Summer Greenmarket Brunch, with jam

Temptation meets hostility at the Union Square market; this scared me off those peaches, good as they looked.I've discovered that with the Citibikes, I can haul more stuff back from the greenmarket. Here's some of what I very carefully rode back with today, and how we used it.

Pullet eggs from Violet Hill Farms

The eggs -- from pullets, which I learned are chickens that have just started to lay eggs, basically the sixteen-and-pregnant gals of the barnyard -- became a tarragon-heavy egg salad, served with tomatoes, lettuce and challah, and a fruit salad of blueberries, plums and mint.

Then, this:

It's SOUR CHERRY season.My friend Ellen Shapiro, who was the excellent fact-checker on SMART CHEFS, stopped by my office yesterday all excited about sour cherries coming into their very short season.  So when I saw them at the market this morning I grabbed a bunch, tasted them, and decided they would be jam.

Here's the recipe:

Use 3/4 the amount of sugar to the amount of cherries. My bag of cherries weighed (after pitting) 9 oz, so: 6.75 oz of sugar.  (You can eyeball this with measuring cups too, if you don't have a scale.)

Put in a heavy pot over medium-high heat with juice of one lemon, a cinnamon stick, and Why I save jam jars from the store.a couple whole cloves. Stir until the heat and the juices released from the cherries dissolves the sugar. Simmer for 30-45 minutes or so, until the fruit is broken down (help it along with a fork if you don't like big pieces in your jam) and the liquid is starting to gel.  Cool, and store in the fridge. Enjoy.

Marc Murphy's broccoli breakfast frittata

The March, 2012 issue of Food & Wine magazine featured "Smart Chefs" and a recipe for the breakfast frittata that Marc Murphy makes for his kids. Here's the a link and their tested recipe:

1. 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
2. 2 tablespoons olive oil
3. 3 1/2 cups broccoli florets
4. 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
5. Salt
6. Black Pepper
7. 8 large eggs
8. 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (1 1/2 ounces)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderately high heat for 30 seconds. Add the broccoli and crushed red pepper and cook for 1 minute. Stir in 2 tablespoons of water, season with salt and pepper and cover. Cook over moderate heat until the broccoli is crisp-tender, 2 minutes; let cool.
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper. Stir in the broccoli. Return the skillet to the stovetop and heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Pour in the eggs and cook over moderately low heat until set around the edge, 3 minutes. Sprinkle the frittata with the cheese. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake the frittata until the center is just set, about 12 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.