Meat Extravaganza! Bone Marrow, Bacon And Braised Arm Roast

Thanks to my friend Duncan Blair of Rio Santa Cruz Ranch who provided me with this fabulous treat, I had the opportunity to cook my first Marrow Bones. I have had them before in restaurants and loved them, but never cooked them myself. I seem to be in a bit of a meat kick, but that again is, in large part, due to my introduction to grass finished beef. Now I have to find a source for organically and humanely raised chicken and pigs. If you’re interested in buying grass finished beef, go to: www.riosantacruzgrassfedbeef.com and place your order! You won’t be disappointed!

I did a little research to figure out how to cook them and found a wonderful recipe from Fergus Henderson, London chef–someone I am very interested in learning more from. I just picked up his cookbook, The Whole Beast-Nose to Tail Eating.

Learning how to utilize every part of the critter is important to me and this chef has obviously mastered that art. The book is brilliant and also includes many more traditional recipes, although I am excited to try the “Pea and Pigs Ear Soup” and the “Lamb’s Brain Terrine.” These may not be every day fare, but you’d be surprised how delicious these underutilized cuts could be.

Cooking Marrow Bones really could not be easier. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place the Marrow Bones on a baking sheet. Roast for about 20 minutes. The time depends on the thickness of your bones. As Fergus says, “the marrow should be loose and giving, but not melted away”.

Make the Parsley Salad while the bones are roasting. Chop a bunch of flat leaf parsley (I had curly on hand so used that instead), mix in 2 Tbsp. capers, 2 finely diced shallot. Just before serving dress with the juice of a lemon, olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I used this Persian Lime Oil from a little shop in Sonoita, AZ–Skye Island Olive & Grapes. This store offers a “tasting room” with many different flavors of olive oil and balsamic vinegars, plus a nice collection of gifty foods.(http://skyeislandoliveandgrapes.com/). The Lime Olive Oil is delicious, but the flavor may have been a bit aggressive for this purpose. Next time I used regular Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the salad was much better.

In addition to many a fabulous dinner party, we’ve shared lots of other adventures with Dennis Diana. Here we are Hot Air Ballooning at dawn over the Tortolita Mountains in Arizona.

Kirk Harris with a cow that had just been slaughtered before we arrived.

Willcox Meat Packing is an old family business and we were fortunate enough to meet 3 generations of Harris’s. Kirk explained that they are a relatively small operation, slaughtering about 3000 cows per year, but also handle goats, sheep, pigs and wild game. They have started mesquite smoking hams and also make their own mesquite smoked bacon and sausage.

It was so smoky in the ‘smoke-house’ that my eyes watered, but the aromas were wonderful!

The Mesquite Smoked Bacon is like none I have ever had…thick cut, smoky, but not overpowering and unlike store-bought bacon, it tastes like pork! They don’t have a website, but here is their address: 3266 N Fort Grant Rd, Willcox, AZ 85643; 520-384-2015. If you call, please tell him ‘Cook with Cindy’ sent you! I am trying their sausage next and have no doubt it will be equally special and delicious!

My husband’s favorite breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Green Peppers, very crispy potatoes and BACON!