Roasted Marrow Bones
If you’re an unabashed carnivore like me, you just haven’t lived until you’ve had roasted marrow bones.
Roasted marrow bones are a simple, delicious treat that’s surprisingly easy to make at home. Just roast the bones, then scoop the marrow out, spread it on toast, and top it with a little parsley salad. Voila: Instant carnivorous bliss.
Roasted marrow Bones: Love ‘em or hate ‘em?
“Ew, Mouse. Scoop out the marrow? As in, the stuff INSIDE the bones? Gross.”
Yep, yep. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But if it’s yours, man oh man: The whole thing is a sumptuous, decadent, and unarguably meaty experience. I absolutely love the stuff.
Roasted marrow bones got a good mention on the recent Meat-Fest episode of Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate—which is what prompted me to beat a hasty path to the nearest meat counter.
Even if you don’t like the show, this episode is worth watching if you can catch it. They featured some absurdly mouthwatering stuff. (I’m talking whole roasted beasts, etc.)
Here’s my obligatory disclaimer, because I know someone is going to give me grief: Like many delicious things, this ain’t the healthiest thing in the world. So just don’t indulge every night, OK?
About marrow bones
Roasted marrow bones aren’t widely consumed in the States (though who knows, maybe that’s changing), but they’re considered a delicacy overseas. Mostly fat with a little bit of protein, the bones are most commonly roasted or poached.
I’ve had my eye on this book for a while. (Anyone have it? What do you think?)
If you’re committed to eating marrow like a pro, you could even get yourself a couple of marrow spoons—long, thin spoons that look like something a cheesemaker would use to take a core sample out of wheel of cheddar as it ages. (If you’d rather forgo the pomp and circumstance, a slender spoon or thin knife will totally do the job, as well.)
Marrow spoon
I know a lot of folks who have never done this, so here’s how to make Fergus Henderson’s roasted marrow bones.
Who is Fergus Henderson?
Henderson is the chef owner at St. John restaurant in London. Anthony Bourdain counts him as his favorite food person (and bone marrow among his favorite comfort foods, go figure).
Wonder why? Have a look at Henderson roast some bones with Mark Bittman.
Henderson is also the author of The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating, a book which hinges on the philosophy of eating the whole animal—trotters, tripe, and all.
(Can you see why I loved him instantly? For further evidence, have a peek at his other book, Beyond Nose to Tail.)
Shopping for marrow bones
For this recipe, use beef marrow bones, or veal marrow bones if you can get your paws on them. A lot of major grocers will carry them. If you can’t find them, hit up a Whole Foods or butcher shop and talk to the folks behind the meat counter.
Here are the four I got.
Some bones may be dotted with a little blood. (Hey, they’re bones.) That’s just fine. If it bothers you, you can push the marrow out, and soak it overnight in cold water, changing the water a few times. Henderson didn’t mention doing this, so I didn’t bother.
What kind of bread is best for marrow on toast?
Use a good, crusty loaf of French bread.
Slice it on the thin side and toast it lightly.
The short version of this recipe
Roast. Spread. Inhale.
Read on for slightly more detailed instructions—with photos.
Roasted Marrow Bones
Adapted from Fergus Henderson’s recipe
4 center-cut beef or veal marrow bones, about 3 inches long (mine were about 5 inches long, so I roasted them a little longer)
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1 shallots, thinly sliced
1 tsp. capers
1 Tbls. olive oil
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
kosher salt, to taste
Thick slices of crusty bread, toasted
Serves about 4
Roast about 20 minutes
Roast the marrow bones
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Grab your marrow bones.
Stand them up on end in a baking dish. They’re going to ooze a little from the bottom as they cook, so choose a dish that has a little depth to it. I used a glass 8 x 8 pan.
Most bones will have one end that’s a little wider. Put that end on the bottom, so they’re less likely to tip over when you move your pan.
When your oven’s up to temp, pop the pan in.
Roast at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the marrow is soft and the bones are brown.
Make the parsley salad
Chop up your parsley.
Peel your shallot and slice it thinly.
Toss the chopped parsley, shallot, and capers into a bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste.
Mix with a fork to combine the ingredients.
Take the marrow bones out of the oven
When the bones are done, they’ll look about like this.
Mmmmm….
Spread the marrow on the toast
At this point, your counter probably looks like this.
Have at it! Scoop out a little marrow.
Spread it on a piece of toast. Top with a little parsley salad.
Enjoy!
Have you had roasted marrow bones?
Did you like them? If you haven’t, would you try them? Leave a comment and let me know!
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64 Comments
Yep I’ve roasted marrow. A few times. Personally I love it. The boyfriend tried it and had stated he would like it w/ more condiments….I just roasted and used the basic salt/pepper thing.
yup !!! love them …. we even use them for soup …. not the healthiest too…
I don’t know where that idea came from. Marrow bones are extremely healthy for you, contain so many fat soluble vitamins, plus minerals, gelatin and wholesome cholesterol and fat to keep you strong and healthy. Human beings have thrived on such foods for thousands of years. Perhaps recently in the past few generations, it has been marketed into our minds that we are better off consuming an industrial era invention of oils. Check out Nourishing Traditions or similar. Enjoy!
Isn’t it funny how as a young girl this was so readily available to our mothers for using in making soups and stock, then disappeared, and now has returned… Such a lovely post/site, and of course a’marrowing tasty lesson!
You just gave me an idea for a paring on my new website http://www.partnersinwineclub.com
Love it!
Elizabeth
Oh man, I am so glad I wasn’t the only one absolutely swooning during that episode of TBTIEA. Particularly Chris Cosentino’s Leg of Beast meal at Incanto. I mean, really! That shank looked amazing anyway, and then, well then there were the marrow bones. Yummmm…
The salad topper looks so delicious! Especially on top of the fatty marrow. I am quite thinking of getting some small beef shanks, with heavy-on-the-marrow bones. I figure I can roast them up, have the marrow on toast with the condiment and then also have some meat. I think I see a weekend project emerging!
Wow! I will be keeping this one in my back pocket for after Easter, I gave up all red meat for Lenten season. But these roasted beef marrow bones look fabulous.
CCR
=:~)
I had this at St John’s and love it! ahh, I have to go back for more!
okay I just learned something totally new today, I seriously have never heard of roasting marrow bones. I’ve seen them chucked out into the garbage and I always thought they looked gross. After seeing how you created a spread out of it, I have to say this is something I’d be willing to try. definitely putting this on my “must experiment” list
Haven’t tried this, but I need to. Seems so primal and decadent at the same time.
Thanks for this! I have the Bones cookbook (to answer your question — I really like it!) and she insists it’s absolutely necessary to soak the marrow bones first. I have been dying to get Henderson’s book(s) — it’s on my wishlist (hopefully someone will buy it for me). I see you say Henderson’s recipe doesn’t mention the soaking — and it sounds like you didn’t do any soaking either. There have been a couple of times I’ve thought, “hey, i’ll roast marrow bones” and I’ve forgotten to pre-soak and then just didn’t make them. Looks like it turned out fine for you without soaking, which definitely boosts the chance I’ll do this the next time I want to indulge.
OH YES! This is so good on toast with salt and pepper.
Very evil but delicious
I need to find me some marrow bones. I love marrow. I love Fergus Henderson! I’m drooling at your photos right now.
Get thee to a Lucky’s store or go to a butcher’s shop… Yellow Pages of the Phonebook.
Find the marrow pipes in the Hispanic meat section of the largest grocery store.
Just had some this evening and am basking in an unctuous glow.
This was a very informative post! I just bought some beef leg bones from my local asian market.
This looks wonderful. I plan on trying this in the next week. Thanks for the recipe. I love your site!
There is a chapter in “It Must Have Been Something I Ate” by Jeffery Steingarten all about roasted marrow bones! I seem to remember that he has the butcher cut his in 1/2 length-wise. That seems like an even better way to roast so that more of it gets browned and tastie! I think I’m working up the nerve to give it a try! Thanks for the step by step!
When I was a child there were dishes that were beloved by my siblings and me that were budget stretchers for my mother. We loved not only the food but the story of living on a seaside farm in Ireland and having these dishes as part of a thousand year culinary heritage. In the winter she would roast long beef bones and we would eat the roasted marrow over colcannon (mashed potatos with onion and cabbage) or on fresh baked bread. In summer we would go to the coast of New Hampshire and harvest periwinkles and dulse. Home we’d go to my grandmother’s to eat the boiled periwinkle dunked in melted butter, onions and garlic, with new boiled potatos.
We thought of it as eating old-school heritage treats; urban kids eating peasant food. Little did I know we were gourmands in training.
So glad to hear in your Christmas letter that you are so much healthier these days!!! What a blessing! I’d love to get together, when the weather is safe and all the cold and flu bugs have gone back into hibernation! I think of you often, and would enjoy reconnecting in person. Fondly, Mary Martha
I’ve had marrow bones, lamb and beef both. I have never soaked them before.
I read about roasted marrow bones years ago, but never fixed them at home. For a long time, I looked for antique silver marrow spoons in the States. Couldn’t find them. On a trip to England, I finally found a pair of silver plate spoons at the Portobello Road market in London. I have used them for scooping the marrow from lamb shanks in oso bucco, but that’s all.
I copied Fergus Henderson’s recipe from the internet a couple of years ago. Now I am DEFINITELY going to make them SOON.
Yum! I just made them tonight for the first time!
No one should feel guilty about eating them, though- in case you haven’t heard, saturated fat is being de-vilified. It doesn’t cause heart disease like we’ve been told and it doesn’t make you fat. It’s the processed carbs that do both of those things. There is a great NY Times article called “What If It’s All Been A Big Fat Lie?” by Gary Taubes that is worth reading.
So, roast those marrow bones and eat them without guilt!
Am fascinated with marrow–was part of my mother’s cooking.
Nonetheless the controversy over the health of this has been electric.
Don’t hesitate to google the fat story in the NYT and then follow out the ensuing vitriol that Taube had to deal with.
My take on where to get the bones is simple, go to a grocery store which specializes in “ethnic” foods: Asian, Hispanic markets or meat departments which have substantial Asian and or Hispanic clientele in the “mainstream” grocery stores.
Hi! I have been wanting to try this out since I saw Anthony Bourdain get into it on No Reservations ~ Finally did it tonight and it was tasty but my marrow bones came from beef knuckles, I believe. What part of the bone is yours from here? I think you got more bang for your buck. Tasty recipe, by the way!
Great treat…and the dogs LOVE the left over bones!!
When we were little my mom always saved the lamb chop bones for marrow – it was always the extra treat. Haven’t had that in years and just today my local market had a big stack of marrow bones. Glad to find this recipe – YUM!
I’ve had roasted bone marrow at restaurants and LOVE it. I’m finally going to give it a try at home. Does anyone know how long the marrow bones will stay good in the refrigerator before they are cooked? Thanks!
Hubby and I have been wanting to try these forever! I remember scooping the marrow out of bones when I was a little girl and spreading it on my dinner roll, which had already been buttered…heaven! LOL. So we’re doing them tonight with athe parsley/shallot/caper salad and I can’t wait!
Had them recently, but all I can get at Stop & Shop are bones that are in 2# pieces, AND they cost twice as much as the ones you got!
AND Right on to Erin’s post of April of last year-fat is good for you-just cut out the carbs. (which makes it too bad about the bread with the marrow. Well, maybe just this once….
If you grew up in a kosher home odds are you had your share of shoulder roasts which had marrow bones as the accent. At an early age I was introduced to their sublime flavor, maybe only rivaled by fois gras. I’m so glad to see more people in this country are appreciating them. They even appeared on a restaurant’s menu here in Dallas!
Fun fact, unlike almost all other animal fats, marrow fat is monounsaturated, like olive oil! Bone marrow is good for you!
Great recipe! THank you for sharing
I am thinking of cooking them on the BBQ in a pan with wet Rosemary on the coals. Yummmm!
My mother used to cook this when I was a child in Copenhagen. She poached the bones in a lot of water and tied the bones with gauze to keep the marrow inside. Then we ate the marrow spread on dark dense rye bread and sprinkled with coarse salt. It was war time, and it was an unbelievable treat! Whenever I can find a marrow bone, I get all excited and try to repeat the feast. I think baking the bones may be an improvement, and it’s certainly easier to skip the gauze (here I used cheesecloth). Unfortunately, many meat departments do not get in the whole animals but just the popular cuts, and it is really hard to find the bones nowadays. When I was in France, the bones were served wrapped in white cloth napkins. But they tasked the same.
I want to make a heretical suggestion. Bread and dripping can taste almost as good if you are careful about saving the right part of the dripping with lots of concentrated meaty flavor. Maybe if you put the dripping in a small ramekin and served it with the same carefully prepared toast and the great parsley salad, you would have an acceptable appetizer.
Try rosted marrow spread in a tortilla with double salt on top. Terrific!!!
Traditional dish in Norway where my wife is from. She introduced them to me when we were married and I have loved them ever since.
Interesting thing about getting the bones, many years ago you could go to the store and ask for marrow bones and the butcher would pretty much give them to you, or just charge a few cents a pound. Now, they are usually at least a couple of dollars a pound or more.
just made it and it was great!
Roasting now!
Just made this tonight – used arugula instead of parsley… just yummy! We had some very good organic whole wheat sourdough bread to use and that helped. But if you like marrow, it’s a winner.
As a fellow NE’nder, loved the Stop and Shop label!! Giving it a whirl soon, along with the Oxtail Marmalade, should be a meat lover’s dream!!
Ever since Anthony said it was his death row meal, my husband and I have been roasting them. We do beef bones. Sometimes it does not even need the salad. Just a nice bread, roasted bones, and sea salt. This is what we are having for our October 1st 2011 lunch today.
I buy my marrow bones at the Korean market, already cut into 3-4 inch lengths and ready to go!
I had my first taste of marrow with osso bucco that my grandmother made many years ago. I loved it immediately! Most people think it’s “icky”, so when I serve ob I get everyone’s marrow! Been looking for marrow bones here in Charlotte NC with zero luck until recently when I found a real butcher shop. Pretty rare around here. I’ve never roasted just the bones before, but now that I can get some, I will be doing it SOON!
Can’t wait to try this I know for a fact that the Khoi San of the Kalahari desert bury the bones of gazelles and Ostrich underneath their campfires without breaking them and eat them for breakfast while they are still hot
I just had my roasted marrow spread on a rare rib-eye beef steak. Talk about delicious!!! And very decadent, as well!!
Oh Mouse. I think I love you! YUM!
Just picked up some lovely marrow bones at a local Baltimore Giant that were a bit shorter cut than I like, but the price was right at $1.25 per# because “they weren’t selling” – LOL! – culinary luddites here, really, but then there’s always Miss Shirley’s…
Anywho, brought them home and roasted them in a shallow pan at 450 with shallots, a few leek ends, a squeeze of lemon, and topped it with a hint of Sauterne and a dash of White Vermouth (just because..), then pigged out by placing their savory essence on top (true) sourdough baguette slices. Wife and I accompanied this trés marvelous treat with a light cream based spinach & Romano soup just PERFECT for a dreary, drizzly fall evening by the fireplace.
$1.25 – can you believe it? Sheesh!
Happy to find a package of these at the super market yesterday. Pretty expensive! : (
You’d think most bones would be tossed or sold cheap for some industrial cooking…. My daughter absolutely goes gaga over marrow bones when one is randomly found in a stew. So tonight, this dish is for her. Roasting will be nice, because in our slow cooked meals the marrow tends to slip out and disappear.
We recently watched an episode of Bizarre Foods, where they sucked marrow out of long bones with a plastic straw…in a public eatery! That was sort of awesomely functional and low-brow.
Can’t wait. An excellent use for baguette too.
I tried this but Instead of using olive oil for the parsley salad I mixed it in the pan with the drippings after the bones were done. You can add a little olive oil if needed. It was delicious!
I found this recipe looking for a way to prepare marrow bones for my dog! Now, he may end up with serious competition for his treat! I will make them this afternoon. I have bones chopped about 1/2 inch to an inch in length – just perfect for my little pooch & probably no problem scooping out the marrow for me! If your regular grocery store does not have them packaged & ready to sell, that may be a good thing. Just talk to the butcher & ask him to save some for you rather than throw them out! You may get a giant bargain. I was surprised my small package of 2.4 pounds cost $7.27! I had thought I might get them for free. Then again, marrow bones are famous for being used to create stock & flavor foods so it was more likely naive of me to think they might be free. Maybe the most common bones used for flavoring are ham bones used in preparing ham & beans. Giant, delicious flavor! Mm-mm-mm!! Looking forward to the beef bones. Thanks for the recipe!
check your local supermarket -in rural connecticut our local Stop and Shop has them all the time.
If you get bones from grass fed beef, this is PHENOMENALLY HEALTHY. Low fat/low cholesterol is making us all fat, diabetic and sick. Check out primal diet or any other type of info. Good fat is essential to life. Crappy corporate fats (crisco which is basically plastic, soy oil, canola, corn oil and the like)… all nasty, rancidifying garbage that isn’t fit for any purpose related to eating. Can’t wait to try this! Thanks!
For serious marrow lovers try the daily special at Viva M’Boma, r. Flandre 17 B – 1000 Bruxelles, where you get 3 decent sized roast bones with interesting toppings. Also has other “unusual” cuts of meat.
Who says bone marrow isn’t healthy? It’s just meat fat. It’s what our ancient ancestors ate. Problems occur only when you pair marrow with a high-carb food like bread.
Saturated fat clogs your arteries ONLY when it’s eaten with high-carb foods like bread, potatoes, and rice. Our ancient ancestors ate marrow all the time (with meat or vegetables), so our digestive system are well adapted to digesting it without problems. However, our bodies haven’t adapted to grains, which we’ve been eating only since the agricultural revolution. Grains cause an insulin surge, which starts the chain reaction of arterial plaque problems.
Instead of the toast, eat the marrow with the salad alone. Then it’s a prime source of good-quality fat, vitamins, and minerals, with no insulin surge and no clogged arteries.
I think the straw idea is fantastic! No carbs to mess up the arteries and yummy goodness. When I was a little girl my dad worked part time in a butcher shop and we often had meat with marrow bones and he always ate it. Being a daddy’s girl I longed to try it and now that I do the cooking, I get all the marrow. No one has fought me for it, but I also haven’t told them what they’re missing. I just bought 2 nice ones and can’t wait to eat them.
I was wondering about using roasted marrow to flavour a beef stew, in place of pork (someone has an allergy).
Would I get the best of it’s flavour by roasting it seperately, preparing the stew, and adding the marrow last, just before serving? (In the same manner that butter is added at the end to emulsify a stew. But I will still be using butter. I’m feeding two French and three Quebecois).
I’m using a blade roast, and will likely be skimming off some of it’s fat in the first stage of cooking, hence why I’m thinking to wait to add the marrow later.
Or: should I just make a stock using my marrow bones?
Thank you!
If you are ever in Tel Aviv make sure you try the marrow bones at “Mel & Michelle” (http://www.rol.co.il/sites/mel-michelle/) it was the most delectable I have ever had!
I would make a stock with the bones and marrow. If you can find grass fed beef marrow bones they will have better flavor and be be healthier too. I sell them occasionally on my website when I don’t save them all for me. One of my chef buddies roasted them with cippolinni onions and a little tomato paste for me one time and they were incredible! A little acid like the tomato paste or a citrus helps balance out the fat flavor and makes it even more delicious!
I grew up on marrow bones my mother made Hungarian soup pretty often (w/carrot, onion, celery and chicken with its stock. The marrow bones were dought over….so good. In fact i am just getting home from whole foods and I came hoe w/a whole package of them. I will makw soup but tonight we will have them roasted, Yummy-melt in your mouth-very sweet too. I love them. Sandy _ Also simmered for several hours the broth is loaded with bone boosting nutrients.
To say I love this would be quite the understatement. In my opinion, this is the holy grail of all things delicious.
Today I was in a small butcher shop which sells “natural beef,” which I understand is local beef raised in a pasture. I purchased a lovely tray of marrow bones for $1.50; they were labelled “dog treats.” As I wanted to speak with the butcher to order some ox tail pieces, I explained that the bones were not really for my dog. He was astonished that a person would actually want to eat roasted marrow bones.
Tomorrow, I’m returning to the shop with my copy of Jennifer McLagan’s “Bones” and my antique Victorian marrow spoon. I’ve enjoyed that book for the past six years, and it definitely preaches to my choir.
I spent the 1970s and part of the 80s living in Switzerland, and our Sunday recreation was to drive into France and dine in the vast array of good restaurants. That’s when I discovered that consomme wasn’t something horrid from a can but an incredible soup, and consomme a la moelle (with marrow) was especially tasty, and much more expensive.
Time to get back to the kitchen where the bones are roasting in the oven.