Freshly chopped chives. Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman.
When I was working on the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook with Thomas Keller and Dave Cruz, they showed me this excellent method of chopping chives. Wrap a bundle of chives in a damp folded towel and then cut. It solves two problems: you don't crush them as you can when they rest flat on the board; and you don't wind up with long strings of half-cut chive where they knife didn't go all the way through. You end up with PERFECT chives. It's also cleaner generally. I love this technique.
If you liked this post, read:
- My past post on drying herbs from your garden.
- Spillover from the bacon photo: bake some cheddar, bacon, and chive biscuits.
- Anna Hewitt discusses making container herb gardens for those who lack space or are city dwellers.
- Making candied herbs shared by blogger Shuna Lydon of Eggbeater.
© 2013 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2013 Donna Turner Ruhlman. All rights reserved.
MR,
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I thought I was the only one who ended up with those long strings of half-cut chives. They've been one of my secret shames for years now. Thanks for the tip!
I was about to write the exact same comment. 🙂
Yeah, well, it also helps to have sharp knives... Speaking of which; could you do a post on what constitutes a good knife? Not sharpening them or what brand of knife necessarily, but what to look for that makes some knives better than others.
deserving of a full post.
Cook's Illustrated just did an article on what makes a good chef's knife.
A good way to store leftover delicate herbs too. Wrap the stems in a damp paper towel, keep in the refrigerator.
Let me give a shout out to a cheep brandy manhattan, works wonders, inexpensive, nothing pretentious.
Fridays need to come more often!
Great idea. Thanks! ~ Jonathan
Thanks for sharing my article about growing herbs. They really are easy to grown and I love being able pick fresh herbs right out my back door.
shhh...this is why it is going to be so hard to fast on Yom Kippur...shhhh...
I always cut chives with scissors.
i would think that would smash them. the idea with all herbs is to slice through them, unless youre grinding them
Interesting tip. Do you slide the towel back gradually as you progress along the chive stems?
yes.