Green and lean and long and lovely, chives are one of the quartet which are assembled to make fines herbes. But, on their own, that subtle onion scent has also made them the perfect partner for eggs, potatoes - and tomatoes, in which guise I commend them in the following recipe. This is a refreshing and clever idea from a book by Diane Rossen Worthington, The Cuisine Of California, which was first published in 1983 and can now be found in an edition by Chronicle Books, of San Francisco. We served this with some fried hake recently, and the sweet hit of the tomatoes balanced by the chives was a perfect companion to the fleshy fish.
Sauteed Baby Tomatoes For chive butter:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 2 tablespoons chopped chives 1/4
teaspoon salt 1/8
teaspoon finely ground pepper 24 cherry tomatoes Salt and pepper to taste
For garnish: 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
For the chive butter: cream butter until very smooth. Stir in chives, salt, and pepper. Taste for seasoning.
In a large saucepan, bring water to boil. Immerse tomatoes in water for 10 seconds. Drain and remove skins.
In a large skillet, heat chive butter until foaming. Add tomatoes and sautee for about two minutes, or until warmed. To be sure that tomatoes are evenly cooked, continuously roll them around pan by jerking skillet handle back and forth.
Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer tomatoes to a serving dish. Add chive butter from pan and mix gently.
Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.