Milk & sour cream braised pork

Made this tonight, riffing on a recipe I stumbled across a while ago. I changed it up a lot (it originally had no sour cream, onions, or garlic), so I’m calling this my own! Woo!

Ingredients

  • pork loin roast, 2-3 lbs
  • salt & pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2-3 cups milk
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 onion, diced
  • Zest from one lemon
  • 5-6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4-1/2 c vermouth (optional)
  • 10-20 fresh sage leaves, torn into thirds
  • 3 tbsp butter

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 325F.
  2. Generously salt & pepper the pork & let sit at room temp for 20 mins or so.
  3. Heat olive oil in a smallish dutch oven or stock pot (with a lid!) large enough to snugly hold the roast & liquids. (Mine’s a 5 qt oval cast iron pot.)
  4. Brown the pork on all sides, and set aside.
  5. Let the pot cool a little so the butter doesn’t burn, and add the butter. Throw in the onions and saute those for a bit over med-low heat ’til translucent.
  6. While the onions are doing their thing, mix the sour cream and milk together in a bowl until well blended. This just eliminates any sour cream lumps. Add the chicken stock to this mixture as well.
  7. Back to the pot of onions — add the lemon zest and garlic, and saute those for 4-5 mins.
  8. Turn up the heat a bit and add the vermouth if you’re using it. Let this cook down and reduce for a bit.
  9. Throw in the sage leaves, and stir until wilted.
  10. Put the pork back in the pot, and pour the milk/sour cream/chicken stock mixture over top.
  11. Cover and transfer into the now heated oven.
  12. Braise at 325F for 4-5 hours, checking every hour or so to make sure it’s all nice and happy.
  13. About 30 mins before you plan to eat, take the lid off the pot, give the sauce a nice stir, then stick it back in the oven to reduce and thicken (leaving the pork in there…the pork is happy).
  14. Remove from the oven, move pork to a plate to rest for 10 mins.
  15. Slice pork, put it on some egg noodles or rice or mashed potatoes or something, and spoon over a generous amount of the sauce. Yum.