Grillin’ Chops

6 (1-inch-thick) pork chops

½ cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon pepper

4 ounces Worcestershire sauce

Wash the pork chops well, dry, and set aside. Combine the oil, garlic, salt, and lemon pepper to create a marinade. Pour over the chops in a shallow baking dish and coat the pork chops well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Remove the chops from the marinade and set the marinade aside. Grill the pork chops over medium coals for 25 to 30 minutes, or until no pink remains, turning several times. Add the Worcestershire sauce to the reserved marinade and baste during the last 10 minutes of cooking. (These chops are also delicious done in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until all the pink is gone, turning once and basting throughout cooking. A browning bag keeps the chops tender.)

Makes 6 servings

I go to a little white church on a hill in Kingston Springs, Tennessee. In these days of megachurches, I’m comforted that this small place of worship has been frozen in time, steeped in the color and familiarity that made me love church when I was small. With that down-home feel of a church where everybody knows everybody, there are church homecomings and dinners just like there used to be. Brenda Allen brings her smoked ham that’s slow roasted and so tender it falls apart.

I swear it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted.