We have a ton of chives and they are especially beautiful this year. We moved them from the main garden to the greenhouse bed to free up some garden space and move the herbs closer to the house. My mother sent me a recipe for Chive Blossom Vinegar and last fall we had a few blossoms so I made some.

Fresh chive blossoms with some green stem, white wine vinegar, a jar, and a lid – all that you need

It was fantastic! Given the bumper crop this spring I made some more. There are a ton of recipies online for this, but here is what I do:

Ingredients – note you can make as little or as much as you want, just adjust the size of the jar.

  • 1 jar with a lid (plastic preferably)
  • Enough chive blossoms to fill the jar. Add a few cut pieces of chive stem as well. Note – pick these while they are still recently bloomed, if they have any dry or dark spots, they will still work, but they could give an off-flavor.
  • Enough white wine vinegar to cover

Steps:

  1. Wash the flowers in cold water and shake out any dirt, ants, or bugs. Not good eats. Get out as much excess water as you can.
  2. Warm up the vinegar in a saucepan, not hot just warm, this helps get some of the essential oils out of the blossoms. I really don’t know if this matters much, I forgot to do it once and it didn’t seem to make much difference.
  3. Place the blossoms and some of the cut short stem pieces in a screw-top jar.
  4. Pour vinegar over the blossoms
  5. Loosely attach the lid and place it in a dark cool place.
  6. Let rest in that spot for about 2 weeks.
  7. Test to see if it’s strong enough and let stand longer if desired (I actually like it about 4 weeks).
  8. Strain through a fine sieve and toss the blossoms/stems.
  9. Store in a tightly lidded container. I have noticed the color seems to dim after time, but the flavor stays good for several months.
On the left – some chive blossom vinegar I made a month ago – on the right – one waiting to extract

Basic Vinaigrette

  • 2-parts extra virgin olive oil or other fine oil (walnut, almond, etc)
  • 1-part Chive Blossom Vinegar
  • 1-part juice (cranberry, apple, pomegranate)
  • Salt/pepper to taste
  • A little sugar to taste if you want it sweeter

Combine to emulsify.

Other additives – as long as the ratio remains (2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar/1 part other liquid) you can add other items – minced shallot, garlic, herbs, etc. warm up the vinegar and liquid to steep the herbs/additives in for better flavor.

Lemon Chive Vinaigrette:

  • 2 parts extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 Chive Blossom Vinegar
  • 1/2 part lemon juice
  • Salt/Pepper to taste

Combine to emulsify

If you can find lemon infused olive oil this is even better – keep the same ratio – but eliminate the lemon juice.

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Posted: May 14, 2020

Category: Food and Drink, Recipe