It is that time of year again when we can pick food from the garden for the table. One of our favourites is chives, which my friend, Hiltrud, gave me several years ago. The plant survives every winter and has a prominent place in the vegetable patch. We love the flavour of the tender stems as well as the flowers, so nothing of this wonderful plant is wasted.
While numerous recipes incorporating chives are available on-line, our favourites involve the simple addition of the herb to dairy products such as butter, cheese and sour cream. The subtle flavour of the chives adds special summer flavour to these dairy products.
Chive butter makes a great spread for homemade bread toasted on the barbecue. I add finely chopped chives to softened butter and leave it for a few hours to let the flavour develop.
Chives added to cream cheese or goat cheese make a savoury spread for crisp bread or crackers, especially if you make it ahead of time.
The puffy flowers, pulled apart, add a subtle onion flavour and colour to salads.
Chives and sour cream are delicious on baked potato.
A taste of summer at our house includes chives.
18 comments:
We have a patch moved from Sarnia and first obtained from a neighbour decades ago. Our flowers are done a withered. Our mains use is in potato salad.
They are beautiful. If only they smelled better.
I do use chives and enjoy them but wild garlic has to be one of my favourite plants.
I have chives for my own culinary use and one or two plants in the garden for the flowers as a pollinator plant. Unfortunately my clumps are not long lived, probably the heavy clay is too moist but easy enough to start a new plant from seed.
That is awesome!! I have chives in the garden. Someone told me to pull the flowers out for it is better for the plant. I shall never pull the flowers away now since seeing this post!! Thank you for the information. I like it in potato salad as well. Your plant looks very healthy.
Yummo. I am partial to garlic chives too. And they make a lovely splash of colour when they bloom.
I think we'd like chives in potato salad. Next time...
Such a nice herb though!
I haven't been able to see any good photos of wild garlic. Do you think you could post some good photos?
I have to water mine every day in the summer and the blooms will soon be finished. It's a great herb though.
Angela, I have never pulled the flowers out and the plant has done well. Maybe the conditions where you live are very different from here. Try the flowers in salad though. It's a great way to use them.
They really do add a lovely colour to the garden, and subtle flavour.
I didn't know the flowers are also edible. I learned something new about chives! Thanks for the tip. :-)
Mmmm, chive butter sounds SO good!
They are delicious!
It is really good but on a crusty bread.
This was an informative as well as pretty post. Chives have so many uses. I use them a lot when preparing meals.
I love the taste too, Emma!
Post a Comment