Hodge Podge, you say?

I’m finally back from a vacation in New England, and I decided that, after travelling for more than a week at eating out every day, I just wanted some nice, fresh, local vegetables. I stopped into The Vegetorium (our local farm market) on the way home and they had a bounty of local ingredients. I picked up some fresh carrots, spring onions, new potatoes, green peas, yellow and green beans, and some corn.

Hodge Podge might not be familiar to people who aren’t from Atlantic Canada, so I’ll explain it a bit.

It’s a traditional summer treat when all of our local veggies are in season. It’s a pot of wonderful fresh produce with a creamy, buttery, and delicious broth. A little disassembly is required, cutting corn off the cob when you go to eat it, but it’s very much worth every bit of care and work.

Here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:

• Approx. 12 new potatoes, about the size of large eggs or a little bigger – washed but not peeled, left whole.
• 3 spring onions, washed, roots removed and most of green stem removed, halved
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed or roughly chopped
• 3 cobs of corn, husks removed, cut in thirds
• 1 – 1.5 lbs fresh beans (yellow, green, or both), tips removed and washed
• 1 bunch fresh young carrots – tops removed and scrubbed, but not peeled. Cut the larger ones in half so they’re not too long
• 1 lb fresh green peas – buy them in the pods, then remove them yourself
• 1.5 – 2 cups half and half or “Blend”
• 1/4 cup real butter
• 1 tsp salt
• Pinch fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Put whole potatoes in large pot with spring onions and garlic. Put just enough water to cover (see pic below), and add 1 tsp salt. Cover and bring to a boil.

Cook on medium heat until potatoes are just starting to cook — a little soft on the outside, but very hard inside. Add the carrots. Cook until carrots are almost 1/2 cooked. Add corn, beans, and peas. Cook until done — slightly crisp but cooked through. Turn down the heat and add the cream, butter, pepper, and adjust salt level.

Ladle into bowls with whole veggies, cobs of corn, and creamy broth.

Serve with fresh bread (and molasses) and preserves.

NOTE: You will want to make sure the pot doesn’t boil dry, however, you don’t want to add too much water. You want a very concentrated veggie broth at the end, so use as little as you can, and you should end up with about a cup of broth. You’re more steaming the veggies than boiling them, so you won’t need very much.