Martha’s Herb Salt

An old trick of Tuscan cooks is to prepare an aromatic salt ready to use for chicken, fish or grilled foods.

My recipe is:

One handful of fresh sage leaves in small pieces

Two handfuls of fresh rosemary leaves

Three handfuls of rock salt

2-3 chopped garlic cloves

Put everything in the mixer and chop with on-off pulses till you reach a grainy texture. It should not be too fine. Keep it in a tightly closed jar and use it instead of common salt for your roasts and your marinades. Excellent with newly pressed olive oil on toasted bread.

“Boffoli” with Casentino Chestnut Honey

Baked stuffed apples with honey

Cut apples in half length-wise and place them in an oven dish (Golden Delicious apples are fine for this recipe).

Remove the cores so that you can make room for this wonderful stuffing.

Chop together a few crushed cookies (Oatmeal or digestive), a small packet of almonds or chopped walnuts, or a mixture of both, a small package of natural raisins, previously washed and soaked. Add enough chestnut flower honey (or any other special honey) to the mixture until you have a rather solid, gooey mass. Use this to stuff the apples and add a little butter on top of each, and some on the bottom of the pan. Add about one inch of Tuscan Vinsanto or other sweet wine. Cook covered with foil at 180°C for about one hour or until soft. Baste every so often with the juices. During the last 10 minutes, remove foil to give a golden color to the apples. Be careful not to burn as this is very easily done. Serve lukewarm or at room temperature on their own, or with cream or plain ice cream.

Note: the word Boffoli is a word used exclusively in the upper valley of the Arno River, the Casentino. It was used to indicate plain baked apples. These were often sold in the streets, very hot, as a simple and reviving food.