Purple-Headed Puzzler

So, with the first delivery from Home Grown Wisconsin, I received a bundle of chives with their hats still on.

Rightly or wrongly, I decided not to refrigerate them with the purple tops. So I snipped them all off and they are filling a small bowl. The question is, what to do with them?

Off I went to the internets. I share my bounty:

Some tips on general usage.

Vinegar is a popular destination for the blossoms. Some boil the vinegar first; others don't.

This potato salad recipe appears to have some promise.

A stir fry with asparagus and sesame seeds is another often quoted recipe.

Pair with black beans to make a rustic soup.

Eggs! says Pim of Chez Pim.

So this is what 10 minutes of searching about found for me. But before I dive in this way or that, I figured I should take LTH's temperature. What do you like to do with your chive blossoms?

Personally, I use them in salads or make chive blossom vinegar. Nothing earth shatteringly novel.

Diannie do you boil your vinegar before pouring it over the blossoms?

I put mine in egg salad, and serve it on fresh greens. YUM!

They're pretty funkily kühl in mashed taters...

Geo

Chive-flower vinegar is so pretty and good for all sorts of things. But don't make huge amounts of it because the color goes off after a while. I use white-wine vinegar or rice vinegar and I don't boil it.

You can break the blossoms apart and use them to make a seasoned butter.

Every year, I think about dipping them in a light batter and deep frying to see what would happen, but then I never get around to it.

lougord99's blue-flower omelet

Gnocchi con la erba cipollina fiorisce

I don't boil the vinegar. I wash and spin dry the flowers and use a combination of champagne and white vinegars. I like white vinegar as it makes the final product a nice color but the taste is harsh. The champagne seems to temper that. I lso make small batches. Luckily, I find that if I cut all the chive flowers early enough, my chives will flower again during the summer and I can make more.

LAZ wrote:Every year, I think about dipping them in a light batter and deep frying to see what would happen, but then I never get around to it.

This is an interesting thought, LAZ and one I found reference to but did not post about. Food & Wine was on the same track, topping a simple salad with fried chive blossoms.

Last night, I made the asparagus recipe above (pictures pending) and will probably make the vinegar shortly.

Diannie wrote:I like white vinegar as it makes the final product a nice color but the taste is harsh. The champagne seems to temper that.

That's why I like the rice vinegar -- it's milder and a clearer color than most wine vinegars.

Ok, I put it off. Here are pictures.

The product (in this case, asparagus):



Mise:



Follow stir-fry procedures and:



Plated alongside dal w/ rhubarb, simply glazed sugar snap peas and an open faced radish sandwich:




I found that covering the stir fry and letting it steam a minute or two took off some of the pungent edge from the chive blossoms. Still, they added a nice punch to the dish. Next time, I would blanch the asparagus for a shorter period of time prior to stir-frying. They might not have needed blanching at all.