Curried Pork and Pasta Pleaser

In a perfect world, or perhaps I should say...In my perfect world, all of the ingredients for all of my dishes would come from either my garden, barn or coop or at least from a nearby neighbor's garden, barn or coop. Sadly, today we live in a different world than our Grandparents did. Food comes pasteurized, irradiated and  injected with up to 10% beef broth solution or has been brutally assaulted through some other process deemed necessary by the USDA Gods.

In a war against the horrors committed against our food in the name of safety and nutrition, I will continue to provide healthy meals for my family, using as many homegrown ingredients as possible. I will not purchase Hamburger Helper. Ragu and Prego will never pass beyond my pantry door. You will not find frozen entrees of any sort in my freezer unless they are in a tupperware and have been salvaged as leftovers from a recent homecooked meal.

I am not so foolish as to believe that I can provide for my family solely off of the 2.11 acres here at Camelot Farm. Even I enjoy an occasional trip to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. However, I can do everything in my power to use fresh ingredients that come directly from the dirt of Southwest Virginia, not from South America, Mexico or any of the other countries who make a fortune from feeding America.

Please take a moment to visualize this concept of feeding America. One of the world's richest countries, top of the line defense system, a veritable Super Power amongst its peers and it CAN NOT feed itself. If our borders were to close tomorrow, to all incoming food products and those products required to produce food, we would starve sooner than the government wants us to think. New Yorkers, Los Angelenos and Chicagoans may eschew at us 'backwards country folk' now, but when push comes to shove, we'll be sitting down to a homecooked meal of pork loin from the smoke house, beans from the canning room shelves and potatoes from the root cellar. Where will they be? Chewing grass along the roadside.

Friends, learn to feed your families from the basics. Bring yourself and your pantry back to the days of our grandparents when food came from the backyard, not from across the ocean. This Farmer's Granddaughter will never worry about feeding her family in challenging times. In fact, the recipe for today, 'Pork and Pasta Pleaser' occured when the concept of 'paycheck to paycheck' fell apart a few days shy of that next paycheck. I hope your family enjoys this dish as much as mine did.

Pork and Pasta Pleaser

Brown 6-7 cuts of pork in the frying pan after seasoning with S&P and a dash of garlic powder.

I say cuts rather than specifying a particular portion as this recipe is extremely versatile.

I happened to have a couple of pounds of chops on the bone handy, but boneless cutlets would do just as well. Once the cuts are sufficiently browned, places them side by side in a deep dish.

While the meat is resting, Open a large can of cream of chicken soup. Mix with 1 cup of water, 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of mayonaisse. Add 1/2 tsp curry and stir well. To this, add 2 cups cooked chopped broccoli and 2 cups cooked pasta. I happened to have elbows in the cupboard but feel free to substitute shells, penne, rotini or anything you have on hand.

Pour all this mixture over the pork. Finally, sprinke 3 cups of prepared stuffing over the top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

The broccoli in our dish came from the local farmers market. Mayo is a bi-product of all of the eggs our hens produce. The stuffing was made from day old artisan bread baked here at Camelot Cottage. So, while the entire meal is not from our own backyard, enough of it was to make this Farmers Grandaughter proud to feed it to her family. Do what you can with what you have!