Chives are a great addition to many meals. They have a flavor similar to a green onion. They can be eaten fresh, sautéed, or just mixed into dishes and baked. Chives are perennials, which means they will come back year after year. In Kansas, if you start the seeds outside, you may not have a very good crop the first year, but they will come back with a vengeance next year! You can also start them inside late winter and get a good start on them. They prefer full sun, so when you do move them outside, give them a space to grow that gets all the sun!
They also have beautiful lavender-colored blossoms! So, even if you do not have a big space for a garden, you can put them in a planter or pot outside as a little curb appeal! These flowers are not only beautiful, they are EDIBLE (and delicious!)
Honestly, they taste almost exactly like the stems do, with just the slightest floral hint. Which adds a really interesting and visually pleasing look to almost any dish!
So being the newest garden obsessed millennial, last year I taught myself how to can! I say "taught myself" but that isn't really fair. My parent's have been canning and freezing our vegetables even before I can remember. I had helped them and watched them for years, but last year was the first time I had done it by myself! #adulting
Long story short, I saw a Better Homes & Gardens magazine title "CAN IT! FREEZE IT!" so of course I had to get my hands on it! It is chockfull of new recipes that I had never even thought to try. One was making flavored butters. Did you know that you can freeze butter? Well, you can! When you add things like chives to it, it shortens the safe time to freeze it, but I think it's worth it.
This recipe, or really any recipe involving seasoned butter (with fresh ingredients) can be frozen for up to 3 months or refrigerated for up to 2 weeks (according to BHG). The recipe I adapted this from originally included fresh chopped dill and freshly cracked black pepper! I am sure it is delicious, but I did not have any fresh dill, so I made my own!
You could really make almost any kind of seasoned butter (and I plan to make more down the road). One of the recipes BHG suggested include a cilantro jalapeño butter! Sounds delicious, right? I will try that one when all of the ingredients are popping up in my garden! Stay tuned.
Enough chit-chat! Let's get to the recipe! First thing you want to do is soften the butter to room temperature. Just leave it on the counter in a covered bowl. Once it is soft enough, rinse the chives and blossoms. Cut the chives and chive blossoms. I would suggest not using the stems of the blossoms, they are a little bit tougher than the other stems.
Once you have them chopped up, just mix them into the butter until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.
The recipe (and most butter recipes I have seen) recommend rolling the butter in plastic wrap, into kind of a log. From there, you can wrap it again in foil and refrigerate or freeze it. Again, because I am ridiculous, I do not have plastic wrap. What can I say?
I do have a FoodSaver, though!!! I thought, "what is going to be the easiest way to use a little at a time?" Then I thought of those pretty butter roses I had at this wedding I photographed and thought, I need a mold! I happen to have a little silicon ice tray that worked like a charm. I just filled up the ice tray with the room temp butter and placed it in a ziplock bag for about an hour. Once they were solid, I popped them out of the mold and got them ready to really freeze.
And with a push of a button, WAH-LAH! Make sure you date the bag!
Here is the recipe:
Chive Blossom Butter
Ingredients
1 lb of salted butter, softened to room temperature
4-6 tbsp chopped chives and chive blossoms
(optional) Pinch of sea salt
1. Mix all of the ingredients until they are completely incorporated. That is literally it. Easiest recipe you have ever read.
Tips:
You can keep the butter in a tub in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. You can freeze it for up to 3 months.
Use the butter on anything! Maybe just a slice of toast, some cornbread, or use it in your next recipe that calls for something sautéed in butter.
Send me your pictures on Instagram and tell me how it turns out! Cheers!