LaMar y La Tierra

A blog for my food and wine hobbies. No understanding of Spanish required.

[andrew-lamar]

OMG I finally had it. Notes to come.

[andrew-lamar]

One of Tulsa's best kept secrets is the Hen bistro on Brookside. If you're in the area be sure to go, and if you go make sure to get the duck confit. It's the best thing on the menu!

[andrew-lamar]

This one was really special. My favorite place to eat in Nagoya and I just found out they have a couple of places in NYC. It's called Ootoya - and you will likely be the only English speaker in this joint (aka super authentic). What you see here is the basic tonkatsu, which is what I would recommend if you go. Yes, you get EVERYTHING when you order the tonkatsu; it's about $16. If anyone has ever been to this place, leave a post and let me know what you thought.

[andrew-lamar]

Skate!! Last night I had skate for the first time and it changed my life. I'm informed that skate has become popular recently because they have overfished the classic bottom feeders (sole, etc). I really wasn't expecting much, but I guess one should never doubt the flavor of a bottom feeder. I mean, think of all the tasty things THEY eat! In summery - delicious! Leave me a comment if you have your own skate story.

[andrew-lamar]

Sweet potato cheesecake from Oui3. Amazing!

[andrew-lamar]

Dinner In

My wife pushed the culinary boundary tonight when she surprised me with a special dinner.  The other day, she asked me if I thought parmesan cheese and BBQ sauce would go together.  Thinking that BBQ usually goes on meat, and parmesan is one of the best sources of umami in the world, I said yes.

She tested this by making a pulled chicken in the slow cooker with tons of BBQ sauce.  She put this on top of a risotto with mostly parmesan.  Simple, but OH SO GOOD!  While she made enough for a standard serving, it definitely left me wanted more.  Hopefully we can do this again sometime.

[andrew-lamar]

Ultimate Iced Tea

Have I found the ultimate iced tea?  I combined a couple of Teavana blends I had laying around, Blueberry bliss and Ginseng vitality.  I didn’t even think they could go together, but they seem to love each other!

[andrew-lamar]

There's a place in downtown Tulsa called Juniper that does an amazing dinner. I would recommend the specials if you're to go; it's a guarantee you'll get their freshest ingredients. This is a pork lion with cherries on top and gnocchi with blue cheese underneath. They recommended a Washington state tempranillo to drink which was out of this world.

[andrew-lamar]

I can't tell if this looks awesome or awful on film, but it was great on the fork.  It's a scottish salmon from Coral Reef with a teriyaki/soy glaze on a bed of mixed vegetables.  It literally fell apart at the striations you see; absolutely no knife necessary to eat this.

[andrew-lamar]

I didn't blog about Artist Point because I thought something was wrong with my taste calibration after Per Se. However after a sub par seafood experience tonight I know I had something special at the wilderness lodge. The picture is a buffalo carpaccio with black truffle shavings and black cherries. The whole dish was explosive with earthy flavor. The wine paired up was a Washington state tempranillo that was nothing short of amazing.

[andrew-lamar]

The entire evening was rounded out with complementary chocolates, chocolate covered hazelnuts (not shown) and a little bag with assorted candies (also not shown).  There was also some complementary muscato d'asti to go along with it; as if the chocolate wasn't enough!

[andrew-lamar]

...And wouldn't you know it, being my 30th birthday I get a bonus cake!  A simple chocolate ganache that was explosive with chocolate flavor.  That is bourbon ice cream on top just to round things out.

[andrew-lamar]

Finally, the desert course arrived!  Everything you see here tasted intensely like strawberries, with the exception of the green foam in the middle which was quite minty.  The right item was a freeze dried ice cream which probably concentrated the flavor more.  It was a great course, but not my favorite desert of the night...

[andrew-lamar]

This was another interlude to desert, and was billed as a "sake soda".  On top was a wafer with an intensely green tea taste.  The little pectin (?) cubes had a wonderful sweet berry flavor.  All in all, this course brought me back to my days in Japan and eating okashi with a little tea in the afternoon.

[andrew-lamar]

Unfortunately the serrano ham can't be seen in the Cheese course, but believe me it was there.  It was a wonderful salty contrast, just like you'd expect with a ham and cheese.

[andrew-lamar]

The Lamb course, which at first glance looks a little underdone.  Let me assure you, that the lamb was cooked to a tipping point before which would have been considered raw, and after which would have been too tough.  The chef must have tried several pieces and lots of trial and error to get the time down.

The dark dollops tasted almost like a vinaigrette, although the peppars may have had something to do with this.  The "salsa verde" was the ONLY thing that night I didn't care for; the creamy consistency didn't really match the perfection of the lamb.

[andrew-lamar]

Two of our wines of the night.  On the right was the Brunello (which had a fantastic color that unfortunately doesn't come through in the picture) and what was left of my white Bordeaux.  You can also see the fresh cut roses on the table and get a general idea of our place setting.