City Boy, Country Boy
Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 4:00AM 
Sometimes I wonder how two boys from the same family could choose such different paths in life. This time, I’m not talking about Ben and Nick, but my brother Tony and me.
I live in a densely populated urban center. My view at night is houses and bright lights. Tony lives in a sparsely populated rural sprawl that can’t be found on GPS. His view at night is trees and moon shadows. Tony’s a pharmacist and I’m a chef, but we both love cooking with family and friends in our chosen locales.
He’s the kind of guy who digs a deep hole every Thanksgiving in frozen earth to cook a giant ham with hot rocks buried in dirt. While I prefer stirring Arborio rice and butternut squash together over a giant propane burner from the Chinese hardware store to make creamy risotto.
My job requires weighing ingredients precisely while Tony’s passion allows him to measure ingredients in a more casual way. The following recipe takes a handful of this herb and that to make a pesto named after his closest town. He explained the recipe and method to Marilyn over the phone while describing a recent dinner and said, “Finally, don’t forget home-grown veggies. We just finished asparagus and are moving into corn, and tomatoes from the yard will be with us into late September.”
Rives Junction Pesto Rub
Handful fresh rosemary leaves
Handful fresh thyme
Handful fresh basil
Extra virgin olive oil
Swig of white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 racks of bone-in lamb
“The rub is almost a pesto ... it has the fresh herbs that are growing in the yard ... right now we have rosemary, thyme, a couple variations of basil…chopped in the food processor with olive oil, white wine, salt, pepper.
Rub the lamb on all sides with the pesto. Make the grill very hot, but have the coals on one 
side and add wood chips that have been soaked to increase smoke. Grill over the heat for about 15 minutes turning to brown all sides then move to cool side of grill put lid on and attempt to keep heat at about 275 degrees. "Smoke" the meat until internal temp is about 135 degrees. The internal temp rises to about 150 degrees as it rests. Let the meat rest for a few minutes before cutting into double chops.”
Makes 4 servings
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