Sausage, Egg and Cheddar Farmer’s Breakfast

Twelve days until the wedding. I did a final test smoke on Saturday — one pork shoulder, scaled to verify timing and quality. Started at 4 AM. The shoulder was on by 4:30. Twelve hours later, it was done: bark dark as mahogany, meat pulling apart at the touch, smoke ring a half-inch deep. I pulled it, tasted it, and called Travis. "The pork is ready," I said. He said "Good. Because Jolene's cousin just RSVP'd with eight people." Eight. One cousin. Eight people. We're now at seventy-eight guests. I said "I'll add another shoulder." He said "Thanks, Dad." I said "Tell Jolene the chair sashes look great." He said "They haven't arrived yet." I said "Tell her anyway."

In other news: ramps. April means ramps. I drove to Evarts on Sunday — the monthly trip, plus ramp harvesting. Betty was on the porch waiting. She looked smaller again — each visit she's smaller, as if she's slowly returning to the earth she came from, which is what aging is, I suppose: a gradual homecoming to the soil. But she was sharp. She asked about Travis's wedding. She asked about Amber's graduation. She asked about Clay. "Is he eating?" she said. "He said he made soup beans," I told her. She paused. "In Afghanistan?" "In Afghanistan." She nodded. "That's my boy," she said, which is what she says about Clay, even though Clay is my boy and her great-boy, but Betty claims all Hensleys regardless of generational position.

We foraged ramps together. Well — I foraged. Betty supervised from a lawn chair I placed at the edge of the woods. She pointed. I dug. She said "Not those — those are wild onion, not ramps. The leaves are wider on ramps." She was right. Her eyes may be failing but her plant identification is flawless from any distance. I picked two bags. We fried them with eggs on the porch. The mountains were green. The ramps were pungent. The eggs were perfect. My mother sat in a lawn chair and told me which plants to dig and the morning was as close to happiness as I've been since Clay deployed.

We fried our ramps with eggs that morning — simple, on the porch, with the mountains going green in every direction — and it was enough. But later that week, when I was back home and still carrying something from that morning, I wanted to make it again in a fuller way. Betty always said a real breakfast was the one meal you shouldn’t rush, and this farmer’s skillet — sausage, eggs, cheddar, the whole stubborn, satisfying thing — is the version I make when I want to feel like I’m still sitting at the edge of those woods.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, diced small (about 3 cups)
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons butter
6 large eggs
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh chives or green onion tops, chopped (optional — or use ramps if you have them)

Instructions

Brown the sausage. In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, cook the breakfast sausage, breaking it apart with a spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a plate, leaving the drippings in the pan.
Cook the potatoes. Add butter to the skillet. Add the diced potatoes in a single layer. Season with garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook undisturbed for 5 minutes until the bottom begins to crisp, then stir and continue cooking another 8–10 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden and fork-tender.
Add the vegetables. Push the potatoes to the edges of the skillet and add the onion and bell pepper to the center. Cook 3–4 minutes until softened. Stir everything together.
Return the sausage. Add the browned sausage back to the skillet and stir to combine evenly with the potatoes and vegetables.
Add the eggs. Make six small wells in the mixture with the back of a spoon. Crack one egg into each well. Season the eggs lightly with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover the skillet, and cook 4–6 minutes until the whites are set and the yolks are cooked to your liking.
Finish with cheese. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar evenly over the skillet. Cover for 1 minute until melted. Top with chives or ramp greens if using. Serve straight from the pan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sausage, Egg and Cheddar Farmer’s Breakfast — What We Made After the Ramps