The "New World" Full Irish Skillet
Bricfeasta Éireannach·(BRICK-fasta AIR-in-ack)
Chapter 7: The Sweet Tooth (Breads, Baking, and Teatime)
The traditional Irish breakfast began as heavy fuel for the farming class before evolving into a weekend hospitality staple. For the diaspora navigating American supermarkets, this adaptation strips away the multi-pan chaos, combining thick-cut bacon, mild sausages, and hash browns into a single, cohesive cast-iron bake. It is unpretentious, undeniably comforting, and exactly what a lazy Sunday morning requires.
Before you start
Clean and quarter the mushrooms.
Wipe away any dirt with a damp towel before cutting.
Dice the onion.
Keep the pieces fine so they melt into the hash rather than overpowering it.
Thickly slice the tomato.
A substantial cut holds up far better to the heat of the cast-iron skillet.
Ingredients
- thick-cut American bacon or Canadian bacon6 slices
- high-quality mild pork breakfast sausages4 links
- mild savory sausage patties4 patties
- frozen cubed hash brown potatoes3 cups
- white button mushrooms1 1/2 cups
- plum tomato1 large
- small yellow onion1
- large eggs4 to 6
- Irish butter2 tablespoons
- olive oil1 tablespoon
- English-style baked beans in tomato sauce1 13.5-ounce can
- kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepperto taste
- fresh chives or flat-leaf parsleyfor garnish
- crusty whole-grain bread or Irish soda breadfor serving
Method
- 01
Preheat the oven and warm the beans.
Set the oven to 375°F and gently heat the baked beans in a small saucepan over your lowest burner.
- 02
Render the pork fat.
Place a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon and sausages until browned but still retaining some chew, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- 03
Chop the meats.
Remove the meats to a paper towel, leaving the savory fat in the pan, and slice them into bite-sized pieces once cool enough to handle.
- 04
Build the hash.
Add the olive oil, one tablespoon of butter, diced onion, and frozen potatoes to the hot skillet, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook undisturbed for a few minutes to develop a crust before tossing.
- 05
Sauté the mushrooms and return the meat.
Push the potatoes to the edges, melt the remaining butter in the center, brown the mushrooms, then mix the meats back in and nestle the tomato slices into the hash.
- 06
Create the egg wells.
Use the back of a spoon to make four to six pockets in the hash, dropping a sliver of butter into each if the pan looks dry, and carefully crack in the eggs.
- 07
Finish in the oven.
Transfer the heavy skillet to the oven for 10 to 12 minutes until the whites are set but the yolks still run.
- 08
Garnish and serve.
Hit the sizzling pan with fresh herbs, bring it straight to the table with a pile of buttered toast, and pass the warm beans on the side.
Notes
Respect the meat.
The dish lives or dies by its pork. Avoid maple or heavy sage links; ask the deli for Canadian bacon and stick to mild bratwurst or savory sausages.
The black pudding dilemma.
Authentic blood sausage is tough to find stateside due to import laws. Standard savory breakfast patties are an acceptable stand-in to honor the tradition without the wild goose chase.
Isolate the beans.
Keep them in a separate saucepan. Dumping them in the skillet ruins the crispy potato hash you just spent twenty minutes perfecting.
Use real butter.
A high-fat European butter instantly elevates the dish from a standard American diner breakfast to something much closer to its County Cork origins.
From The Irish American Table.