8 3'-4'-long pieces Veal or Beef Marrow Bones
1 small bunch of fresh Flat-leaf Parsley, roughly chopped
4 small Shallots, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp fresh Lemon juice
1 Tbsp capers
Coarse ground Sea Salt
Freshly ground Black Pepper
8 thick slices of Sourdough Bread or French Baguette, toasted
Butter (optional), for the toast
Start by pre heating your oven for 450F/230C/GAS8.
Now grab your bones and a roasting tin with a bit of height. Stand the bones upright in the dish.
Tip #1: How to choose the best bones
Marrow bones can be cut to any length so ask your butcher for pieces cut from the centre of the leg bone, where the ratio of marrow to bone is highest.
The bones should be free of meat and should smell clean and faintly meaty. The marrow itself should be whitish pink in colour; don’t worry if you can see blood spots on the surface—that’s normal.
Tip #2: How to clean the bones
Sometimes the marrow is dotted with a few blood spots, it’s perfectly normal but if you want you can remove them by placing the bones in a bowl of ice water with 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt per 250ml of water. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, changing the water every 4 hours and replacing the salt each time.
Place the bones in the oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes till the marrow has puffed a bit, its warm and the bones are brown.
Tip #3: Check its cooked
The marrow should be fully heated up so insert a metal skewer in the centre and leave it for a few seconds; if it comes out hot your marrow is cooked.
Its time to make the simplest salad ever so chop up your parsley and finely slice the shallots. Grab a bowl and mix the parsley, onion, capers with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Also, pop your bread in the toaster till its nice and crunchy, spread a bit of butter if you wish.
Serve your bones with the salad and toast and supply your guests with two little bowls of salt and pepper so they can sprinkle as they go.
Serve with chips.
Enjoy.
Using all the bits
As it is well known I grew up in the Mediterranean where it is common to make full use of all the food we can. Sometimes that means that fish heads will be turned into soup as in the south of France; old bread will be mixed with tomato and herbs for another type of soup in the south of Portugal; or the leftover whey from cheese making will be reformed into the well known Italian Ricotta.
All of this to say that I am truly thrilled to see more and more attention has been paid to the issue of food waste. Cookery shows, books and chefs have dedicated time and effort into making the best use of our food, by bringing back traditional recipes and creating new innovative ones to tickle your fancy.
So I have decided to give a little help with making the best use of our food and, among other things, that means using as many parts of the animal as possible. That said, this month I’ll be making you a traditional French recipe that’s can be used as a starter or even for a light lunch. It’s cheap, easy and will blow your taste buds away… So get ready to make Roasted Bone Marrow or Os à Moelle, as the French like to call it.
Now before I get started I need to tell you why you should give this a try. First this is an easy and inexpensive part of the animal to get, just ask your local butcher and he’ll happily get them and cut them for you. But there’s more; it looks like marrow is pretty good for you as well as it contains a large amount of essential fatty acids including omega-3 (essential for the proper functioning of the brain), vitamins and minerals like calcium, iron and magnesium to name a few but maybe more importantly it is full of lipids (alkylglycerols) that are involved in the production of white blood cells, the body’s natural protection system.