Roasted Marrow Bones with Blood Oranges, Microbroccoli, and Vanilla Salt

These are unabashedly bones.

A love of chicken wings did not come easily to either of us.  To this day, I feel just a teensy bit icky about eating them.  The bones in chicken wings were (are) a hindrance, a barrier, to the good stuff - the meat and sauce.  Not just a barrier, but a hidden barrier encountered after eating has commenced.

There is no deception with this.  Which perhaps explains why my love came so quickly for roasted bones. You don't run into a bone whilst trying to pick at some chicken meat. The bone is the vessel.  Little vessels of meaty, buttery marrow.  So nakedly primal - so loudly, so truly bone.

We love to spread the marrow on little crostini and top it with blood orange juice, vanilla salt, and micro-broccoli.

Ingredients
6-8 marrow bones
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
pinch kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

1 baguette, sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

micro broccoli, broccoli sprouts or other micro green
juice from two small blood oranges

*Vanilla Salt
1 cup kosher salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half


Instructions
*For the Vanilla Salt:  Place salt and vanilla bean in an airtight container.  Leave them to mingle for a couple days before using.

Heat oven to 450. Drizzle marrow bones with a bit of olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 20-30 minutes, until the marrow inside of the bones is soft.

Heat oven to 375. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet (I used a Silpat to line mine). Pour 1/4 cup olive oil in a bowl, and brush the oil on each slice. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on each. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden-brown.

Spread marrow on crostini, then top with some micro broccoli, blood orange juice, and vanilla salt.