Mudgee Farmer's markets

Owing to the fact that I am almost certainly slightly unbalanced in my endless search for fresh produce, today was the day that 'Mudgee farmer's markets' was circled in red texta on my calender. So, waking bright and early (sorry Brett), we showered, packed breakfast sandwiches (a must when one has to do a market run) and drove 97km to Mudgee along the Castlereagh Highway.
Having settled the internal disco of my little womb aquanaut with breakfast we oohed and aahed at the impossibly green scenery while I grinned at the flutters of delighted anticipation that always accompany Market foraging expeditions!
We arrived at St. Mary's catholic church grounds at about 9.30am and after squeezing my bump out of a narrow parking space, I trotted merrily towards the promising mass of summer-clad market-goers.
Hmmm. There was a community stall (produce-swap) with pig-fodder zucchini, -you know the ones that are the size of a small minibus, vietnamese mint and some fairly interesting tomatoes, a stall dedicated to potatoes (only two varieties), and a woman with a mouth-watering display of mediterranean produce (tomatoes, basil, capsicum and cucumbers). Other than that, a few butternut pumpkins and an endless variety of breads, pickles, jams and a singular purveyor of Goat's cheese products.
My plans of stocking up on summer veg for the week were somewhat curtailed...

 This was the final haul (along with some locally made sourdough...I didn't include it in the picture because (a) I forgot, and (b) I tucked into it as soon as we got home with some cheese and pickles for lunch. Delish!
I was more than happy to buy from this producer as unlike the recent Bathurst market fiasco, I believed that this was a selection they has definitely grown themselves. Small range, seasonal and logical that one family would concentrate on mediterranean veg that grow well under the same conditions. Adding to my demand for authenticity, some of the toms were split due to the ridiculous levels of rain we've been getting lately. No matter, I had plans for these beauties!

 Step 1: Preheat oven (with dodgy seal) to 150 degrees and chop tomatoes in half. Add olive oil, garlic bulb, sea salt and cracked black pepper and roast slowly for 2 hrs..(oh the smell of roasting fresh tomatoes and garlic! Heaven in a whiff:-)
Note: Dodgy oven seal not essential for cooking process, just one of the many joys of rental properties...

 Step 2: Add roasted tomatoes to 1/2 a red onion, 1 peeled apple, roasted garlic cloves, a generous handful of fresh basil, salt and pepper and half a left-over aubergine and 1/2 a litre of homemade stock and bring to the boil. Leave on a low simmer whilst taking a pregnancy-induced nanna nap for about 45 minutes. During this time a series of impressive storms rages outside while the tomatoey gooey goodness fills the house with a smell directly from heaven/nirvana/elysium/idyllic-afterlife-of-choice.

Step 3: Whiz in food processor with 1/3 cup commercial tomato ketchup and add seasoning to taste. Bottle in sterilized jars and feel terribly clever that 4 future meals are taken care of!
This meal will be a simple but terrifically wholesome and tasty combo of homemeade sauce tossed through wholemeal pasta with finely grated pecorino in its first incarnation, but may evolve into a lasagne, a moussaka and a casserole as the week rolls by.

Not that I want to finish on a down-note, but the rest of the weekly veg rations had to be sourced from...grrr...Coles. If they weren't constantly getting Mr-charmingchef-Curtis to bang on about their 'freshness guarantee' every 2 seconds, I'd be less furious at the patent lack of freshness that greets me from their sorry and pathetic displays. I mean seriously, zucchini (for example) is IN SEASON. There is no excuse for the 3 week old nobbly and withered items that greetd me today. In a fit of the aforementioned slightly unbalanced obsession with fresh produce I wrote and expressed my fury to the company. Humph. At least my future plans for a thriving market garden around my straw-bale house have been given new vigour!