Fire-Fried Bacon & One-Skillet Cowboy Breakfast

Prep Time: ~15 minutes Cook Time: ~45 minutes Servings: 4

There's no better alarm clock than bacon over a wood fire. The trick is patience: bacon wants steady, medium heat, not a roaring flame, so you let the fire settle, start the skillet cool, and let the fat render out slow. Then that fat does the rest of the work. Potatoes, peppers, and onions crisp up in it, eggs get cracked right into the pan, and the bacon goes back on top. One skillet, one fire, nothing to wash but a fork.

Ingredients

The Bacon

• 1 lb thick-cut bacon

The Skillet

• 1½ lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into ½-inch dice
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper or poblano, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• ½ tsp coarse black pepper
• ½ tsp smoked paprika

The Finish

• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• Hot sauce, for serving

Equipment

• 12-inch cast iron skillet
• Lid, sheet pan, or foil to cover the skillet (foil is easiest if you don't have an accompanying lid for your skillet)
• Long tongs and a metal spatula
• Heatproof jar or can for extra bacon fat

Steps

1. Build the Fire Light your Cowboy Cauldron with hardwood and let it burn down to a bed of glowing coals with just a little low flame. Set your grill grate over the fire. You want to be able to hold your hand over the grate for 4 to 5 seconds. Any hotter and the bacon will scorch before it renders.
2. Start the Bacon Cool Lay the bacon in a cold skillet in a single layer (work in two batches) and set it on the grate. As the pan comes up to temp, the fat renders out gently and the bacon cooks in it rather than burning against dry iron.
3. Fry and Flip Cook 10 to 12 minutes per batch, flipping every few minutes and rotating the skillet so no one spot takes all the heat. Pull the bacon when it's deep golden and just shy of how crisp you like it, as it will keep cooking as it rests. Set aside on a plate.
4. Manage the Fat Carefully pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of bacon fat into a heatproof jar. Move the skillet off the fire to do this. Bacon grease and open flame are not friends.
5. Crisp the Potatoes Back on the grate, add the potatoes to the hot fat in an even layer with the salt, pepper, and paprika. Leave them alone for 4 to 5 minutes to build a crust, then stir and repeat until golden and fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes total. Add a spoonful of reserved fat if the pan looks dry.
6. Add the Veg Stir in the onion and pepper and cook until softened and picking up color, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic for the last minute.
7. Crack the Eggs Slide the skillet to a cooler edge of the grate. Make six wells in the hash, crack an egg into each, and scatter the cheddar over everything. Cover and cook 4 to 6 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are still soft.
8. Finish and Serve Crumble half the bacon over the top and tuck the rest of the strips in around the edges. Hit it with scallions and hot sauce and serve straight from the skillet.

Pro Tips

• Cook over coals, not flames. Tall flame plus spattering bacon fat means flare-ups and burnt bacon. Let the fire settle first so you have ripping hot coals only.
• Par-cook the potatoes the night before. Boil the diced potatoes for 5 minutes, drain, and chill. They'll crisp in half the time and you'll be eating before the coffee's gone.
• Save the fat. That jar of smoky bacon grease is gold. Use it for cornbread, fried eggs, or seasoning your cast iron after the cook.