WOLFGANG'S KITCHEN
Pick up a Sunday brunch at the farmers market

Going to the local farmers market with my children is one of my favorite things to do on a Sunday morning, especially in the early days of summer, which begins tomorrow. With springtime’s harvest still providing its own treats and warm-season produce beginning to fill the stalls, there are so many wonderful things to see, cook and eat.

One organic farmer I know always has beautiful tomatoes, onions and fresh herbs. Another offers baby mesclun, the classic French mixture of all kinds of little salad greens. I always stop to chat with the "egg lady," as we call her, who has delicious, fresh, organic eggs as well as organic goat cheese.

You can probably see what those purchases add up to: Brunch! And because I find that farmers markets are always best to visit in the morning, before big crowds fill the aisles and before all the most beautiful produce at its peak of ripeness has been sold, that’s the perfect meal to cook when we get home.

Unlike my sons, I didn’t grow up eating brunch. In Austria, the big Sunday institution was lunch, our biggest meal of the week. When the weather was cool, the main dish was usually boiled beef or roast pork, and warmer weather usually featured fried chicken or Wiener schnitzel - the classic Vienna-style cutlets, usually pork rather than veal.

They were delicious, but after a meal like that, you really didn’t feel like doing much else for the rest of the day!

That’s one of the reasons I loved brunch the first time I encountered it in the United States 3½ decades ago. Lighter than lunch but more robust than breakfast, it’s the perfect meal for enjoying the weekend, whether you’re entertaining friends or just relaxing with your family. And my brunch purchases from the farmers market repeatedly prove to me one of the most important keys to good cooking: If you start with great ingredients, it is really easy to prepare a great meal.

Scrambled eggs, wonderfully rich but mild in flavor, are a perfect background for the vivid taste of quickly sautéed fresh tomatoes. I like to cook the eggs in more of a European style than some Americans are used to, continuously stirring them over low heat so they form soft, creamy curds. Melting some fresh goat cheese into the eggs adds still more flavor.

The results are simple and spectacular. All you need to complete the meal are, maybe, a few strips of applewood-smoked bacon and some freshly toasted rustic bread - both of which, of course, you can also pick up at the farmers market along with those other great ingredients.

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH TOMATOES AND GOAT CHEESE

Water

6 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, diced and drained

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

12 large eggs, preferably organic

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons heavy cream

6 ounces fresh creamy goat cheese, crumbled

4 tablespoons finely shredded fresh basil leaves

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Fill a mixing bowl with ice and water and set it on the counter nearby. Meanwhile, with a small, sharp knife, core the tomatoes and, on their undersides, cut a shallow X in their skins. With a wire skimmer or slotted spoon, carefully lower the tomatoes into the boiling water and boil just until their skins begin to wrinkle, about 30 seconds. Immediately remove them with the skimmer or spoon and transfer to the ice water to cool.

Starting at the X, peel the skins from the tomatoes, using your fingertips or, if necessary, the knife. Cut the tomatoes horizontally in half and use a finger or the handle of a teaspoon to scoop out and discard their watery seeds. Cut the tomatoes into ½-inch dice.

In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté until they just start to turn golden, about three minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, reduce the heat slightly and cook, stirring frequently, until they form a thick but still juicy sauce, seven to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the scrambled eggs. Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper and whisk until smooth.

In a heavy sauté pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the eggs and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until creamy and slightly thickened, three to five minutes. Stir in the cream and all but about 4 tablespoons of the crumbled goat cheese. Remove the pan from the heat and continue to stir constantly. The heat in the pan will melt the cheese and continue to cook the eggs, which should be creamy with very soft curds.

Season the tomato mixture to taste with salt and pepper and stir in half of the basil. Spoon all but about 4 tablespoons of the tomato mixture onto six heated serving plates, spreading it evenly into circles that cover most of the plates. Mound the eggs on top, leaving a rim of tomato around them. Top the eggs with the remaining tomato sauce, sprinkle with the remaining goat cheese and scatter the remaining basil on top. Serve immediately.

Serves: 6.

Advertisement