By Connie caught me wincing when I reached for the coffee mugs Wednesday morning. She didn't say anything. She just moved the mugs to the lower shelf while I was in the shower and didn't mention it, which is Connie's version of an intervention — she rearranges the world around your weakness so you can pretend you don't have one. I noticed. I didn't mention that I noticed. This is how we've been married for thirty years.
The heat broke Thursday, if you can call eighty-six degrees breaking. Felt like a cold front after two weeks of ninety-five. The crew was almost cheerful, which on a construction site means nobody threatened to quit before lunch. We're finishing the framing on the last four houses in the subdivision and I'm pushing to get them dried in before fall rain sets in. My back is a conversation I'm having with myself every time I climb a ladder or bend for a chalk line, and the conversation is getting louder, but I am choosing not to listen because listening means stopping and stopping means thinking and thinking is not what I need right now.
Called Clay Tuesday evening. Kept it short — how's work, how's the apartment, did you eat. He said fine, fine, yes. Three answers that could mean anything. But his voice was level, not flat, and there's a difference. Level means he's standing on solid ground. Flat means he's standing on ice and pretending it's solid. I've learned his voice the way a miner learns the sound of the ceiling — you listen for the creak that comes before the fall. I didn't hear it. That's enough for now.
Saturday I made fried pork chops — bone-in, thick-cut, dredged in seasoned flour and fried in a cast iron skillet with enough oil to come halfway up the chop. Betty's method: salt, pepper, garlic powder in the flour, and you let that skillet get screaming hot before the first chop goes in. The crust should crackle when you bite through it and the meat should be juicy enough to make the cornbread worth sopping. Connie made cream gravy from the drippings and I mashed potatoes and we ate like it was Sunday even though it was Saturday, because sometimes you need to move the feast forward a day for no reason other than the pork chops were thawed and the skillet was willing.
We ate those chops with cream gravy and mashed potatoes, and it was exactly what the week called for — no more, no less. But when I went back through the recipe I’ve been tinkering with since last summer, I remembered that a bright nectarine salsa on top of that same bone-in chop does something unexpected: it cuts the richness just enough to let you have seconds without guilt, which felt right for a Saturday that was already pretending to be something it wasn’t. Connie raised an eyebrow at the fruit. Then she had two chops.
Pork Chops with Nectarine Salsa
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 14 min | Total Time: 29 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in pork chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard
- Nectarine Salsa:
- 2 ripe nectarines, pitted and diced small
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Make the salsa. Combine diced nectarines, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, and salt in a bowl. Stir gently to combine and set aside at room temperature while you cook the chops — the flavors will come together as it sits.
- Season the flour. Whisk together flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika in a shallow dish. Dredge each pork chop in the seasoned flour, pressing gently so the coating adheres, then shake off any excess.
- Heat the skillet. Pour oil into a cast iron skillet and heat over medium-high until the oil shimmers and a pinch of flour dropped in sizzles immediately. You want the skillet screaming hot before the first chop goes in.
- Fry the chops. Add chops in a single layer without crowding (work in batches if needed). Cook 6–7 minutes per side until the crust is deep golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 145°F. Resist the urge to move them — let the crust form undisturbed.
- Rest and serve. Transfer chops to a wire rack or paper towel-lined plate and rest for 3 minutes. Spoon nectarine salsa generously over each chop and serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 390 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 520mg