Lucky Peach Lamb Burgers

• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and crushed (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil, like canola
• 1 small red onion, halved, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeno, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
• Potato buns, for serving
• Cilantro leaves, for serving

1. Create a flat-top cooking surface on a gas grill by using a couple of large cast-iron skillets, or a thick metal sheet like a Baking Steel, or soapstone cooking tiles.
2. Light the grill, and set the burners to medium.
3. Lower top of grill, and allow it heat.
4. Gently combine the lamb, cumin, Sichuan peppercorns, chile flakes and salt in a large bowl, then form into four equal-size balls.
5. Raise the lid of your grill, add the oil to the cooking surface and use a spatula to coat it, then place the onions and jalapenos on the surface, and fry them until lightly browned but still crunchy, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Separate the vegetables into four piles with a good amount of space between them.
7. (If using two pans, each pan should contain two piles.)
8. Top each pile with one of the balls of meat.
9. Use the spatula to smash the balls into flat patties, approximately 1/2 inch thick.
10. Cook until the bottom of each patty is well browned and the meat is opaque about halfway to the top, approximately 3 to 4 minutes.
11. Flip each patty, and cook through, approximately 3 minutes for medium.
12. Place patties on buns, and top each one with cilantro leaves.

ground lamb, ground cumin, sichuan, red chile flakes, kosher salt, neutral oil, red onion, buns, cilantro

Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017683 (may not work)