It’s that time of year when we start turning to light lunches, though the weather (certainly here in England) doesn’t always suit a salad. Fortunately it is also that time of year when we can start raiding the herb garden for interesting additions to our diet.
Whether in the garden or a pot, chives are one of the easiest herbs you can grow. They can be snipped into dips, sandwiches or main course dishes for a bit of flavour, but most people miss out one of the best parts of the plant – the flowers! Not only do these pinky-purple gems make a splash of colour for your borders, they can add a delicious and decorative zest to salads or any dish where you might normally use spring onions.
This recipe is one of my favourites and I always try to make it a few times when the chives are flowering.
Chive Flower and Cheese Toasts
This should be enough for two people.
Ingredients:
- 3-4fresh chive flower heads (depending on size).
- A handful of fresh golden marjoram.
- 4 thick slices of nice bread (fresh granary is good).
- 110g (4oz) mature cheddar.
- 2 tablespoons of milk.
To start with, turn on the grill (that’s the broiler in N. America) to heat up. You’re also going to need to toast your bread (you can use a toaster, but you’ll still need the grill for later). It doesn’t need to be black, just lightly toasted. Meanwhile grate the cheese and put it into a bowl.
Next, roughly chop the marjoram and add that — I like the golden variety as it looks good with the purple chive flowers, but normal marjoram or even oregano will do; they all taste fairly similar.
Take each chive flower head, pinch out the central stalk and drop the florets into bowl as well. Finally, add the milk and give it a quick mix up with a fork. Try to get the milk into the cheese, but don’t go so far as to turn it into a mush.
Now to get the mix onto the toast. Take a slice and, holding it over the bowl of mixture, use a butter knife to smear a dollop onto a corner. Keep adding dollops until the slice is covered. Do the same with the rest of the slices. You can always go back to fill gaps with any remaining mix.
They should look pretty enough as it is, but get them under the grill (broil) to finish it off. Grill until the cheese melts and then gets some nice brown toasty spots on top. It will only take a few minutes, so keep an eye on it. Serve straight away with a chive flower or sprig of marjoram on the side of the plate for decoration.
