Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Is This Legal?

The kitchen smelled like Christmas today. Yorkshire pudding, roast beef... But it was just bones.
Marrow bones.
Oh. My. Gah.
This is the kind of meal you think you can only get in a restaurant. And here we were, feasting on cholesterol of the highest order.
Thanks to Marin Sun Farms for selling the marrow bones at the Sunday farmers market. I hadn't seen them there before, and when we asked the vendor if they were a common market item, she said, "Oh, no. Usually the restaurants snap them up."
Well.
I had some snapping to do.
Thanks to Fergus Henderson's recipe for roasting marrow bones (450ยบ for 20 minutes), and his tasty parsley-shallot salad, we had an amazingly easy lunch of such high caliber, Cranky and I are still licking animal fat off our wrists, and moaning.
Toast is required. So you know.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those look yummy, but I can't think how you managed it today... I've been wilting in the heat. My lunch was an ice cream sandwich, and I might have another for dinner!

Anonymous said...

Mmmm. Meat butter. I love that stuff more than is prudent, healthy, or can be decently described in public.

I did marrow bones for the Becks&Posh Fish & Quips event, and used Ferg's recipe. I begged Prather for bones, but no-go. I had to resort to Golden Gate, where a very friendly young man fired up the band saw for me. What a wonderful sound.

I still have three lovely hanks of bone in the freezer just waiting for a good excuse.

Dagny said...

Oh please don't let my mother learn about marrow bones. She already takes too much pleasure from sucking on neck bones. (She swears that you are missing out on the good stuff out the best part of them unless you do this.)

Anonymous said...

1)I am assuming your new house has air conditioning.
2) I am hoping you and Crankie are licking the marrow fat off one another's wrists!
Way to go.

cookiecrumb said...

Jennifer: I know it was hot today, but we've moved to a hilltop. Open a few windows and breeze does the trick. Still... Ice cream sandwich? I want one.

Cameron: We call it bone goo. Meat butter is a much nicer term. Golden Gate is a very good place to defer to.
It came out so good: the bones get really hot in the oven, so the first one you dig into is crumbly and tender... then the second is all set up and jelled, from the heat of its tube. Sliceable, actually. Don't let your bones go to waste.

Dagny: Isn't that evil? She'd adore them.

Kudzu: So far, no need for AC. Might have to get an attic fan eventually, but, man, we are sweet here.
As for mutual licking, none of your business. :D

Barbara said...

I made these ones. When I asked the butcher for them he went to the dog meat chiller and grabbed a bone and sawed it into pieces for me. Delicious aren't they.

Ms Brown Mouse said...

Did you share with the bean sprout though?

Kevin said...

Oh, jeez.{wiping drool off keyboard}

El said...

I'm veg now, but I certainly remember picking up a hock and giving it a deep suck. Snail shells, too. Boy. Are you sure this isn't a porn site?

Tea said...

Porn, indeed!

I'm with Jennifer--don't know if I could stomach it in hot weather. Glad you're feeling breezy enough to get frisky with dem bones:-)

tammy said...

Sweet mother of marrow.

Katie Zeller said...

Just reaffirms my status as carnivore - actually, I should say omnivore....

Anonymous said...

This might be too revealing of my own carnivorous nature, but have you tried deep frying the marrow?


Stay with me...

You put the bones in a bowl of ice water to let them firm up, then push the marrow out of the bowl. Pat dry (and I mean DRY) and dust with cornstarch. Meanwhile, you've heated a few inches of peanut oil to 375 degrees. Put the marrow in the oil ever so gently and fry until they're golden brown. Drain on paper bags and try not to burn your tongue when you devour them.

Anonymous said...

I should lend you my great grandmother's silver marrow spoons - yes, there really is such a utensil. I hope you shared with Bean Sprout; I imagine him dancing in place beside the table.

cookiecrumb said...

Barbara: No, too good for dogs! Wow. Nice that you can get them, though. They're just a bit of a rarity for me. Well, I suppose I could shop harder. ;)

DMM: I often give Bean Sprout little unexpected treats from the table. We've taught him not to beg, so once in a while a freebie is much appreciated... But. No bone marrow, not for dogs!

Kevin: We had to wipe much more than drool.

El: Truly, it felt a teensy bit wicked.

Tea: Yeah, I'm busted for X-rated food. I can't imagine how come Cranky and I weren't boiling hot yesterday; it got up to 99. Our house is cool.

Tammy: Meow! Purr.

Katie: Good. Nice to hear that. I'm an occasional meat eater myself, and it's always the humane, sustainable stuff... And when it is, pow!

Nelson_Lamp: Get OUT of here!!!! Too much. I wouldn't trust myself to get it right; I once melted several slices of raw foie gras. Wow.

Pam: Oh, I've heard of those spoons. I'll take a guess and say they're a bit like grapefruit spoons? And no, no marrow for Bean Sprout! Heh.

Anonymous said...

They are as specialized as grapefruit spoons but a different shape with a long,narrow bowl on one end and some kind of flat do-dah on the other end so you don't miss a thing! :-) Here's a link: http://www.shirleypewtershop.com/6406060.html. These are similar to Sarita's.

Monkey Gland said...

Did you get the wet salt?? Oh man you gotta have the wet salt....drooool

cookiecrumb said...

Thanks, Pam, I'll check it out.

Monkey Gland: Oops. Forgot about the wet salt. We used crunchy crystals of fleur de sel. Wet salt... must investigate.