How to Cook Bone Marrow “a la” St. John

This is one of my all time favorite dishes, and it was inspired by a great book by Chef Fergus Henderson, “The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating.”

The book is all about using the less desirable and unusual parts of the animal to make amazingly simple and delicious dishes. Henderson’s philosophy clearly shines through as less is more, and nothing exemplifies this philosophy more than his classic dish of roasted bone marrow with caper and parsley salad.

Inspired by this dish, I ran it as a special at The Big Water Grille, (picture on left), calling it “Roasted Bone Marrow a la St. John,” paying tribute to the restaurant were chef Henderson serves this extraordinary dish.

To Cook:

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Place the marrow bones upright in either a heavy sautée pan or a roasting pan. If you ask nicely, you should be able to order the marrow bones through your local butcher or supermarket. Tell them that you want veal marrow bones cut into 3″ lengths.
• Roast the marrow bones in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until the outside of the bones are a rich golden brown, and the the marrow inside is loose and sizzling.
• Remove marrow bones from oven and place on serving platter of your choice.
• Present the dish with chopped parsley, tossed with capers and your favorite vinaigrette. Serve lots of crusty bread and a good sea salt on the side.
• I like prefer to grill my bread (as shown in the picture above) and drizzle it with a little good truffle or olive oil.

To eat this beautiful masterpiece, simply get a long narrow spoon or knife, using it to pull the marrow out from inside the bones. Spread the marrow on toasted bread, sprinkle on a little sea salt and your parsley-caper salad, and enjoy!

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