PrintAdvice for beef marrow bones?
I went to the butcher today and bought a couple pounds of beef marrow bones, to roast as Fergus Henderson does for his "Stonehenge" dish. The bones are served with toast and a parsley lemon salad. The recipe can be found on the NYTimes website, here.
So I did as directed, getting the beef marrow bones cut into 3 inch lengths. I roasted them, made a salad, and then ate them with some toast. They were pretty good. However, the marrow seemed to be more fat than marrow. It was mostly white with a few streaks of what I expected to have more of, the brown marrowy stuff.
I was expecting much more of the latter, as the brown marrowy stuff had much more flavor than the white fatty stuff. Is that the normal proportion, or did I get some bunk bones, should I have asked the butcher for something else?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I feel like this could have been extremely delicious, but it fell a little short of the decadent intense beefy marrowy flavor I was hoping for.
Thanks!
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8 Comments:
IMO, the best marrow comes from shank bones. I mean to tell you - a bounty of richness. Lamb shanks, veal shanks (osso buco) you name it. You can't beat shank. I generally don't do bones by themselves for eating - only for stock. I treat myself to the marrow after finishing the shank and the marrow is the crowning morsel. I've never roasted bones separately.
chiff0nade at 9:10PM on 02/01/08
chiff, check out this video:
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=9d43985b7985d1518c714429046f44b9ff5d13ac
It's really a great idea, and I can imagine what it's supposed to taste like because it was pretty good, just not as good as it should have been... I would love to try it with shank bones, but since they are usually sold with the meat attached, it makes it much more complicated than just roasting up some bones. I guess I could butterfly the meat off the bone, and saw up the bones myself with a hacksaw and freeze them for later use... It would probably be pretty great with lamb shank bones.
Somehow though, i feel like they (Bittman and Henderson) aren't telling us the whole story.
seyo at 12:08AM on 02/02/08
If and when I am able to obtain decent Beef Shank Bones, I always extract the Marrow by pushing it out, then soak it for at least 24 hours in cold water changing it 5/6 times to extraxt any blood.
I then slice the Marrow about 1/4 inch thick, place on pre-toasted good French Bread, sprinkle with liquified Coleman's English Mustard, a bit of Sea Salt and broil.
kanopemainer at 8:22AM on 02/02/08
wow! that sounds GREAT!
seyo at 10:37AM on 02/02/08
I feel like I read something recently that bones of younger animals have more marrow than those of older ones (so in this case — and in that Fergus Henderson recipe — it would be better to use veal bones)
cmballa at 6:09PM on 02/04/08
I push marrow out of shank bones until I have about 1/3 cup lightly packed, then I render it, mix it with an egg, about a cup of very fine dry breadcrumbs, some grated onion and minced parsley. I then roll this into small dumplings which I cook in homemade beef broth. This is what I always crave when I am beginning to feel like eating after being sick. It was all I could keep down for about a month of my last pregnancy (aged 40!). This soup cures hangovers, too.
dksbook at 10:44PM on 02/04/08
Try it again (after your cholesterol restabilizes itself, of course) with veal bones. Makes all the difference in the world.
And forget toast -- try your hand at a loaf of no-knead bread (or any homemade bread, for that matter), and you've got the perfect vehicle for that marrowy goodness. The bread is dense enough to hold up to the marrow, yet allows it to absorb the salad liquid.
Heaven. On. A. Plate.
sheldel at 5:26PM on 02/05/08
veal shank bones are the best for this, make sure it is that and not knuckle or leg bones (they come from up the animal) before you buy them you can see the amount of fat in them... although lamb is a rich hearty alternative. I like to serve with cold boiled potaoes sprinkled with sea salt, little cornichons, a hearty black bread, and a plate of radishes and sweet cream butter.
Lemoyne at 6:38PM on 02/05/08