MARROW SURPRISE

Another recipe from We'll Eat Again by Marguerite Patten.

Marrow Surprise

1 medium marrow
8 oz. carrots, sliced
1 cup runner beans, sliced
salt

CHEESE SAUCE

1 oz. margarine
2 tbl flour
1/2 pint household milk and vegetable stock
4 oz. cheese, grated
salt & pepper

METHOD: Peel the marrow, unless garden fresh, remove the seeds and cut into large pieces. Put the carrots and beans in a saucepan of boiling salted water. Cover and cook until almost tender. Add the marrow, cook for 5 minutes. Serve with Cheese Sauce.

Melt the margarine in a saucepan, blend in the flour, cook for a few minutes, add the milk and vegetable stock to make a thick sauce, stir until smooth, add the grated cheese and seasoning. Pour the sauce over the marrow, carrots and beans. Brown under the grill. Serve with potatoes.

I know about the marrow in bones, but wasn't sure what they meant by marrow in this recipe so I had to do some research on it, to find out what it is. What I have found out about it is, sometimes marrow from the bones come out into the sauce to add flavor. There is also a spoon you can use to extract the marrow that is still in the cooked bone to add to the sauce. It is a long skinny spoon that can fit into the hole of the bone to get all the marrow out. I have seen these spoons but have no clue about the name of them, or where you can get one. Now I want one. I usually break my bones and cook them in the juice longer then take toothpicks and scrape the marrow out of the bones that way.

Another thing I wanted to know about this recipe was the runner beans and what are they. Here is what I found on the runner bean in the wikipedia:

This photo is of a scarlet runner bean.

The runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus, Fabaceae) is often called the scarlet runner bean since most varieties have red flowers and multicolored seeds, though some have white flowers and white seeds. It differs from the common bean in several respects: the cotyledons stay in the ground during germination, and the plant is a perennial with tuberous roots (though it is usually treated as an annual).
The green pods are edible whole but in some varieties (the scarlet runner) tend to become fibrous early, and only the seeds within are eaten. The seeds can be used fresh or as dried beans. The starchy roots are still eaten by Central American Indians. The scarlet runner is widely grown for its attractive flowers by people who would never think of eating it.
Runner beans contain traces of a poisonous lectin Phytohaemagglutinin and hence must be thoroughly cooked before consumption.[1]

The flower of a scarlet runner bean
This species originated from the mountains of Central America.
Phaseolus coccineus subsp. darwinianus is a cultivated subspecies of P. coccineus, it is commonly referred to as the Botil bean in Mexico.

[edit] Varieties
Scarlet Runner
Aztec Half-Runner, also called "Potato bean"
White Dutch Runner
Case Knife
Black Runner
Painted Lady
Hammond's Dwarf
Lady Di
Pickwick Dwarf
Riley
Scarlet Emperor
Sun Bright
White Lady
Wisley Magic
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runner_bean"