuts the intensity of the thyme and smoothes out the pesto.

A rough chop first.

And then slowly drizzle in the olive oil as you finish pureeing. This way, everything will emulsify nicely.

See?

We found homemade preserved lemons at a local gourmet shop -- much brighter and cleaner-tasting than the jarred kind.

And much prettier!

Merrill's day is made: this recipe calls for creme fraiche!

Use a crusty Italian loaf to make your toasts, and don't be stingy when you slice it!

Sun-dappled bread, doused in olive oil, awaits the grill.

Watch the toasts, as they can char quickly.

At attention.

The line between grilled and burned is oh-so-fine.

We recommend a generous swipe of pesto.

Time to unleash your inner artist: are you a dolloper or a drizzler?