Pork Loin with Raspberry Sauce

End of September. The trees are turning on Standish Road. The morning air is the kind of cold that makes you remember October is one week away.

Liam is settled into second grade. His teacher's name is Ms. Patel. She emailed me Thursday to say he is a serious reader and a quiet listener. I read the email twice. I forwarded it to Ma.

Nora's kindergarten teacher is Mr. Cooper, which Nora reports is unusual because boys are not usually teachers, and which Nora has decided is fine because Mr. Cooper has a beard and a guitar. She is sold.

Group Tuesday. New widow named Kathleen. Mid-fifties. Husband died in March. She talked the whole hour. Bernadette let her. We let her. Sometimes you get there and you have to talk for an hour because the rest of the week nobody asks the right questions.

Clinic: a young woman with strep on Monday. A toddler with an ear infection on Tuesday whose mother burst into tears in the room because she had not slept in three nights. I sat with her for an extra ten minutes. I gave her the peds antibiotic dosing in writing in big handwriting. I told her sleep was coming. She nodded.

Wednesday Kettle. Seven quarts. Linda's daughter took one to her mother. Mrs. Hagerty took two for the week. The Flaherty family on Dot Ave took two more — their oldest, who started chemo at Dana-Farber in March, is doing better. The mom hugged me at the door. I left fast. I am not built for the door hugs.

Saturday pancakes. Burned the first. Nora has started counting them out loud as I make them. Today's count: nine. The kids ate seven. The dog next door barked through the cooking and Nora said the dog was hungry. I do not have a dog.

Sunday dinner at Ma's. Roasted chicken with potatoes. Patrick and Colleen and Sean III came. Ma's knees were stiff Sunday. She sat more than usual. I cleared the table. She let me. That is the new tell.

Food of the week: Ma's roasted chicken, potatoes underneath that absorb the schmaltz. She has made this exact dish two thousand times. It is still better than mine. I told her so. She said she knew.

Ma’s roasted chicken is hers and I have made peace with that. But Sunday dinner has its own logic — something in the oven, something that makes the house smell like you meant it. This pork loin with raspberry sauce is the version I come back to on the weeks that have been heavy and ordinary in equal measure: the kind of week where a toddler’s mother cries in the exam room and a new widow talks for an hour and the trees on Standish Road remind you that time is doing exactly what time does. You want a roast. You want the sauce to be a little surprising. This is that.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 15 min | Total Time: 1 hr 30 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 boneless pork loin roast (about 2 1/2 lb)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cold water

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Pat the pork loin dry with paper towels.
Season the roast. Combine salt, pepper, garlic powder, and thyme. Rub the mixture evenly over all sides of the pork loin.
Sear the pork. Heat olive oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork loin and sear on all sides until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
Roast. Transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast uncovered until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 145°F, approximately 55 to 65 minutes.
Rest the meat. Transfer the roast to a cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes.
Make the raspberry sauce. While the pork rests, combine raspberries, chicken broth, sugar, and balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir and cook until the berries break down, about 5 minutes. Whisk cornstarch with cold water and stir the slurry into the sauce. Continue cooking 1 to 2 minutes until slightly thickened. Press through a fine mesh strainer if you prefer a smooth sauce.
Slice and serve. Slice the pork loin into 1/2-inch rounds. Spoon raspberry sauce over the top and pass the remainder at the table.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pork Loin with Raspberry Sauce — The Sunday Dinner That Holds Everything Together