Marrow Ice Cream is the ultimate upgrade to a beloved summertime treat! Savory Herb and Classic Cinnamon Vanilla Marrow Ice Cream recipes are included. Nutrients in marrow provide anti-inflammatory and joint benefits (while repairing skin, bones and cartilage). Plus, the collagen and special sugar glucosamine found in marrow help restore the gut lining. Don’t limit this treat to summertime, as the nutrients in marrow are also essential to learning.
Marrow Ice Cream
How do I get my kids to eat and appreciate organ meats? Well, I eat and appreciate organ meats. I truly love them and I feel so incredibly grateful to have access to them. When I prepare them, I often bring with me reverence for the animal that nourishes us, gratitude for our farmers and having access to these nourishing cuts, and some form of excited giddiness to serve something that would make my mom cringe and feels just a bit adventurous even after all these years.
And, as we all know. Kids pretty much eat what their parents eat.
I don’t have a huge sweet tooth, but I do love ice cream. It holds a special place in my heart since it was my salvation growing up in the 80s and 90s on a low-fat diet. Of course, I felt terribly guilty when I succumbed to the pleasures of ice cream, but I also knew that I felt much, much better whenever I indulged.
Upon discovering the virtues of heavy cream and animal fats, you can be sure that homemade ice cream was swiftly introduced into our home. And kids eat what their parents eat. It’s the dessert of choice around here.
Since then, I continually improve on this heavenly dessert. Raw milk, of course. Extra egg yolks, sure. Marrow, you betcha!
Savory Dessert
In the meantime, (in my opinion) two major problems underlie our collective health crisis: metabolic disorders and nutrient deficiencies. Use organ meats to correct nutrient deficiencies. Food is medicine.
Metabolic disorders, however, are rampant – and dare I say, somewhat underappreciated even in health communities. Yes, you can properly prepare and neutralized plant toxins in grains, legumes and plants – but eating more than 100g per day of these foods has not been observed in ancestral communities. In our culture where ‘treats’ abound, we must be stewards of our metabolic health as well as our micronutrient status.
Animal-based fats and proteins are extremely satiating and, in my experience, diminish desire for sweets. I’ve since learned (from ancestral nutritionist Mary Ruddick) that fats and proteins feed human cells, while carbohydrates feed bacterial cells. Indeed, from a biochemistry perspective, carbohydrates remain nonessential to humans. A healthy biome is not dependent on these foods.
That said, Marrow Ice Cream now has an upgrade – a Savory Herb version without added sugars. It’s based on the classic sour flavor found in most Persian foods. In this case, sour dairy with herbs. To maximize the micronutrient status, seek out ingredients from pastured, sun-drenched animals.
This Savory Herb recipe was inspired by a cold summer-time soup I recently enjoyed (thank you to Shokufeh!) made of fresh kefir with herbs and walnut garnish. My (half-Persian) husband reported that it is reminiscent of the sour yogurt drink ‘doogh’ that he enjoyed as a kid.
It may not be what you are used to, but I think that this kind of savory ice cream could easily be served in an upscale restaurant (likely with fruit or jam) and passed off as a specialty. Let me know what you think!
For those of you who just want regular ice cream, I’m providing a Classic Cinnamon Vanilla recipe for that as well! Everything in moderation, no? We enjoyed both!
xo
Savory Herb or Classic Cinnamon Vanilla Marrow Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the Marrow Ice Cream base
- 4lb marrow bones, roasted
- 2 cups cream
- 3 egg yolks
For the Savory Herb Marrow Ice Cream
- 1 cup loosely chopped herbs (I used parsley, basil, dill & basil)
- juice of 2 limes (~2T lime juice)
- 1/4 t salt
- 1/4 t cinnamon
- 1/4 t cardamon
- pistachios or chopped walnuts (optional, for garnish)
- fresh herb leaves (optional, for garnish)
- seasonal fruit (optional, for garnish - I used fig)
For the Classic Cinnamon Vanilla Variation
- 1 T cinnamon
- 3/4 t vanilla extract
- 1/8 t salt
- 1/8 cup maple syrup
- cinnamon stick (optional, for garnish)
- fresh fruit or soaked nuts (optional, for garnish)
Instructions
- Roast marrow bones at 325F for 30-40 minutes or until warm throughout.
- Add cream, egg yolks, and marrow scooped from the bones to a quart jar along with remaining ingredients. Use an immersion blender to mix well. [For the Savory Herb Marrow Ice Cream, add herbs, lime juice, salt, cinnamon, and cardamon as remaining ingredients. For the Classic Variation, add cinnamon, vanilla, salt and maple syrup.]
- Add ingredients to household ice cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions.
- Chill, serve and optionally garnish with nuts, herbs, and seasonal fruit. Enjoy!
Such an interesting. idea….savory ice cream. Now coming from the central coast of California near Gilroy, we had Garlic Ice Cream, and in socal we had Avocado Ice cream–before Avos were cool to eat. In a local high end restaurant here we tasted their foie gras ice cream. Now that was crazy–double fat on the tongue, savory yet a bit sweet, definitely goosey. Fascinating. If I can find those marrow bones I will try this. Thanks, as always Chef!
PS: Had NO idea about carbs feeding bacteria and protein and fats, cells. That’s very interesting and makes sense around Halloween and the sweet Holidays.
🙂
Diana – I love this! I would eat garlic and avocado and foie gras ice cream! I just need to find me some foie gras now lol. Thank you for sharing these nuggets. California is such a gem for local foods and so many varieties. I definitely miss the prolific gardens my mom and grandparents kept.
PS: the mint above reminds me of the mint we are growing in the backyard. For years its been an invasive spearmint weed. But this year dear daughter is working at Coneflower Creamery where the owner sought out my spearmint b/c of a local shortage, and is using it in their Garden Mint Choc Chip ice cream. It’s really garden-minty for sure. 🙂
What a gift to have that bounty! My grandmother always said mint was a weed, too. She cultivated it along a side stretch of the house (where it had completely taken over) far removed from the garden itself since it had no bounds to its growth. How fun to see it used in earnest – no less for ice cream 😉
don’t mean to be a pest, but is there a substantive difference between roasted for 30 min and raw in terms of nutritional accessibility?
Hi Diana,
This is a great question! The last time I checked the nutrition database (a couple of years ago, truth be told), there was only 1 sample of bone marrow – so there was no comparison between raw and cooked. In general, heat sensitive nutrients like vitamin C and B6 would be reduced in a cooked version; however, for other cuts meat – the database actually shows inconsistency between cooked and raw among these nutrients. Regardless, marrow is probably best known for glucosamine (repairs cartilage, decreases joint inflammation, improves gut lining, etc) – and that is heat stable up to about 375F. Seems like baking at 350F for a bit longer (versus higher heat like 400F for a big shorter) is the best bet! I am so glad you asked! I wouldn’t have otherwise looked up the heat-sensitivity of glucosamine. 🙂
Cheers!
Janine