Spring is at its glorious peak here in Ohio. The grass is growing like crazy, the days alternate between sun, chill or rain. The birds are singing and the farmers are out tilling and planting their fields. I’ve harvested all of my radishes and I’m happy to see my potatoes, beets, leeks, lettuce, and tomato seedlings doing well too.
I’m lucky enough to have onions that come back every year, though I don’t have rhubarb like I thought I did—that blog post will come another day. I’m still not over the humiliation LOL However I did write about it in my upcoming book THE RHUBARB PATCH, coming from Dreamspinner July 24th.
One great thing about some herbs I’ve planted is that they come back every year too. Thyme, sage, tarragon, chives. Oregano is supposed to come back but mine always dies 🙁 and I lost several thyme plants this year and I can’t quite be sure why only 2 out of 5 survived. From researching, I think they were overwatered.
If you have chives in their yard, you know how they spread like wildfire. That’s because those glorious purple flowers that bloom this time of year drop a million seeds each and believe me they all take root LOL If you’re not careful, when you move the grass all you’ll smell is chives.
A lot of people pluck the flower heads off so that the chives can be contained. Sadly most people throw them away.
Don’t do that!
Last winter I discovered several uses for them and was eagerly anticipating a harvest of chive blossoms. They have a faint oniony fragrance that’s so delicate. And delicious!
I harvested a small batch, leaving some because they weren’t quite ready. Instead of a bowl, I reused a firm mushroom container. They’re also great planter boxes for seedlings once you drill a few holes for drainage. Strawberry containers work great too.
Once you have your chive blossom harvest, rinse them very very well in cold water in a colander—wouldn’t want any hiding bugs to show up in your recipes!
Recipe One
Chive Blossom Vinegar
Let the blossoms dry a little bit
Then stuff some into clean mason jar.
Top off with a white wine or champagne vinegar.
Let it seep two weeks to a month
I love infusing vinegars. It takes several weeks to get the full flavor and can really add variety to your cooking. I’m super excited about this faint chive blossom vinegar.
Recipe Two
Chive Blossom Butter
Bring one stick butter—not that liquid plastic people call margarine but real honest-to-goodness butter—to room temp
Chop up your herbs (in this case it’s chive blossoms)
Whip it together with a fork.
Roll it up in wax paper
Refrigerate
Not only is it pretty because it’s purple but it’s a delicious way to sauté asparagus this time of year. Or you could top a baked potato with it, or sauté shrimp. Anywhere you would think a slight oniony flavor would be good chive blossom butter works. I wish I still had some of my Peruvian purple potatoes because lavender butter on purple potatoes would just be awesome! LOL
If you’ve never made herbed butter, it’s super easy. I don’t like to waste, so I saved the wax paper the butter came in and placed my chive butter on top of that. I gently pressed it into a rectangular shape and rolled it up in the wax paper. It wasn’t quite big though so I had to grab another piece. Then pop it in the fridge and enjoy!
If cooking, canning, and romance are things that you love, stay tuned for more excerpts from my upcoming novel THE RHUBARB PATCH July 24th. Phineas is quite the homesteader and I’ll be sharing his recipes too!
Do you have any suggestions of things you do with chive blossoms?
I would love to hear from you!
