I’m a recovering vegetarian.
I’ve been paleo for 3½ years, but I was vegetarian for 3½ decades before that.
So for the past 3½ years I’ve been easing in.
- For the first year I ate only poultry and fish.
- On my first paleoiversary I took the leap and incorporated mammals into my diet.
- On my second paleoiversary I embarked into the realm of organ meats.
- On my third, it was bone marrow.
I had read Sally Fallon Morell’s Nourishing Broth, and I was convinced about the benefits of marrow.
“Deep in the centre of bones is marrow, a creamy substance valued by our ancestors for it’s life-giving, reproduction-enhancing, and brain-building fat and cholesterol. As the seedbed of blood and stem cells, it’s prized as a sacred, energizing and regenerative food in native cultures all over the world.” Sally Fallon Morell~
My #1 kid loves marrow. She eats it with a spoon.
Matthew adores it, too.
After we make a batch of bone broth (which is every couple of days, thank you Instant Pot
But I just wasn’t loving it.
Or liking it.
At all.
Until now~.
I just had to find the right strategy…
For liver, the strategy was Victorious Offal Muffins, and for heart, Sunday Stew.
I still haven’t found the strategy for kidney, I admit.
My Bone Marrow Strategy
My first attempt at eating marrow was to scoop it into the container of bone broth. That way I’d consume it by default.
But I was still feeling squeamy about it, so I knew my strategy needed work.
I started to blend it with the bone broth before storing it in the fridge.
And then I began to use that rich gravy-like broth, hot, for dipping, au jus style.
From the first bite, I knew I’d found my bone marrow sweet spot.
Au Jus & Pot Roast
(Au jus, by the way, is pronounced Oh-zhoo~).
For the pot roast, you can use a tough cut from any ruminant: beef, lamb, bison, vension or elk.
The tougher the better.
For a cow, that’d be a chuck, brisket or bottom round roast.
But here’s the roast selection strategy I use: when I’m at my butcher (which only sources pastured meat, so I don’t need to worry about that criteria), I just pick the cheapest one.
And the last time we got half a cow from Ruby Slipper Ranch (which was just this week, thank you Tracy & Shayne!) we asked for more roasts and less ground beef. So we can eat Pot Roast with Bone Marrow Au Jus all fall…
Pot Roast with Bone Marrow Au Jus
This recipe takes almost no time at all over 2-3 days. You can do it in one day if you are one of those crazy cats who has an Instant Pot and a slow cooker (and you already have some bone broth ready~).
If you are starting from scratch, you first need to make some bone broth. I’m including a slow cooker recipe here (you can find Matthew’s Instant Pot Bone Broth recipe below and Eileen’s Instant Pot recipe here).
Then you need to cook your pot roast, which takes a day (or a night) in a slow cooker.
Slow Cooker Bone Broth
- 5 lbs marrow bones, ideally with some meat still on them
- 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- Filtered Water
- 2 Bay Leaves, optional
Brown the bones in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, turning them once or twice.
Place them in the slow cooker, cover with filtered Water, add the Vinegar and the Bay Leaves (if using).
Cook on low for 24 hours.
The stock should barely simmer. If it’s too hot, adjust the lid to cool everything down until the bubbles are just barely breaking the surface. Replace the water that evaporates, as required.
Remove the marrow bones with a slotted spoon. Once cool, scoop out the marrow from each bone with a knife and put it in a glass container. Cover with 1 cup of bone broth and refrigerate.
Refrigerate the rest of the bone broth in a separate glass container.
Pot Roast
- 1 4-5 lb pot roast
- Himalayan Salt (or similar)
- 2 tablespoons tallow or lard
- 3 cups bone broth
Generously Salt the Roast.
Heat the fat in a skillet on medium-high heat and brown the roast on all sides.
Place the roast in the slow cooker.
Deglaze the pan with the bone broth, scraping any meaty bits up and pour it over the waiting Roast.
Turn it to low and walk away fro 7-8 hours (if it’s a little longer: no harm done).
Au Jus
- Refrigerated bone marrow in bone broth
- Bone broth from cooking the Pot Roast
- 1 teaspoon Savory
- 1 teaspoon Marjarom
Once cooked, let the Pot Roast rest while you heat the chilled bone marrow in bone broth with the extra-meaty broth from the slow cooker. Add the Herbs.
When piping hot, puree in a food processor. Serve immediately as a dipping sauce for the Pot Roast.
Feel bliss~.
Matthew's Instant Pot Bone Broth
Matthew makes Bone Broth every 3-4 days, as he consumes 2-3 cups a day as part of his gut healing protocol. Here’s his recipe:
- 5 lbs marrow & cartilage-rich bones, ideally with some meat still on them
- 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- Filtered Water
Preheat the oven to 350.
Brown the bones for 20 minutes, before turning them, switching on the broiler to 400 and broiling for an additional 10 minutes.
Place the bones in the Instant Pot.
Add water to 1/4″ below the maximum capacity line.
Add 1/4 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar.
Secure Cover.
Press ‘SOUP’ and adjust the timer to 120 minutes.
Allow 40-60 Minutes to pass after that session expires, to depressurize the pot.
Press ‘SOUP’ again and adjust the timer to 90-120 minutes.
Allow at least 20 minutes to pass to partially depressurize the pot.
Turn the pressure switch to ‘VENTING’ and allow all the steam to escape.
Optional: Press ‘SLOW COOK’ and set timer for an additional 4-5 hours.
Strain broth through a colander. Remove & consume all the marrow from the bones.
Slowly, I’m recovering for my decades of vegetarianism.
Nowadays I can have a venison pot roast cooking inside, while contemplating the possibility of future venison pot roasts outside~.
