Chives are extremely popular ingredients in numerous cookbooks. They are technically a member of the onion family and hail from Asia and Europe. They’ve been in use now for over 5,000 years, but it’s only since the Middle Ages that they were actively used in cooking.
Chives also go by the botanical name: allium schoenoprasum. This comes from Greek and means ‘reed-like leek’, which does seem to accurately describe the appearance.
Chives are popular for their delicate taste, and being related to onion, they are also extremely healthy. It’s for that reason that they are now increasingly found in instant pot cookbooks, French cookbooks and plenty of other recipes. They deserve a place in your spice racks!
In this post, we’ll look at some great ways to use chives and some tips for getting the most from them. Grab your apron and let’s put them to work.
Using Chives
Chives are in season in spring and summer and they will work well fresh at these times. You should be able to get them from most supermarkets and garden centers. Note that you should not substitute fresh chives for dried – these have a more mustardy taste. Follow the cooking instructions!
When you do choose fresh chives, these should only be stored for three days, after which point they can start to turn.
When preparing chives, you can always use a food chopper and cutting board. However, you might find that you find it easy to snip them with scissors instead.
Chives should not be cooked for a long time as they are very delicate. Add them right at the end of your cooking, or use them on a garnish if you’re making a salad. They also work well in soups, vegetable stocks, or stews – anything you might put in stock pots.
A Recipe Using Chives
The best way to get an idea for how to use a herb or spice, is always to try cooking with it! That way, you will learn how to prepare it and what it works best with.
We recommend starting with this great chicken pasta.
To prepare, take a sauce pans and add to it some diced chicken and a good amount of spring onion. You can snip these. Cook the chicken until it’s white, and then start cooking the pasta in another boiler pot.
Now you’re going to add red pesto to the chicken, along with single cream. For every 1 spoon or pesto, add 2 spoons of cream, until you have created a tasty, red, creamy sauce.
Keep simmering and toward the end, you will add the chives. Season a little more with salt and pepper. Now mix in with the pasta, cook for a couple more minutes, and then serve hot. This is a great, rich flavor, and you’ll find that the chives help to really bring it out and improve the nutrition – whereas onion in this case would have been overpowering and might have ruined the creamy texture.
And that is how you use chive in your cooking.
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