Why did I leave that last porkchop? (redux)

Sometimes you get to eatin'
Lord, and you just can't stop
Makes me wonder to myself
Why, oh, why
Did I leave that last porkchop

-- Hank Williams, Jr., "Last Pork Chop"

I'd hoped to get back over to Uh Wool Lim today, as I promised to do last week. I had family in town today, however, so I decided to grill some pork chops, which I purchased at Compton's Foodland in Priest Lake. To wit:


It was about this time last year when I first told AMGE readers about Compton's outstanding meat department. Here's what I said ...

Once upon a time, butchers bedecked in blood-stained smocks were as ubiquitous in grocery stores as large displays of on-sale canned vegetables. With more and more grocery stores relying on pre-packaged meat, it's getting harder and harder to find supermarkets in which a large staff of expert butchers are employed.

My very favorite grocery store in Nashville is Compton's Foodland (Compton's does b'iness in the Priest Lake 'burb). The main reason why I like Compton's so much is because of the quality of the meat sold there.

Step to the back of Compton's Foodland and its like stepping back into your childhood. Compton's still has a big glass window in the meat department, and you can peer at butchers as they cut and package steaks, chops, country ham, pork and beef roasts, and ground beef.

Not only do I like the fact that Compton's still prepares its own meat, I like the quality and value of the meat sold there, too. I have never - and I mean never - had a complaint with any meat I've purchased there.

Furthermore, I have never been refused a special request at Compton's. A few years back, they took pinwheel steaks out of their meat display. When I complained, I was told that they would make some pinwheels for me -- all I had to do was call and tell 'em ahead of time. ("What's a pinwheel steak?" you ask. Well, it's a foot, foot and a half strip of inch and a half wide steak that's wound and held together with toothpicks. The reason I like pinwheels so much is that they are great served with a red wine sauce. The sauce permeates into the cracks of the steak, if you will, and you get a taste of sauce with every bite of meat.)

All that said, I invited a friend over for dinner tonight. I stopped at Compton's on my way home to pick up something to grill. I couldn't remember the last time I had just a simple grilled pork chop, so I bought me a package of pork chops, some corn on the cob, and some fresh green beans. Got home and started cookin' ...


Now, I want you to take a look at the picture below, and while you're doing that keep in mind that the pork chops you see set me back a whopping $3.70.

Those ain't fatty pork chops, believe me. If'n they had been, I wouldn't have bought 'em -- no matter how inexpensive. They were juicy, flavorful, and ... damn, I wish I hadn't left the last one to sit in the refrigerator overnight. I should've et the thing and enjoyed the pleasure of doing so.