Roast Pork Loin with a Cherry Sauce

Fall is a time for me to roast meats.  A pork loin is a quick and easy way to roast a meat, but the question remains on how to sauce it up.  Many times I make a jus from the pan drippings and bits, but today I am inspired by dried cherries.  The picture above from a Williams-Sonoma recipe shows a cherry-port sauce with roast duck breast, a delicious combination.  But, you can also easily make this for roast pork, an easier and cheaper alternative.  I like to pair roast pork loin with polenta, cutting the pork into medallions and spooning the sauce over both.  Pinot noir is the usual wine pairing, but try to remember to decant in advance of the meal.  Serves 4.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 pork loins
salt/pepper
2 tbsp herbes de provence
1 shallot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup port wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup cherries
2 tbsp butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450.  Begin cooking the polenta as recommended, which can simmer gently as the pork and sauce is prepared.  Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat until smoking.  Meanwhile, season the pork loins with salt and peper and the Herbes de Provence.  Add the loins to the pan and brown on each side, approximately 3-5 minutes per side.  When browned, roast the loins in the oven until a thermometer in the center reads 150 degrees, perhaps 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat to a platter and cover.
Drain the fat from the pan down to 1 tbsp remaining and return to the stove top over medium low heat.  Add the shallot and soften for a few minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for a minute further.  Deglaze the pan with the port, scraping up the bits on the bottom of the pan.  Turn the heat up to medium high to boil down the port by half.  Add the cherries and chicken stock and boil down by half again.  Turn off the heat, add the balsamic vinegar, and swirl in the butter.  Cut the pork loins into 3/4" medallions.  Plate a portion of the polenta first, arrange 1/4 of the medallions on top of the polenta, and spoon the sauce over the pork and polenta.