05/04/07 Spring Chives

Spring Chives and Wine Welcome to Vine to Wine I'm your host Linda Moran and today we are going to talk about chives and the wines that go well with them. Spring in my garden always brings on the chives! And I look forward to those couple of weeks. Chives, those long, thin, dark green leaves  mildest of the onion family with a fluffy purple flower. The flowers are gorgeous and edible, just separate all of the individual flowers and sprinkle them lightly on just about anything. Chives have a tangy sometimes slightly hot taste and they are absolutely at their best when served raw. So if you are cooking with them be sure to add them as the very last ingredient before serving. Chives are really fabulous as a flavorful garnish. Use them in potato salads, green salads, soups, omelets and along with cheese and bread. Chives make a great compound butter; just chop them up and whip them into softened butter. Refrigerate it and then slice it and use it to top fish, chicken, beef or vegetables. Because they have a milder flavor they seem to go well with Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion. If you are serving grilled meat or asparagus with chive butter it is, believe it or not, very good with Zinfandel. So stop overlooking that clump of chives and use it to enhance your springtime dinners. They won't be there for long. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.