Hodge Podge – A Nova Scotian Classic
While hodge podge can mean a combination of any number of things, here in Nova Scotia it means supper is on. This traditional local dish is a delightful way to incorporate fresh seasonal ingredients for a simple-to-make but delicious one-pot meal. This recipe combines beans, carrots and peas, but the beauty of the dish is its ability to adapt to what’s fresh and seasonal.
Ingredients
| 1 cup | green beans, ends trimmed |
| 1 cup | yellow beans, ends trimmed |
| 1 cup | fresh peas, shelled |
| 10 | baby carrots, halved |
| 4 | potatoes, cut into chunks |
| 1/2 cup | butter |
| 1/2 cup | heavy cream |
| 1/2 cup | whole milk |
Directions
- Place beans, peas, carrots and milk to a medium-sized pot. Season with salt and pepper and then bring to a boil.
- After it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer, checking often.
- Add the potatoes, butter and cream. Simmer for about 45 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.
- Taste and then season with more salt and pepper, if desired.
Serves 4
Recipe Provided by:
Habour City Bar & Grill, Delta Halifax Hotel
Photo Credit:
Perry Jackson Photography
You have got to be kidding.. You’ve got this all wrong. This is not how you make Hodge podge.
So do tell, Brend Taylor…..how do YOU make it? Because this is exactly how I remember my grandmother and mother making it and this is how I make it. My birthday is in August and I always asked for this for my birthday dinner.
I had it for the first time in Nova Scotia 2 years ago, made for me by my 86 year old Aunt. This recipe is almost exactly how she made it, with only very slight variations, one being the addition of a little onion. Love the simplicity, how the flavours of the vegetables are the stars. The butter, cream and delicate seasoning serve to enhance and not over power the dish.
making it tonite…..with meat…..not sure what!!!
your H.P.is very nutritious…..could one use pwd. Milk instead of cream…..just make it thicker??????
My Grandmother made Hodge Podge and she would cook the vegetables in cast iron pot with little water, onions, salt, pepper and add veggies in order as to amount of time needed to cook carrots potatoes beans then leave the little water that’s left, but add a chunk of butter more than 1/2 cup probably 1 cup and then add fresh thick Cream this is a 25% used for a rich cup of coffee and whole milk if she wanted to add more of a soupy base because we ate this as a chowder. I wouldn’t recommend using powdered milk to thicken the milk, we liked the taste of the cream with the butter on our spoons with the veggies included slurping a lot lol. My Mom-in-law used to use flour with the cream to thicken her fish chowders, it was good, it was more of a soup, but I prefer all fresh cream and butter. Now I must make some for my family. Sure hope your’s turns out great.
My mom made this all the time. Cheap, easy and nutritious! My mom used Carnation in place of the heavy cream.
My mom always makes this every time I come home and guess what i am going home on Tuesday.
Why would you do that to the beans and peas??? Not like any hodge podge my Nana, aunts or mother ever made!
My cousin Elizabeth always made this in Aug. when the new veggies were young & fresh. Always looked forward to it on our visits to Milford Station. Great memories.
My surrogate mother in Windsor Forks made this from whatever was ready in the garden at the time. My Halifax mother-in-law made a different-tasting, but equally scrummy version, which I happily slurped up!
It sounds really great! I will have to try making this. In New Hampshire, this would be a chowder I think.
only thing missing from the recipe (in my very humble opinion) is are the little silver skinned local onions..I always fry them in butter first which gives a lovely taste and warmth to the hodge lodge…Mine is on the stove right now! Yummmmmmm….
This is exactly the way I remember my grandmother making it growing up in Nova Scotia. I’m going to make it tomorrow. It’s all about the freshly harvested vegetables! Keep it simple.
I’m an Ontarian and I first had this in Canning, N.S. and this is EXACTLY the recipe that was made for me. We love this dish. When it’s winter and the produce is not in season, you can kinda get away with frozen and USA grade veggies but it’s not quite the same. But for today, I have everything I need fresh from the Niagara Greenbelt. You have your stunning Annapolis Valley for produce, to be sure but we are also fortunate to have wonderful, local produce. I have a baguette on hand to slop up the buttery liquid…now if I could only keep my hands off that fresh loaf.
Can you bottle (pickle) this so we can have in the winter?
Hi Melissa! We’d recommend bottling and freezing it to preserve your Hodge Podge through to the winter.