Hodgepodge: A funny name for a yummy summer dish

Dorothy Grover-Read, Our Local Feast

This is another of those New England dishes with a funny name; a quick braise of midsummer veggies has long been a favorite when we find the new produce coming in abundantly, but don’t want to stand over the stove too long.

The definition of hodgepodge is “a jumble,” according to Merriam-Webster, and that’s a pretty good description of this classic, light summer dish, different every time you make it.

A hodgepodge of summer vegetables creates a quick but hearty summer stew. Use what is good right now, but try to include new potatoes and carrots and a hearty green.
Photo by Dorothy Grover-Read. A hodgepodge of summer vegetables creates a quick but hearty summer stew. Use what is good right now, but try to include new potatoes and carrots and a hearty green.

Robbing a few new potatoes from the hills is a tradition around here. Pulling a few sweet baby carrots to thin them out is also not to be resisted. These little thefts offer us a brilliant start to a quick but hearty dish.

It’s not just a simple bowl of vegetables. While hodgepodge (also, hodge podge or even hotch potch) appears to have its beginnings in Scotland using mutton, it originated as a vegetable-based soup in Nova Scotia, and many versions of this simple summer vegetable dish have drifted through the northeast.

Traditionally, hodgepodge includes new potatoes and real baby carrots (not the machined offerings in the grocery store), shelling peas, the first of the green and wax beans, new onions and their greens, all simmered quickly in a butter cream sauce.

It is also traditional to put in whatever else is nice or bountiful in your garden or farm stand at the time, including zucchini and yellow squash, new beets, turnips, radishes and fennel. Herbs could include chives, parsley, dill, tarragon or chervil or anything you love. The sturdy green, always Swiss chard in our house, is also a favorite in this soup, but beet or turnip greens fill in nicely as well.

Unlike a winter New England boiled dinner, this cooks quickly, just until everything is tender, but still vibrant, and even the new root vegetables cook quickly. The broth is sweet and light, and the whole thing is served just slightly warm or even room temperature. Mom always just tossed everything in at once and let it simmer just until done.

Photo by Dorothy Grover-Read Peas please — Pea season doesn’t last long in the northeast, so when they arrive we use them in as many ways as possible. A broth made from the pods is flavorful and good use of what would normally be tossed in the recycling bin.
Photo by Dorothy Grover-Read Peas please — Pea season doesn’t last long in the northeast, so when they arrive we use them in as many ways as possible. A broth made from the pods is flavorful and good use of what would normally be tossed in the recycling bin.

I’ve deviated from mom’s recipe in a couple of respects. I don’t add the Swiss chard and peas along with everything else at the beginning as she did. The greens don’t need that long to cook. As for the peas, I think they are best just cooked for a few minutes until tender. I also added some local fresh mushrooms simply because they are so delicious and widely available.

The coconut milk replaces the cream or milk, which is good news for lots of my friends and family who just don’t do well with dairy. But use whatever you love here as long as it is on the lighter side. This is not the place for heavy cream.

Since I found some beautiful English or garden peas recently, my extra step was to boil the pods to give the dish a flavor boost in the form of a pea stock, very flavorful and quick too, but if you don’t have shelling peas, any stock will do or just tap water.

Local corn and field-grown tomatoes may not be in abundance yet, but we’ve got lots to choose from right now, so my dish includes new potatoes, new carrots, fennel, sweet onion, Chioggia beets and summer squash. Parsley and tarragon from the garden liven things up, but use herbs that you love – thyme, rosemary, sage and marjoram are good options.

Summer hodgepodge
Scrub all your vegetables, but don’t bother peeling them. The new veggies don’t need it, and you will save time and nutrition.

In a stockpot, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and sauté:
1 large, sweet onion, sliced pole to pole, or two leeks
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bulb fennel, diced
Stems from a bunch of Swiss chard, diced
6 ounces or so of sliced mushrooms

Cook until the onions are translucent and add:
About one pound or so of new potatoes cut into chunks
9 or 10 baby carrots
3 or 4 beets, sliced
6 ounces green beans, whole or chopped
3 or 4 small summer squash or zucchini

Cover with about a quart of water or stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer until the root vegetables are about cooked through.

Add:
Greens from the chard
1 cup of fresh or frozen peas
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, minced
1 tablespoon. fresh parsley, minced

Mix everything together and simmer for a minute or 2 then add:
1 can light coconut milk
2 tablespoon butter or vegan butter

Remove from the heat, taste for seasoning. This likes a lot of pepper. Cover and let everything sit together for at least 10 minutes or until it is cooled to your preference, then serve.

Garnish with some of the fronds from the fennel and perhaps some edible flowers. Peppery nasturtiums are delicious here.

Yes, you can now add some more butter if you like and serve it with some good bread for dunking.

Pea broth
Although not essential to this dish, if you are using fresh garden peas, the pods make a delightful broth that can be used as a soup base. Just place all the pods in a large stockpot along with any trimmings of onion, garlic or carrot, if you have them, and cover with water. Add salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

Let this simmer, covered, for about a half hour, then set aside until cool. Strain.

In addition to using it for soups and stews, you can use it as the liquid in rice or sauces or chill and offer it up as a refreshing summer drink. It freezes well, a taste of summer in December.