Nova Scotian Hodge Podge

I give a 4 star but with some modifications. In my area of Nova Scotia, the key ingredients are new potatoes, fresh green and yellow beans, and new/baby carrots. It is called hodge podge because you can put an assortment of veggies in it. I always add brocolli and cauliflour, sometimes zucchini, or any other fresh veggie that strikes your fancy. For added flavour I cook the veggies in chicken or turkey stock, with added water if necessary. Barely cover the veggies with the stock/water, and start with the veggies that take the longest to cook first and adding the quick cookers like the beans last which essentially steam on top of the broth. The vegetables should be tender crisp and I would think the times in the receipe would overcook the veggies. Real cream and butter makes the meal decadent but skimmed evaporated milk can be used too if trying to cut back on fat & calories (and costs). There is no need to thicken with flour. The consistency is like a thin chowder as opposed to a thickened sauce or soup. Some people like to add corned beef or cooked ham from a boiled dinner to it to make it an even heartier meal. Whatever version you try, enjoy!!

A friend of mine who moved to BC from Nova Scotia taught me how to make hodgepodge but with the very earliest spring veggies but NOT turnips. Too strong. No flour or water..only cream and butter. She says I make it as well as a Nova Scotian does......it is awesome.

YUM!!! My entire family loves this stuff. I'm from Nova Scotia and this is the big dish of the harvest ~ we use new potatoes, green beans, and yellow beans. Sometimes carrot, but, as a rule, usually the potaotes and beans. Thanks for posting this Vivian!

This passes for a nice stew. Real hodge podge is not made in the fall but summer when the vegetables are fresh from the garden. There is no use of flour or turnip in hodge podge, fresh peas from the pods are a must and cream is not optional.

As a Nova Scotian now living in BC, my HodgePodge cravings start when the first beans (green or yellow), garden peas and new potatoes arrive at the Farmers' Market. I must agree with others who didn't use the turnip as I find it imparts a bitter, almost musty flavour that becomes more pronounced as it sits. And for me, the best HodgePodge is eaten a day or 2 after it was first made...so no turnip in my version. The cream does give it the mouthfeel that I remember from my days in NS but now a healthier version can be made with a light roux (flour & Marg or butter) and then 2% or 1% milk. For me the key is lots of sweet young green peas and new potatoes. I saute 1/2 cup sweet or green onions with some coarsely chopped celery until the onions are tender and the celery still has some crunch. Then the potatoes go into the pot with as little water/cooking liquid as possible. Once that liquid has come to a boil, then the carrot and peas are added and left to cook for 5 minutes. Then the rest of the veggies and the sauted onions & celery. Total cooking time for the veggies DOES NOT EXCEED 20 MINUTES. The roux is next, stirred in thoroughly, with as much milk as you like to bring it to a chunky stew consistency. Salt and pepper to taste and you are ready to enjoy with a toasted chunk of cheese bread.

I am from Nova Scotia and I look forward to this summer meal all winter. My family doesn't use turnip or flour (I guess thats just our taste) and the heavy cream definatly isn't optional for us. Only use fresh veggies, thats the best part:) Thanks for sharing the Nova Scotian heritage recipe, hehe.

here is my version of hodge podge. the main (and best) ingredient in mine is new peas. then add little new potatoes, carrots, and new string beans.

Wonderful recipe! My parents are from N.S. and I have had Hodge Podge before, but not like this!! The cream and the flour made a huge difference!! I skipped the turnip and added onions for extra flavour. Thanks for this one!

I love hodge podge being from nova scotia this is a summer treat along with blueberry grunt ... cream as stated prior is must not an option thanks !!!!!

I have lived in Nova Scotia my whole life and always look forward to this recipe at the end of each Summer. It tastes so good. I highly recommend using the cream but we omit the flour, we always use beans, potatoes, and carrots, other vegetables sometimes for a change but potatoes and beans are a necessity. If you are from Nova Scotia or aren't this is a recipe to really try.

I'm a Maritimers (NB) and this is something I grew up on and look forward to every summer. For us, it is the first harvest consisting of tiny new potatoes (kept whole or halved), green beans, yellow beans, carrots and peas. We cook it until veggies are just tender but still crisp. Usually best to start with the peas as they need a bit more time. As some others suggest, I do not use flour...but cereal cream and butter are musts.

I came across this recipe as I had some turnips to use....and my family really liked it! I omited the wax beans and added onion- also omited the butter and used light cream. I added parsely, pepper & seasoning salt, and thickened with sifted corn starch instead of flour. I also used vegetable broth instead of water. I pureed the soup a bit so my kids would eat more of the veggies. In all, a big hit!

I didnt add cream to this recipe because i dont like cream. Also, i don't know what waxed beans are - i dont think we have them in england, so i didnt add them either. I thought this was ok, but it was a bit bland. I think it could have done with some garlic added in at the beginning. It was definitely warm and filling, but at the same time, lacking a bit of flavour.

I am from New Brunswick, now in Ontario.One dish I always make is Hodge Podge, no matter what the season. I just luv this stuff.

This is a great hearty stew. I substituted 1/2 block silken tofu and 1/2 cup homemade almond milk, blended, (you can use any milk substitute such as soy milk, nut milk, etc) in place of the heavy cream to convert it to a vegan stew. I also substituted soy butter for butter, and substituted arrowroot powder in place of the all purpose flour. I was not able to find wax beans, I added butter beans in place of them.

I took someone's advice and didn't add all-purpose flour. I doubled the amount of green beans for not having wax beans on hands, replaced turnips with zucchini, used evaporated skim milk for cutting off some calories. Also I reduced butter to 4 tbs. However, it tasted good!

I remember as a young child having this on the July 1st holiday. My Nanny would make a huge pot of it. Was not sure if it was a recipe she had made up, or if it was something everyone had LOL. As years passed and so did she I kind of forgot about the stew, until recently. And to my delight I finally stumbled upon the recipe. Can't wait to try it out.

I have made this recipe when I lived in Nova Scotia.We used root vegtables such as turnips we also used cabbage and the traditional fall vegatables.One of my husbands favorite maritime dishes is codfish cakes.Has anyone ever made these?

This was excellent. I doubled up on the turnips, and their flavor still did not overpower the dish. I also cooked the vegetables in chicken broth rather than in water, and it added a lot of flavor. I was especially impressed with this recipe after letting the flavors meld for a day. Yum. This dish is very similar to a Green Bean Soup recipe from my Polish grandmother, which calls for the addition of equal parts sugar and vinegar (usually around 1/2 c. each) in order to impart a sweet and sour effect. I like the Hodge-Podge approach, too, because it is good to have a purpose for turnips other than just mashing them.

Here in New Brunswick, we also look forward to Hodge Podge, though I have never tried it with turnip. This is delicious with fresh rolls or biscuits. Yummy.

A note for a couple of users, one in the UK, who are unfamiliar with ‘waxed beans.’ These are simply what many call ‘yellow beans’, almost identical to green stringbeans except for colour and a subtle taste difference.

I only rate truely amazing dishes as 5 stars, and since this is "just" a creamy vegetable soup, I opted for four. BUT, I really really enjoyed it! I didn't use turnips, but followed the recipe otherwise. It seems like the veggies get awfully cooked, which isn't the way I normally prepare them, but after making the dish as written, I don't think I'd change anything. Comfort food to the max.

We enjoyed this stew very much and served it with cornbread. I used 2 cups green beans and omitted wax beans, and substituted milk for heavy cream.

Even good without cream

We did not use the wax beans. I substitued low fat milk and used half the amount of butter. This will be a new family favorite. Thanks for the new recipe!

I tried this recipe and like it very much. I used a few substitues to make it more low fat and healthy for my diet because I am vegetarian,borderline diabetic and have heart disease. I followed the recipe but used 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance Buttery spread instead of the 6 tablespoons of butter the recipe called for. Instead of the 1/2 cup of heavy cream I used plain lowfat organic yogurt. I omitted the flour. I used veggie pepper for added taste (it's a condiment combination course black pepper, dehydrated onion,garlic, celery and bell pepper and no salt since salt is a no-no for me. I love this recipe and it tasted great on a cold winter evening.

quite a good veggie recipe. I omitted the cream, and it still turned out great. i had to add more salt for flavour and cornstarch to thicken the soup. i also replaced and added some veggies, such as onions. however, i must say that the carrots rang a rather discordant taste, as it was slightly sweet amidst all the non-sweet veggies.

A bit too much butter, I'd probably cut it to 3tbs or less next time around. Great veggie soup, though, with a nice creamy compliment. :)

never add flour to hodge podge. i tried this and was gross

As I understand it, wax beans are simply yellow beans. In any case this is such a fantastic recipe. Very tasty!

No,

Didn't have any turnips to put in, would definitely make it again.

This was my first attempt at making Hodge-Podge, and I found this recipe really simple and delicious! I took into consideration some of the other reviewers' suggestions and omitted the flour and turnip. Cream is definitely not optional! Next time, I think I will add the beans to the pot at the same time I add the potatoes. After an hour of boiling, the green beans turned mushy and lost their bright color. However, I still thought this was a great recipe. Thanks so much for sharing!

this was a dish that has a lot of potential, it was very filling, but not too heavy. the medley of vegetables was very nice also; sadly, it severely lacked any flavor, it needs a couple of spices.

I made this for my sister who lived with her mother in law in N.S. when she was younger she asked me if I could make some hodge podge being from N.B. I never heard of it so found a recipe on all recipes and made it she said it was good but she only remembers there being the green beans and no other veggies will certainly making this again.

I love this dish and as a Maritimer look forward to it every summer when the fresh veggies are coming good in the garden. We have never added meat or flour to this dish, altho' I'm sure you could. It has always consisted of new potatoes, green & yellow beans, garden peas, onion, baby carrots, butter and cream. I have done this dish with plain 2% milk and it is good that way as well but of course the cream is better. Maritime tradition!! Enjoy!

I learned how to make this while in Nova Scotia. This recipe is a bit thinner than what was taught to me. But its still amazing!

Ambrosia ~ the aroma of the fresh veggies. There is a short window of time ( on the West Coast) that I can get all the baby fresh veggies at the same time. I took out the browned bits of meat and added the flour to the bacon grease; stirred until cooked and slowly added the cream, for a tastier cream sauce. I omitted the turnip and used cauliflower.

This turned out so good! We did make a few changes like adding garlic, pepper, and onion powder. We also added in broccoli just because we had it in the fridge and needed to use it up!