Chive blossom vinegar
Chive blossoms turn the vinegar pink after just a few hours, and develops a strong flavor in days. Use it in place of shallots for easy salad dressing.
Servings: 1 cups
Calories:
Equipment
- Mason jar with plastic or stainless steel lid or cover with plastic and a rubber band
Ingredients
- ½ to 1 cup Chive blossoms
- 1.5 cups white wine or champagne vinegar (a clear vinegar you'd use to make salad dressings with)
Instructions
Wash chive blossoms
- Dunk chive blossoms in water to remove bugs and dirt, shake dry (they can be wet, just not dripping wet)
Infuse for 24 hours to several weeks
- Put the chive blossoms in a glass jar and pour the vinegar over the top.
- Cover the jar and let sit for at least 3-7 days (ideal length of time for flavor). The color turns bright pink in a few hours and stops gaining color after about 1 day. The flavor gets more intense the longer it sits. You can leave it for a few weeks if you want.
Strain & store
- Strain: use a cheese cloth or coffee filter to strain the chive blossom vinegar. It will remove seeds and sediment.
- Store in a cool-dark place for 2-3 months or refrigerated for 6-8 months. Check for signs of spoilage - if it bubbles it is fermenting and it should be thrown away because some of the organisms that cause fermenting are bad, and you don't know if you have good or bad ones! If it's moldy, slimy, or cloudy, also throw it away.
Notes
Don't use metal containers or lids unless they are stainless steel. Most metals will react with the vinegar and give it an off taste. Mason jar lids are stainless steel.
Chive blossoms: I've used as little as 10 blossoms per pint jar of vinegar. It's still enough to turn it a pretty pink color and add a chive flavor. The more flowers you have, the more intense the color, up to a point.
Safety: washing flowers in water is good enough and there's no need to heat the vinegar according to OSU extension office answers to my question.
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