First pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees. Make sure it is thoroughly pre-heated. You want to roast the marrow bones at a really high temperature for about 20 minutes to completely brown them on top. (Just remember later on that near the end of the roasting you have to keep an eye on them so they don't melt away to nothing.)
Then take a cookie sheet, baking pan, or whatever you have handy and line it with aluminum foil. Make sure all the edges are turned up so that juices, fat, etc. won't leak out. This will help GREATLY during cleanup later on. After everything is done, if you let the pan rest at room temperature any oil will solidify and clean-up will be easy.
Wash the marrow bones as needed and dry off thoroughly with paper towels so there is no moisture on them. Many times the bones are clean enough washing isn't necessary.
Place your pieces of bone out on the tray marrow side up. Some marrow bones have soft bone on one side and marrow on the other, some have marrow all the way through, some only have soft bone. Stick your finger down into the middle of the bone and see if it gives. If it does this is the marrow and place this side up. If it has marrow on both sides place the side with the wider section of marrow up.
You can use any combination of spices or none. The least you should use is salt and fresh ground black pepper.
I used just a wee bit of Garlic powder, Hawaiian Red Sea Salt, powdered Jalapeno, Ancho Chili powder, and fresh ground Tellicherry Black Peppercorns. Just a small dusting of each, except a nice pinch of the Cumin.
As you can see I used just a small dusting of the Garlic powder, powdered Jalapeno, Ancho Chili powder, and fresh ground Tellicherry Black Peppercorns; but a nice dash of the Cumin and the Hawaiian Red Sea Salt.
I also had two, huge, uncut marrow bones that I threw on for the heck of it.
If you can find marrow bones that are cut long and then split lengthwise down the middle those are the best. Roasted marrow side up they provide more surface area to brown, and make the removal or the roasted marrow really easy. Sadly my local supermarket meat department won't cut the bones for me. I have to buy as is, which means long whole bone segments or short slices, you see here.
Toast up some bread. What type doesn't matter, but something with a little flavor to it works well. I like a nice Italian or French loaf. Just do it ahead of time so the slices dry out and crisp up. This way they won't get soggy when you spread on the hot roasted marrow. Crisp is definitely the way to go here, trust me.
Take a nice handful of fresh, flat leaf Italian Parsley and rinse it well. Also one to two kumquats, and two chili peppers, one red and one green. I used whatever I could find. I am not even sure what type these are but they are only mild/medium hot. Normally I like to use a green Jalapeno and a red Thai pepper for a combination of bright and hot flavors.
Slice the kumquat into thin circles and remove seeds, if any. Cut the chili peppers stems off and half them lengthwise. If you like it spicy then leave the seeds and interior veins in. If less spicy then remove the seeds and veins. I recommend wearing plastic gloves whenever handling chili peppers.
Chop up the parsley, stems and all, into 1/2 inch pieces. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and add a nice splash of flavorful Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a tasty Vinegar of some kind (I used a Japanese rice Vinegar), plus salt and pepper to taste.
Toss this all by hand, gently rub to bruise the parsley and get the flavor and oils to intermarry. This is another point at which I recommend wearing gloves as they will keep your hands from get all oily.
Now sprinkle on some of the spicy parsley salad. A lot, a little, whatever grabs you.
Take a bite. Feel the textures. Crispy bread soaking up the marrow and salad juices, crunchy chili peppers and parsley stems, soft marrow and parsley leaves.
Taste the myriad of flavors that are going on here. The unctuous, rich marrow with hints of the South-West, the toasty bread, the fragrant and herbal parsley coated with intense olive oil and tart vinegar, the spicy chili peppers, the tart and sweet kumquats. What a melding of, and contrast, of flavors. Mmmmmm... Enjoy.