Hearty Slow-Cooker Breakfast Hash

Danny died on March 14th. He was fifty-four years old.

I am going to write this as directly as I know how because this is a journal about food and family and these are the same thing and Danny is both and I am going to say what happened. He had been having harder days since mid-February — two days where the oxygen was insufficient, a call to the doctor who adjusted the medication, a couple of nights that Terry described as difficult. I drove out Saturday March 9th and spent the day with him. He was alert. We watched a game. He ate the venison soup I brought. He said something in Cherokee when I was leaving, longer than usual, and I asked Lily later and she said it was part of a traditional Cherokee farewell, the kind you say to family when you are going somewhere. I thought at the time he meant good night. I understand now that he was saying what it was.

He died on a Thursday morning. Terry was with him. The hospice nurse was there. He did not go in the hospital. He went in his own kitchen, in his chair, in the house where he had been for thirty-four years. Terry said he had asked to be moved to the kitchen in the last hour. She asked him why and he said: "Because that is where everything is." He sat in the kitchen with his oxygen and he went.

I drove to Turley when Terry called and I walked into the kitchen and I understood what he had meant. Everything is in the kitchen. The food and the family and the knowledge and the memory and the love that does not have a better name than love — it is all in the kitchen. Danny died in the right room.

I stood in his kitchen for a long time without doing anything. Then I made coffee. Because that is what you do in the kitchen where everything is. You make something. You continue. That is what Danny would want. That is what he was.

I made coffee first, and then I made this. Terry’s sister arrived around noon and there were four of us by mid-afternoon and you cannot just stand in a kitchen with people you love and not feed them — that is not what kitchens are for, and it is not what Danny would have wanted. I had potatoes and peppers and sausage and eggs and I put everything in the slow cooker and let it go, because grief does not leave room for watching a stove. This is the kind of recipe Danny would have called practical, which was his highest compliment for food. It fills a room. It gives your hands something to do. It is what you make when you stay.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 4 hrs | Total Time: 4 hrs 20 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb breakfast sausage, casings removed and crumbled
1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, diced into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
6 large eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional, for serving)

Instructions

Brown the sausage. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the crumbled breakfast sausage until browned and cooked through, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat and set aside.
Layer the slow cooker. Lightly grease a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add the diced potatoes in an even layer. Top with the onion, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper.
Season and add sausage. Scatter the garlic, smoked paprika, thyme, salt, and black pepper over the vegetables. Add the browned sausage on top. Pour the chicken broth over everything.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Do not lift the lid during the first 3 hours.
Add the eggs. Use a spoon to create 6 small wells in the hash. Crack one egg into each well. Replace the lid and cook on HIGH for an additional 20–30 minutes, until the egg whites are set but yolks are still slightly soft.
Finish with cheese. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar evenly over the top. Replace the lid for 3–5 minutes, just until the cheese melts.
Serve. Scoop into bowls or onto plates. Top with fresh parsley if using. Serve immediately with hot coffee and buttered toast.

Nutrition (per serving)

Hearty Slow-Cooker Breakfast Hash — What You Make When You Stay