Happy Fourth
Hola. Just wanted to say Happy Fourth of July!
Spangledly,
Slice Dude
July 4, 2009
Grilling: Pizza
On Fridays, Joshua Bousel drops by with a recipe for you to grill over the weekend. Fire it up, Joshua!
Before you run out and grab all those burgers and hot dogs for tomorrow's great Fourth of July cookout, let me tempt you with another great American tradition that's great for the grill and revelers alike: pizza Although the high heat of the grill produces a truly excellent pizza, it's a challenge to get a perfectly cooked crisp crust at the same time the toppings are ready, but after years of trial and error, I've developed a fairly foolproof way to get perfect pizzas every time.
This requires a two-zone fire, with all the coals piled on one side of the charcoal grate, and a process of cooking the crust in stages.
First you stretch the dough out to a personal-size pizza and place it directly over the coals, cooking it until it browns and crisps nicely. Then remove the crust to a plate, arrange the toppings on the cooked side, place it over the cool side of the grill, and cover. When the cheese is melted and the toppings are done to your liking, check the bottom of the crust; if it needs to cook a little longer, just move it over to the hot side again until it's perfect.
What comes off the grill is a real beauty of a pie. A wonderfully cooked crust, with that balance of crisp and chewiness that makes a great pizza—something to truly celebrate alongside our independence.
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Dom DeMarco Undergoing Minor Oral Surgery; Di Fara Pizza Closed Indefinitely
I just got back from a trip to Di Fara to check out unsubstantiated rumors of a Di Fara closing. The pizzeria was indeed closed, but Dom DeMarco's daughter, Maggie, was there and reports that her father was at the doctor for "minor mouth surgery."
No word on when the place will reopen. Stay tuned.
Update: It has reopened.
Wig & Pen Offers an Iowa City Twist to Stuffed Pizza
Serious Eats contributor Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel from the road, this time in Iowa City. —The Mgmt.
Wig and Pen Pizza Pub
1220 Hwy 6 West, Coralville, IA 52241 (map); 319-354-2767; wigandpeneast.com
Pizza Style: Thin crust, stuffed and Flying Tomato
Oven Type: Gas
The Skinny: The Flying Tomato is short on tomato, but will still appeal to those who like mozzarella in very large quantities
Price: Large Flying Tomato with one topping, $24.35.
On my way back to Chicago from Omaha a little over a week ago, I took a break from the rolling hills of young corn that were interrupted by the occasional wind farm to stop in Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, for a late lunch that would get me through the rest of the drive. In doing my research before starting the trip, I discovered that Iowa City did not seem to be a particularly notable pizza town. That said, I did find a popular place that offered a new type of pizza: the Wig & Pen Pizza Pub.
In the 16 years since Dick Querrey took over the Wig & Pen and made significant menu changes, the popular Iowa City spot has expanded to three locations, one of which bounced back from some serious flooding last year. Querrey, who runs the place with help from his kids, serves three kinds of pizza: thin crust, stuffed, and the Flying Tomato Pie.
The Flying Tomato is a cross between a stuffed pizza and a pan pie that was invented by a cook at the Wig & Pen who was having fun experimenting in the kitchen. Since I am always eager to try new types of pizza, ordering a Flying Tomato was a no-brainer.Leftovers: The Day's Stray Links
- Pizza in a Cone: Yes, again. Cone pizza just doesn't seem to be catching on—at least not here in the States. Yet another company, this one Spanish, is tilting at windmills. [EMD]
- Pizza Vending Machines: "I have had the future of pizza and it is not good." [Internet Food Association]
- Pizza Site Review: Worstpizza.com, analyzed. [Blog Pizza]
- Speaking of Which: "Pizzaexpert" offers to sell worstpizza.com to AOL. [SAI]
- LA: S. Irene Virbila reviews Bottega Louie, whose thin-crust pizzas are "not particularly inventive but fine." [LAT]
- NYC > Openings: A wood-fired pizzeria is coming to the new Eataly Italian supermegamarket. [AHNY]
- NYC > Openings: Pizza and more at West Village sister spot to Alexandra. [ZagatBuzz]
- NYC > Openings: Angelina Pizza Bar opening on UWS with "what may be the world's first rotating brick oven." Whatevs. There are already two in NYC. [ZagatBuzz]
- NYC > Openings: South Brooklyn Pizza coming to Manhattan. Eh. [Eater]
Liquid Pizza in a Bulbous Test Tube
Photograph from Life, hosted by Google
Bloomberg reports on something wacky:
A deconstructed pizza in a bulbous test tube featured this week at a dinner in London where each course was prepared by a different Italian chef. The event took place on Monday at Dolada restaurant, whose chef Riccardo de Pra created the liquid pizza with mozzarella, tomato, basil and olive-oil components to be guzzled in one go, accompanied by chunks of crust for texture.
Oh my. [via Eater SF]
I Don't Even Know What This Means
"The pissaladières, baked in a wood-burning oven, reach out to the ever more rapacious ranks of pizza hounds..." —Frank Bruni, in his review of Bar Artisanal
Money Pizza
Money Pizza is an promotional concept for an imaginary pizza chain that sells a $5 pizza. The magnetic fridge-based coin keeper holds $5 in change. As its creator, artist Matt Brown, says, "The concept eliminates the shame people feel when they pay for something all in change. No counting involved with this, both cashier and customer know exactly how much money there is on that pie."
Of course you're still left scrounging for the tip. [via EMD]
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