Cherry Balsamic Pork Loin -- When Preservation Becomes Something Worth Documenting

November 2024 brought early cold and the deer season's second act. I got a small buck the first week—probably a yearling, which I usually try to pass on, but the shot was clean and presented itself and I took it. The processing was routine now in the best way: the tools knew where they were, the steps came in order, the garage was cold enough to work comfortably. An hour and a half and the meat was in the cooler.

Made a new preparation this fall that I'd been working toward: a cured venison, dry-aged with salt, dried sumac, and dried wild onion powder, then hung in the barn's cold corner for two weeks. It was an experiment—I'd read about preservation methods that predate refrigeration and wanted to understand them in practice rather than just in theory. The result was dense and very savory, somewhere between jerky and prosciutto, with the sumac's bright acidity running through it. Lily tried a slice when she came up and said it tasted like something she'd read about in the historical record. I said maybe it was. She said it was definitely something worth documenting.

Hannah's been spending more time at her own projects lately—she'd signed up for a ceramics class in Tahlequah two evenings a week and was bringing home bowls and plates in progress, handling them carefully, explaining her process at the kitchen table the way Kai explains his observations. There's a pleasure in watching a person discover a new way their hands work. She's good at it. She made a serving bowl specifically for fry bread and it was the right size and shape and she seemed quietly proud of that accuracy.

That two-week hang in the barn produced something I didn’t quite have a name for—dense, acidic, layered—and Lily was right that it deserved to be documented. But for the nights when patience isn’t the ingredient you have on hand, this Cherry Balsamic Pork Loin gets at the same idea: a whole cut of meat, a bright acid working its way through it, and enough time in the heat to develop something genuinely savory. The balsamic and cherry do what the sumac did—cut through the richness and give the whole thing a kind of sharp clarity that makes you slow down and pay attention.

Cherry Balsamic Pork Loin

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lb boneless pork loin roast
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 cup cherry preserves
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat and season. Preheat oven to 375°F. Pat the pork loin dry with paper towels. Combine salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried thyme, then rub the mixture evenly over all sides of the roast.
2. Sear the roast. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the pork loin on all sides until a deep golden crust forms, about 3–4 minutes per side. Remove from heat briefly.
3. Make the cherry balsamic glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine cherry preserves, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, minced garlic, Dijon mustard, and red pepper flakes if using. Stir and simmer for 4–5 minutes until slightly thickened. Reserve about 1/4 of the glaze for serving.
4. Glaze and roast. Spoon half the remaining glaze over the seared pork loin. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and roast uncovered for 50–60 minutes, spooning additional glaze over the roast halfway through cooking, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads 145°F.
5. Rest and slice. Remove from the oven and tent loosely with foil. Let the roast rest for 10 minutes before slicing. This allows the juices to redistribute and the glaze to set slightly on the surface.
6. Serve. Slice into 1/2-inch rounds and arrange on a platter. Drizzle the reserved glaze over the top just before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 520mg