These pork chops coated in a sweet pumpkin tea glaze and served with apple slices that have been poached in the same sweet tea. It’s a deliciously flavorful and healthy fall meal.

In preparation for this trip to the middle of nowhere, NC (seriously, there’s no place with milk, eggs and real butter, although we’ve found two places selling Country Crock, within 35 minutes) I made lists. Lots of lists. Lists of clothes to pack, lists of computer/technology things to pack, lists of hiking paraphenalia to pack and of course, lists of food to pack. When you’re headed to a house for a week that isn’t stocked with any of your pantry staples you take for granted at home, you need to bring a few things or face a $500 food bill buying stupid necessities like salt, pepper, oil, etc.

If you couldn’t of already guessed, the longest of the lists was the one for food.

And topping that list?

Tea.

If there’s anything a log cabin in the woods with a huge fireplace and an entertainment center filled with board games screams for, it’s a big mug of after dinner tea. Which for me, comes with a huge side of losing miserably at Monopoly. Multiple times.

I’m a huge winter tea drinker. It’s warm, its comforting and you don’t feel bad drinking it in the middle of the day because there’s nothing in it to feel guilty about (I’m looking at you, pumpkin spice latte). I have a tea selection in my kitchen cabinets like most women would have for their nail polish collection. You want green tea? I have it (even though I’m not even a huge fan of the green stuff). You want pepperminty Christmas kind of teas? No problem. Spicy chai? That’s Ulysses’ favorite. Fun flavors like sweet pumpkin, gingerbread and sugar cookie for an almost dessert-like fix? Those are the best! And of course, there’s regular and decaf on hand for entertaining purposes.

Something I’ve never really thought to do with my tea though is actually cook with it. And I have NO idea why.

Celestial Seasonings Sweet Harvest Pumpkin® Black Tea is one of my fall favorites. It’s sweet enough to fill a dessert craving but it’s pumpkin-y enough to totally work in a savory element too. And that’s exactly what I did with these tea glazed pork chops and apples.

If you think a tea glaze sounds complicated, I can assure you it’s as simple as steeping some tea and then simmering it in a hot skillet to reduce. With apples cooked in it first and then coating a thick juicy pork chop, it’s pretty much a healthy fall flavor explosion and a whole different way to enjoy tea.

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Pumpkin Tea Glazed Pork Chops and Apples

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

These pork chops coated in a sweet pumpkin tea glaze and served with apple slices that have been poached in the same sweet tea. It's a deliciously flavorful and healthy fall meal.

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Ingredients

• 2 Celestial Seasonings Sweet Harvest Pumpkin® Black Tea bags
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 apple, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 pounds bone-in pork chops
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Place tea bags in a medium sauce pot and pour boiling water over them. Let steep for 5 minutes. Squeeze and remove tea bags.
2. Add the apple slices to the sauce pot with the tea and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, gently stirring once or twice. Remove apples from the sauce pot with a slotted spoon, place in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Place the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Season the pork chops generously with salt and pepper.
5. Once hot, add the pork to the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes per side until nicely browned.
6. Transfer the pork to a dish, cover loosely with foil and set aside.
7. Pour the tea into the hot skillet and simmer on medium-high for 3-5 minutes without stirring until reduced and thickened.
8. Add the pork and the apples back into to the skillet and turn to coat in the tea glaze.
9. Serve immediately with greens.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

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*This post is sponsored by Celestial Seasonings. All content and opinions are my own.