Recipe Week: Mountain Man Breakfast

Seeing as it's Recipe Week around here, I figured I should do something a bit different than my usual fare. A good breakfast can keep you trucking for hours on end, especially early and late season when mornings are crisp. Mountain Man Breakfast is hearty, hot, and sticks to your ribs; it really is an excellent way to start your day. It's also dead simple to make. Be advised, this recipe feeds a whole mess of folks (8-12, fairly easily), so you may need to scale it up or down some for your needs.

Ingredients

• 1 lb bacon or ground sausage (If using bacon, cut into ~1.5" pieces.) 
• 12 Eggs 
• ~3 pound hash browns (cubed or shredded; I've always preferred shredded, but it's a matter of taste. If you use frozen hash browns, be sure to thaw them first.) 
• 1 small sweet onion, diced 
• 1 lb Grated cheddar cheese 
• Salt and Pepper to taste 
• Optional: 1-2 cans of mushrooms, drained.

Instructions

1. In a 12" standard (6 quart) Dutch oven, brown the sausage or bacon and the onion.
2. Add hash browns (and mushrooms, if desired) to a level roughly 1" from the top of the pot.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, adding salt and pepper as desired. 
4. Pour the eggs over the top of the hash browns, and stir the whole mixture well. 
5. When thoroughly mixed, level the top off to allow for even cooking.
6. Dutch Oven cooking: Place 8 charcoal briquettes, evenly spaced, around the bottom of the oven, as close to the outside edge as possible. Ring the lid with briquettes.
7. Conventional Oven cooking: Set your oven to 350 degrees. 
8. Let cook for 50 minutes.
9. Using a spoon, pull back in the center to check doneness. Cook until the center is moist, but not wet, and no wet egg is apparent.
10. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and replace the lid.
11. Allow to cook another 10 minutes.
12. Remove the oven from heat, and remove the lid from the oven. 
13.  Allow to sit 5 minutes, then serve.

Enjoy!

Lokidude