Mountain Man Breakfast

This is a very popular breakfast dish among the boys in our Boy Scout troop. It's easy to make, very filling, and -- most importantly -- very tasty. This is a good recipe to try if you're new to Dutch oven cooking. Depending on how hungry your crew is, this should make about 8 good-sized portions.



Required Ingredients:
1/2 bag of diced hash brown potatoes
1/2 sausage log or Polish sausage, cut into small pieces
12 extra large eggs
1/2 bag shredded cheese (colby jack, cheddar jack, or sharp cheddar are good)

Optional Ingredients:
1/2 pound bacon, cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium pepper, diced

Directions:
For a 12", 6-quart oven, you'll need about 24 briquettes -- 8 underneath the oven and 16 on top of the lid. Preheat the Dutch oven before adding food. The meat, potatoes, onions, and peppers should go into the oven first, letting them brown for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally and rotating the oven at least once. While this is cooking, crack the eggs into a bowl and scramble them up. Once the meat and veggies have browned, add the eggs, and let that cook for another 10-15 minutes until the eggs begin to set. You won't need to stir it, but you might want to rotate the oven once during this time. Add the shredded cheese, rotate the oven, and let it cook for another 5 minutes. If it has properly set up, you should be able to slice it and serve it.

When you rotate the oven, remember to rotate the lid, too. Rotate the oven 1/4 turn, and rotate the lid an additional 1/4 turn. Rotating the oven helps avoid hot spots and allow the food to cook more evenly.