Bones

I realize there is a fair bit of irony in a former vegan getting excited about cooking (and subsequently eating) bone marrow, but nonetheless, here we are. This all started with my quest to find a substantial bone/chew-toy for Olive, our pit bull/shepherd mix, who seems to be able to dismantle any store-bought rawhide or other chew item within a matter of minutes. I remembered my mom always giving my childhood dog the bone from a large roundsteak she'd cook up and he always loved it. He was a much smaller dog than Olive though, who would probably swallow one of those roundsteak bones whole. In the process, I've seen and read things on how roasted bone marrow, though it's fatty and can be a challenging (gelatinous) texture, is truly delicious. So I decided to try and please both man and beast in a single culinary act. Olive was, of course, very happy with my decision to attempt this.

I'd seen the episode of No Reservations where Tony Bourdain and company drool over the roasted bone marrow on toast at Prune in NYC. Though I'm sure my preparation was far less glamorous, I consulted various internet sources and my trusty Joy of Cooking, all of which basically suggested to wash, dry, salt & pepper, roast and enjoy. Unfortunately, I overlooked the serving vehicle since I was too excited over just getting the bones themselves. Since the chances of finding decent bread in my town at the unreasonable hour I was preparing this were slim, I had to opt for the multi-grain sandwich loaf I'd bought a day earlier. I figured the bread was not to be the star of this effort anyway, so it shouldn't matter too much, especially on this marrow maiden journey. I essentially took the bones from the package, rinsed them, added some kosher salt and cracked pepper, then roasted at 300 for an hour. Admittedly, the result was a bit underwhelming. I was left with a far greater volume of liquid fat than spreadable marrow. If I have to go into failure analysis, I would list the following as possible contributors:

• I am a lousy cook
• Poor quality bones/marrow
• Excessive cooking time/temperature
• I am a lousy cook
  

Then, there is always the possibility that the "hype" behind this really just led me to believe I would end up with a far different product than I did. Maybe as the father of a two-year old, I just consume way too many fish sticks and toasted ravioli, and maybe my palate isn't what it should be to appreciate the finer, more subtle tastes such as this. Or maybe marrow is marrow and some people just really get off on digging fat and gelatin out of animal bones. This first draft really just netted me a little bit of beef flavored jelly on toast, with a lot of liquid fat I can use later in a sauce or other application. All things considered, it was pretty tasty. My colon-blow whole grain bread had a pretty strong overtone, so that was likely a contributor as well. A more neutral white(r) bread may have let the marrow shine a bit more. I got really excited about eating, so the after photo has a bite out of it......Olive is asleep at this point, but she's going to have quite a treat in the morning.