Battles: Roasted Bone Marrow "Battles Style"

Battles (from Ian Williams)
Roasted Bone Marrow “Battles style”

New York’s Battles are something of an instrumental rock supergroup. While Ian Williams (of Don Caballero), David Konopka (of Lynx) and avant-jazz composer Tyondai Braxton create otherworldly noises, drummer John Stanier (of Helmet and Tomahawk) plays with his ride cymbal about seven feet in the air, so in the middle of his stuttering off-time beats, he can stand up and bash it with added drama. When it comes to food, they are a little more down to earth. “Food is one of the most intimate things in life—we put it into our bodies every day,” says Ian. “So make an effort to get to know it, as well as those who provide it for you—your local butchers, farmers and bakers.” Since you’re going to need some cow bone and duck skin for this recipe, having a good relationship with your butcher will certainly ease the food shopping process. Eating marrow may sound a little creepy to the uninitiated, but it’s actually a savory wintertime delicacy. Check out the recipe-within-a-recipe for homemade potato chips.

Ingredients:

4 veal or beef bones (ask that each bone be cut into three or four pieces from the center portion of the leg—that is where you get the best and most marrow)
Sea salt
1 piece skin from duck breast
1 russet potato
Canola oil
1 tomato (or one 14-ounce can of whole tomatoes, when not in season)
Fleur de sel
3 cloves of fresh garlic
A bit of curly parsley
1 loaf of hearth-baked bread

Preparation:

Bones

1) Put the bones into a bowl and cover with cold water. Add two tablespoons of salt and put in the fridge to soak for at least 12 hours. Change the water every three hours and each time add salt to the new water. Then remove any traces of blood from the bones.
2) When ready to cook, drain the water and dry the bones. Preheat the oven to 450° F and lightly oil a roasting pan. Roast the bones for about 20 minutes. When done, the center of the marrow should be warm and it should puff slightly.

Condiments

1) Take a piece of duck skin (with some fat) and cut it into 1" x 3" pieces. If you are friendly with your butcher he should give you it for free, because of all those silly people who want their breast skinless.
2) Warm up a skillet and put the skin “fat side down” on low to low-medium heat. The skin will crisp up slowly while cooking. Feel free to press down while cooking, to evenly cook the surface. Turn when one side becomes golden brown, and cook until both sides are this color. This may take 15 to 20 minutes.
3) Cut the potato into approximately one-eighth of an inch-thick slices. Get a pot of salted water boiling and dunk them in there for 20 seconds to remove starch from the outside.
4) Heat canola oil to about 325° F in a frying pan and place the potato slices into it. Lightly salt when done. This is a trial-and-error process—you may have to play with the thickness of potato slices and the heat of the oil, but once you get it down, they come out great! Also, you can add the duck fat you got from crisping up the duck skin to the canola oil for flavor. It does not suck.
5) Take a tomato and dice finely. Salt lightly with a little bit of fleur de sel. Add a touch of canola oil and mix it up.
6) Take 3 cloves of garlic and dice finely.

Consumption:

1) Take the four bones and arrange on a plate. Top the bones with a generous amount of fleur de sel.
2) Surround one bone with minced garlic.
3) Top the next one with crispy duck skin.
4) Let the third bone sit in a pool of tomatoes.
5) Surround the last bone with potato chips.
6) Garnish with some curly parsley.
7) Serve with a basket of toasted bread.

I like to take a piece of country bread, dig up the marrow from the bone and spread it all over, then top it with as much raw garlic as I can, and add salt if necessary.

John likes to take a piece of duck skin and top it with bone marrow and fleur de sel. He enjoys a taste and follows it with a bite of bread and a sip of shiraz to declog his veins.

Dave likes to look at his plate for a few minutes… marvel at how much it resembles blood and bones. Then he takes a piece of country bread and spreads the bone marrow and fleur de sel over it; he tops it with a chopped tomato and enjoys.

Ty likes to take a potato chip and top it with bone marrow. He adds fleur de sel and tops with another piece of potato chip to make a mini potato-and-marrow sandwich.

Serves four.

I Like Food, Food Tastes Good (Hyperion, $17.95) is out Apr 24.