Raccoon and Lobster

Over the winter holidays I spent a lot of time curled up with cookbooks and books about cooking. One of the books in question was Fergus Henderson’s The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating. In the introduction, Anthony Bourdain talks about the pilgrimages chefs would make to dine at St. John in London and experience the offal revolution. He has requested that his last meal before he shuffles off this mortal coil be the roasted veal marrow bones with parsley salad. I’m not sure that I would choose this as my death row meal, but it is quite unexpectedly delicious and stupidly easy to make. The parsley salad is tart and light and offsets the richness of the marrow beautifully. It makes a great appetizer, or even a full meal.

Roasted Marrow Bones and Parsley Salad adapted from The Whole Beast

veal marrow bones
flat leaf parsley
small shallot, finely diced
juice from half a lemon
olive oil
sugar plum tomatoes (skip for the authentic Henderson version)
capers
toasted bread
sea salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place the marrow bones in an oven proof pan and cook for about 20 minutes, until the marrow is softened and loose but not dissolved away. Meanwhile, prepare the salad by de-stemming the parsley and chopping it. Combine with shallots, capers, lemon juice, a light drizzle of olive oil, and the tomatoes. Serve by smearing the toast with the marrow and seasoning with sea salt. Top with a generous portion of the parsley salad and some freshly ground pepper.