Mountain Man Breakfast

I am always on the lookout for good recipes for dutch oven cooking. When we go camping, there are not a lot of options on how I cook our meals. I mean, seriously, have you seen the size of a camper oven? I think it's meant to be so small so that the mom, or cook of the family, will actually get to enjoy their vacation time.

Ha! Little do they know, campfire cooking is half the fun!

Well, unless it's raining.

Then I go to plan B.

Beans.

This recipe can be cooked over an open fire, on a cookstove, or even in an oven at home. It only has 5 ingredients and cooks in about 20 minutes.

Once it's on the plates, it doesn't last 20 seconds.

The Players

2 lbs. bulk breakfast sausage (I used elk sausage)

2 lb. bag of Potatoes O'brien (hashbrowns with peppers & onions)

8 eggs

1/2 cup water

2 cups grated cheese

Brown the sausage in the dutch oven. Do NOT drain the fat.

Remove cooked sausage from pan and lay on paper towels. In the sausage grease, brown the bag of hashbrowns. There was not a lot of grease from our elk sausage, so I added a Tb. of beef tallow. Remember that cast iron cooks a little hotter than other pans, so the heat will use up the fat pretty quickly.

Brown the potatoes. If you have the inclination to bring your own spuds from the garden and dice them up, that will work too, but you will also want to bring some peppers and onions with them.

I'm disinclined to create more work than I need to when on vacation.

The fish could be biting!

After the potatoes are browned, dump the sausage over the top of the spuds.


Whisk together the eggs and water. Pour egg mixture over the top of the sausage.

Add the cheese.


Put the lid on the dutch oven. If using a cookstove, turn down the heat to a medium low. If using the fire, set the dutch oven off to the side of the flames. If using an oven, preheat to 325F.

Pour yourself another cup of coffee and relax for about 20 minutes.


Check on the family to make sure they are catching dinner. You know, everybody doing their part and all! Clap and tell them what a good job they are doing, while quietly reminding yourself that you like trout and fish cleaning time should be a nice bonding moment between Daddy and children.


When the eggs are set, breakfast is on!


Enjoy!