Here in Portland, especially in our increasingly warm summers, we know that yeasty, vinegary smell whenever we go out to dump our compost in the bin the city provides. (Portland has had curbside composting since 2005 when the city developed the Portland Composts program that required city garbage companies to offer it.) Well, those intense olfactory experiences had me pondering how to make my own vinegar, especially since I've been learning about fermentation lately, and discovering how incredibly simple it is.

Looking up a few vinegar how-to websites made it even more of a slap-myself moment. Being the cautious sort, I decided to start small and see how it went, but since I'd just bought a few apples for pie, the supplies for a small batch—apple peels and cores—were readily at hand.

As with most fermentation projects, it takes patience. As in waiting a month until you know if your vinegar experiment has yielded a desirable result, which is the hardest part of the process (at least for me). Fortunately this one, when I strained out the solids, gave about a cup of pink-tinged, delicately apple-perfumed vinegar (top photo) that will be lovely sprinkled on soft lettuce salads or to give a light acidic touch to other dishes.

It gives me the courage to try again with a larger batch, maybe with another fruit or vegetable, so stay tuned!

Apple Vinegar

Quart wide-mouth jar
Peels and cores from four or five organic apples
2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 c. boiling water

Bring the water to a boil and stir in the sugar until dissolved.

Pack the jar 3/4 full of apple peels and cores and pour the sugar water over the top to fill the jar to the shoulders. Use a chopstick to poke the submerged apple peels and dislodge air bubbles. Refill the jar with more sugar water if necessary. The apple bits should stay submerged, so place a canning weight or smaller jar inside if necessary to hold them down.

Place a square of coffee filter or several layers of cheesecloth over the jar and secure with a rubber band or canning ring. Place in cool, dark place for one month, checking to make sure no mold is forming.

The contents may get cloudy or a SCOBY (vinegar mother) may form, but that's normal. Taste the vinegar after 4 weeks and, if it's to your liking, strain out solids, place a lid on it and store in refrigerator.

I planted chives in my garden a couple of years ago because I love the color and onion-y bite the chopped greens bring to green and grain salads, hot or cold vegetable dishes, eggs, or pasta. So when the purple pompoms of their blossoms started to appear, it seemed like there should be a better use for them than simply as a garnish, which would really only use a few of them. (I'm not a big garnish person, anyway, since most food I make around here disappears before I can "scatter artistically" as Martha Stewart might suggest.)

Doing a bit of research, I found suggestions for making infused vinegar and oil using the chive blossoms and stems which can then be used to make a vinaigrette for salads and vegetables. The vinegar picks up a gorgeous rhubarb-red tint from the blossoms, and the oil gains a light chive flavor from a mix of blossoms and chopped stems, which would be fabulous for dipping crusty bread, Italian-style, or drizzling over crostata or grilled fish. Our house vinaigrette recipe would be perfect using the oil and substituting the vinegar for the lemon juice.

Like most infusions, this is dead simple to prepare, requiring simply blending the chives with oil or vinegar and giving it a few days to infuse. Make enough and you can fill small jars to share with friends!

Chive Blossom Vinegar and Chive Oil

Clip blossoming chives near the base of the stem, trimming off brown or dried parts. Pick off blossoms. Chop stems into 1/2" lengths.

For vinegar, pack blossoms into pint jar (or jars, depending on how many blossoms you have and how much vinegar you'll use). Fill jar with vinegar to within 1/2" of top. I used white wine vinegar, but some recipes call for white vinegar, which to my taste would be too strong; others call for white balsamic vinegar. Seal with lid, but not too tightly, to allow vinegar to breathe. Store in cool, dark place for two weeks. Strain into clean jar(s) and seal with lid(s). Keep up to six months in a cupboard away from heat or light.

For oil, place chopped chives, a few blossoms and enough oil to cover in a blender. Blend on high until completely pulverized then add more oil to thin it. Pour into lidded container and place in refrigerator for four days. Bring to room temperature, strain through fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth into medium bowl or pint measuring cup, then pour strained oil into ice cube tray and freeze. Pop frozen cubes out of trays and place in zip-lock bag. Store in freezer and thaw as needed.