This decadent dish of Graveyard Rice will have the adults at your Halloween party swooning.

Halloween decorations are starting to pop up everywhere. Yes, it is that time of year when people start to get obsessed with ghosts, graveyards, skeletons and such. The only things I am obsessed with are the flavors and textures of the marrow and vegetables in this recipe for Graveyard Rice, which looks like a bunch of bones in a graveyard.

Graveyard Rice is just one of many delicious recipes from Carolynn Carreño’s cookbook Bowls of Plenty: Recipes for Healthy and Delicious Whole-Grain Meals which offers a range of internationally inspired dishes to make at home.

I recently met Carolynn at a media luncheon at Melissa’s Produce. I love her down to earth philosophy on eating.

“I believe that food matters. Everything about it, from how it was grown, how it was prepared (with resentment or love? patience or hurry?), how it was consumed (with fear or with gusto?). It all counts.”

Carolynn is a James Beard award-winning food writer and co-author of 12 cookbooks, including Nancy Silverton’s “Mozza at Home” and Pat LaFrieda’s “Meat: Everything There is to Know”.

“Bowls”– which has become a category of a dish – are very popular these days, and Carolynn breaks them down for us into four chapters: Breakfast Bowls, Salad Bowls, Main Bowls, and Dessert Bowls. Guidelines are set for the perfect “bowl”, and yet Carolynn encourages you to customize them to suit you.

“Making a bowl is like going to a salad bar, if you put some thought into it and show some restraint, you will end up with a better tasting bowl.”

At Melissa’s, we sampled several “bowls” as well as building our own, with ingredients from two different recipes in this wonderful book. It was so much fun and ended up completely delicious, a perfect idea for parties or large family meals.

Build your own Asian Bowl Page 136-137

Build your own Mexican Bowl page 190-191

Here are a few of the other bowls we sampled.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Farro, Almonds and Pecorino page 98

Red Beet & Quinoa Salad with Hazelnuts & Goat Cheese page 96

Mixed Berry Crisp with Whole Grain Crisp Topping page 215

Carolynn showed us how to make corn rice. She substituted red quinoa instead of rice to make a scrumptious dish, bursting with fresh corn flavor. It goes with her recipe for Baja BBQ Shrimp Bowl on page 199.

Fresh ingredients are key.

Today’s Recipe:

Bone marrow, the fatty tissue found inside bones, is considered a delicacy. Carolynn explained how roasted bone marrow is experiencing a renaissance as Americans become more daring with what they eat. In this recipe, bone marrow turns a simple pot of rice into something totally decadent and special.

I called several mainstream grocery stores looking for marrow bones. Epic fail. This recipe requires you to seek out your local butcher, (which I should have already known). Aside from loving to eat this, I’m so grateful to this dish because I now have a relationship with Hardy’s Meat Market nestled inside of the M&M market in Studio City. There, I can get marrow bones and so much more!

What a find! Romeo the butcher quickly and easily met my request in a few minutes.

You will need to use a saute pan or cast iron skillet that is at least as deep as the marrow bone is tall so the lid will fit tightly. Alternatively, cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.

When cooking the bone marrow keep turning it during the cooking process.

Once you add the rice, stock and vegetables it starts to look like a bubbling cauldron full of bones.

When Graveyard Rice is done cooking…oh my!

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Graveyard Rice

This decadent dish of Graveyard Rice will have the adults at your Halloween party swooning.

Author Carolynn Carreño

Ingredients

FOR THE RICE

• 3 cylindrical cut marrow bones
• 2 medium or large shallots minced
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain brown rice and wild rice mix
• 3 1/4 cups chicken stock
• 2 parsnips scrubbed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 2 segments
• 6 to 8 baby turnips scrubbed and halved

FOR THE SALAD

• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Long strips of zest from 2 lemons
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil Maldon fleur de sel, or another flaky sea salt

Instructions

1. To prepare the rice, put the marrow bones cut-side down in a large saute pan and cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, turning the bones to render (melt) the marrow from each side; you may need to reach inside the cavities of the bones with a small spoon or paring knife to get all the marrow out.
2. Add the shallots, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and saute over medium-low heat, stirring so they don't brown, until they’re soft, about 4 minutes.
3. Add the rice and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and toast the rice in the fat for a minute or two. (If you use chicken stock that contains salt, only add 1/2 teaspoon salt.) Add the stock, increase heat to high, and bring the stock to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the lid, scatter the parsnips and turnips over the surface of the rice, and cover. Simmer the rice and vegetables, covered, for about 40 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed. Turn off the heat and let the rice and vegetables rest, covered, for 10 minutes before serving.
5. To prepare the salad, toss the parsley, lemon zest strips, lemon juice, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt in a bowl.
6. Serve family style, or spoon the rice and vegetables into four bowls and top each with a big tangle of the parsley salad.

Recipe Notes

Serves: 4

“I believe that eating homemade food, shared with family and friends, is the foundation for a good and happy life.” -Carolynn Carreno

“Ditto and Amen” – Cathy Arkle
…and then, she paused for thought.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of Plenty of Bowls to cook with. All opinions are my own.