A Most Wonderful Snack: A Guide to Treating Yourself

When the reality of winter coming begins to set in, and it starts to look more and more like gathering indoors with our loved ones might be a bad idea for the second winter in a row, the importance of being able to maintain your own sanity becomes paramount. In my experience, the best way of doing that is by giving yourself a little treat. Making yourself something a little indulgent and sitting down to just enjoy it can go a long way toward helping to untangle some of the knots of anxiety and stress that dealing with this time of year in this particular year can tie us in.

If you need some inspiration, you can follow my lead here and prepare a rich and tasty snack paired with a delicious wine. For my snack, I’ll be preparing sourdough toast with sautéed oyster mushrooms, roasted bone marrow, and gorgonzola paired with a solera sherry.

I already had this bone marrow roasted which speeds up the process quite a bit. To roast your own, simply submerge your bones in a light brine in the fridge overnight to draw out any blood, and help to season the marrow a bit. Then roast on a bed of garlic, thyme, and rosemary at 375 for about 45 minutes. You can chill and reheat the marrow bones by popping them back in the oven at 375 for about 15 minutes.

For the mushrooms, I’m keeping it very simple. Just taking some mushrooms that a generous mushroom-growing coworker keeps bringing into work like some all-seasons myco-santa, pulling them into bite size strips, and sautéing in butter and thyme.

Once my marrow is hot and mushrooms are cooked, I toast my bread in some of the marrow fat.

Pro tip: make your toast in a pan; it’s miles better than making it in a toaster.

See?

Pile your marrow and mushrooms on your toast and top with some slices of gorgonzola.

Sprinkle some fresh thyme on top as a little garnish, if you like. 

Finish by pouring yourself a generous portion of solera sherry, which is a lovely pairing with literally every single component of this dish. I promise this will be a knockout.

Then just sit back, enjoy, and let the pure gustatory delight envelop your mind in a blanket of flavor-induced amnesia about the state of… just about everything right now.

If you want to level-up your self-treating expertise, and learn some more beautiful wine and cheese pairings, check out our upcoming virtual wine and cheese pairing class from the comfort (and safety) of your own home.