Peter,
Thanks for the tips on the San Marzano's. When I did my taste testing I mostly tried roma tomatoes. After reading the posts on the Neapolitan style doughs you guys are working on I am ready to go back to the SM.
I love to roast my own roma's. It gets expensive, but what a flavor. Just cut a bunch of romas in half, and shake them in a bag with some olive oil, kosher or sea salt, and pepper. Put them on cookie sheets at 450 for 10 min, then bring the oven temp down to 250. After a while you can pull the skin right off, or even leave it on if you want. You can shrink them for a long time if you want the flavor to be really strong. Less time and they will have more moisture with a lighter flavor. I love this on top of my white or pesto pizzas.
You have probably found the hookup with that local cheese maker, but for everyone else out there, check the manufacturing date on your cheese. I know most cheese has a sell by date at least. I have found that the older the fresh, or cryo-pack fresh mozzarella gets, the more it will break down. This is another reason to buy in quantity from wholesalers. Cheese can sit on the shelves of grocery stores forever. I have been told that the optimum time to eat dry mozzarella is 20 days after manufacture, and fresh mozzarella is the day it is made. I would guess that the cryo-pack is halfway between the two, or less.
I noticed an error in one of my earlier posts. I meant to say I have been seeing cryo-pack fresh mozzarella from Polly-O, Bel Gioioso, and Calabro, not Grande.
