What to do with surplus chives?

The chive flowers are pretty much gone by--I used a lot of them in salads and infused some rice vinegar with them. Now the chives are getting to that woody stage and falling over under their own weight on top of my other herbs. Any ideas for using a LOT of chives? I will probably chop and freeze some but that will account for about one percent of my supply.

LisaD
  • Posted by: LisaD
  • June 29, 2016
  • 4192 views
  • 11 Comments

11 Comments

Picholine July 1, 2016
You can cut back your chives and there will be re growth
 
LisaD June 30, 2016
Thanks, all! Some are going to be frozen and many will go into a vichyssoise this weekend. Any favorite recipes for that? I'm not wild about the options here. (One has flour added and one has red potatoes, which I have tried in a pureed soup with disastrous, grainy results.)
 
Nancy June 30, 2016
I swear by Julia Child's recipe for Potage Parmentier, which can be served hot or cold. The only thing I would change (heresy?!) is she calls for russet potatoes, which I think are better for roasting. Any good boiling potato - red, white, Yukon gold - would be better.
From Mastering the Art of French Cooking (later called Vol 1).
http://www.popsugar.com/food/Julia-Child-Potato-Leek-Soup-Recipe-24339863
 
louisez June 29, 2016
Use in biscuits, or along with cheddar in biscuits.
 
HalfPint June 29, 2016
This is good Vietnamese home cooking: Chive & Tofu soup

- take a handful of chives (rinsed clean), cut into 1" pieces. About 2-3 cups loosely packed
- in a med-large pot, heat 1tb oil and sauté 4 oz of ground beef until cooked
- add about 4-5 cups water and chives
- bring to a boil and add soft (not silken) tofu cubes, 8-12 oz. simmer until tofu is heated through. Take off heat.
- season with salt or fish sauce (nuoc mam) and freshly grated black pepper.
- serve with hot cooked rice.
 
HalfPint June 29, 2016
Treat the chives like a vegetable. Use it in stir fries, soups, etc. I'll best it can be used in garlic noodles
 
Nancy June 29, 2016
In addition to good ideas so far-
Omelet or frittata
Roasted with garlic and leek
En papillote (largely but not only for fish)
If not too woody, mix with lots of othe leafy herbs for a green salad without lettuce
Anywhere you'd use regular onion, wh egg salad sandwich
Green goddess dressing
 
pierino June 29, 2016
Potato and chive soup came to my mind as well. It can be served cold like vichyssoise.
 
Windischgirl June 29, 2016
Don't need to chop first before freezing! Simply place the chives in a neat bunch and wrap tightly with plastic wrap or foil and freeze. You can then cut them with kitchen shears directly into your Dish, or chop just what you need on a cutting board.
I'd gladly take some of your chives! How about a cold potato-chive soup? Or add them to quick pickles. Use anywhere you would use any other herb.
I use chives in place of onions because I can't digest onions but sometimes the oniony flavor is desirable.
 
PHIL June 29, 2016
why not make a compound butter? Also, chive pesto will use up a lot and you can freeze the pesto in an ice cube tray and then put them in a zip lock so you have it already portioned. I do that with basil pesto and chimichurri.
 
ChefJune June 29, 2016
that's what I was going to suggest, too. Bear in mind those chives will recreate themselves, so using them now won't solve your problem for the whole summer.
 
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