Archive for April, 2012

Salvatore’s Tomato Pies

Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Sun Prairie has another dining hit on its hands with Salvatore’s Tomato Pies. It’s a wonderful contrast of simple and complicated (in a good way): the whole menu is almost entirely pizza and only in one size (16″); however, each type of pizza is a masterpiece.

Take, for example, The Fat Uncle Tony ($18.99). It’s topped with smoky premium bacon, homemade sausage and spicy pepperoni. You can really tell the quality of the meat used is high, and it just may be my new favorite pizza–I mean, pie–in town.

Salvatore’s also has weekend specials, and one particular week I got to try the Thai curry pie ($22.50; it’s now on the regular menu as One Night in Bangkok). I enjoyed the ensemble of flavors, from the chicken to the mushrooms to the red onion and more. Helpful hint: order early, since the specials are likely to sell out quickly.

Next on my to-eat list is the plain Tomato Pie (mozzarella, provolone and basil for $14.79), to which I’ll add some prosciutto ($3). I hope they bring back the Duck Goat Pizza, which was a one-time special I heard about after the fact.

You can dine in, as there are some tables inside, but I’d call ahead for carryout. Salvatore’s is open from 4:30-10 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. According to its website, Salvatore’s hopes to be “open for lunch soon.”

Salvatore's Tomato Pies on Urbanspoon

Weird Al’s food songs

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

Even if it was never “cool” to admit that you like “Weird Al” Yankovic, you have to admit that many of his songs, especially as music videos, were funny. Plus, the man is really talented, able to play guitar and accordion and hit high notes like Bono (see “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” / “Cavity Search”).

This being a food blog, I have to talk about his food songs. Al tried to limit his albums to having just one food song each (even Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was worried “Smells Like Teen Spirit” would be a food song). Eventually, most of those songs were compiled into “The Food Album.”

My favorite food song is “Fat,” a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Bad.” The song won a Grammy award in 1988; I’ve pasted the video below.

A close second for me is “Theme from Rocky XIII” (“Eye of the Tiger”). It’s got memorable lyrics such as “But he’s no bum, he works down the street / He bought the neighborhood deli / Back on his feet, now he’s choppin’ up meat / Come inside, maybe you’ll hear him say …”

Other “Weird Al” food songs I like are “Lasagna” (“La Bamba”), “Eat It” (“Beat It”) and “Taco Grande” (“Rico Suave”). What are your favorites? Don’t be shy.

Grilled cheese sandwich month

Sunday, April 15th, 2012

Seriously? We need to dedicate a month to celebrating the grilled cheese sandwich? Wikipedia says that Woman’s Day came up with the idea, but the magazine says “someone (somewhere) has proclaimed this popular comfort food worthy of a monthlong celebration.”

In its most ordinary (re: lazy) form, you take two slices of white bread, stick a Kraft single in between and brown both sides in butter. Simple? Yes. Tasty? Sort of.

Admittedly, I had an about-face back in 2006 while watching an episode of “Ham on the Street” on the Food Network. The host had people randomly select bread (e.g. wheat, rye), cheese (e.g. Havarti, brie) and jelly (e.g. apricot, hot pepper) and turn them into a grilled cheese sandwich. Every single person was pleasantly surprised how good their concoction tasted.

I’m in the camp that believes you shouldn’t add things like ham, onions or eggs to a grilled cheese, otherwise it isn’t a grilled cheese. However, I’m willing to let jelly be an ingredient.

Like any dish, grilled cheese sandwiches are better with better ingredients. Since upgrading the individual parts, I’ve come to enjoy the occasional grilled cheese. And of course, I enjoy spicy cheese bread, which is somewhat related.

Hungry? Here are the recipes from “Ham on the Street” as well as the Los Angeles Times’ Test Kitchen.

    Madison Symphony Orchestra Urban Air

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