CHAI TEA BRINED PORK CHOPS

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things at home, one or both of us have been traveling nearly every week since August. Whenever this happens, the supply of perishables thins out from the refrigerator. If I'm flying solo,  I opt to eat out, or worse yet, eat out of a bag. Shhh! Don't tell anybody! The blogger who extols the virtues of eating fresh, also eats out of a bag!

Since I was out of ideas, and quite frankly didn't have the energy to think about what to put on the table, I left it up to arbitrary inspiration.  That's when I found the posting by A Good Appetite on chai tea brined pork chops, and thought to myself why not?  I have pork chops in the freezer and chai tea bags in the pantry, and was familiar with the combination of sweet spiced flavors with pork.

This is a recipe that should be prepared at least 8-10 hours ahead of cooking,  so that the sweet and spicy flavors can be imparted onto the pork chops, and the meat can fully benefit from the juiciness gained from brining. I tweaked the recipe to create enough brining liquid to allow cover the meat in a large bowl versus plastic bag as stated in the original recipe. I also dissolved the tea, salt and honey in hot liquids before cooling it down with cold water and ice cubes before adding the pork.

Thanks for sharing Kathy!

CHAI TEA BRINED Pork Chops

(adapted from A Good Appetite)

Ingredients

• 1 bag chai spice black tea
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup ice/cold water
  
• 2 pork chops (roughly 3/4 pound each)

Method

1. In a tall bowl, cut open the tea bag, and combine honey, sea salt and hot water. Stir to dissolve the ingredients. Allow the flavors to develop over a minute or two before stirring in cold water to the liquid. Allow the brining mixture to cool down in the refrigerator or with ice cubes.
2. Once the brining liquid is cold, as cold as the temperature in the refrigerator, add the pork chops. Brine for at least 8 hours and up to overnight. 
3. When you are ready to cook, remove the pork chops from the liquid, rinse and pat dry to allow the meat to brown properly. Grill or pan-grill the pork chop until done.

Serves 2