Top Chef Alums Show How to Kick Off 2022 with the Ultimate New Year's Day Brunch

As Dawn Burrell explained in the video above, the holidays often mean spending a lot of time in the kitchen. So by the time "last event in the holiday season," New Year's Day, rolls around, the Top Chef alum admitted, "I'm usually exhausted." With that in mind, Dawn challenged fellow Season 18 alums Shota Nakajima and Maria Mazon to create "quick [and] tasty" dishes that are perfect for the first meal of the new year.

Like most Top Chef challenges, there was a twist: the chefs had to incorporate biscuits into their dishes. "Houston is a brunch city, and you're not going to find a brunch menu without biscuits," Dawn explained. "I was thinking, 'Why not do a biscuit bar for New Year's Day?' I want delicious main dishes to go on our biscuit bar."

Thanks to a pantry stocked by Campbell's^®, Maria and Shota were able to create two incredible dishes within their 40-minute time limit. "Both of these are actually not only suitable for brunch," Dawn raved. "These are both appropriate for any time of the day."

Watch the video above to see the challenge unfold, and scroll down for the full recipes!

Chef Shota Nakajima's Japanese Curry Shakshuka Sandwiches

Yield: 10 servings
Prep and Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients
1 pound breakfast sausage, bulk packed, not links
8 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 head green cabbage, shredded
1 poblano pepper, thinly sliced
5 tablespoons S&B (Japanese) curry powder
1 (10.75) oz can of Campbell’s^® Tomato Soup
1 pint or 2 cups Swanson^® Chicken Stock
10 eggs
10 biscuits

Garnish
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup pickled red onion

Directions

1. Prep and bake your favorite biscuit recipe.

2. In a large skillet with a lid, cook the sausage over medium-high heat and brown. Remove from pan when done.

3. Sauté garlic, cabbage, and poblano in the same pan you cooked the sausage in. Once the cabbage has softened, add the curry powder. Deglaze the pan with the Campbell^®’s Tomato Soup and Swanson^® Chicken Stock. Bring to a simmer.

4. Reduce 30% and add the sausage back to the pan. Make wells for each egg and cover the pan. Cook for 8 mins, depending how well you want your eggs done.

5. Split each biscuit in half and place an egg in the middle of each biscuit. Serve with the cabbage and some sauce. Garnish with a liberal amount of chopped cilantro and parsley and some pickled red onions.

Top Chef Tips!

1. Don’t like your eggs over hard? Make sure the dish is completely cooked before adding the eggs. Cook them 'til you like them!

2. Want fluffy, flaky biscuits? Use frozen butter and a food processor, and don’t over mix!

Chef Maria Mazon's Chorizo Verde and Biscuits

Yield: 10 servings
Prep and Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients
1 package bacon /thick-cut applewood smoked bacon
2 pounds ground pork
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup fresh fennel
1 (10.5 oz) can Campbells^® Cream of Chicken Soup
4 Anaheim peppers
4 poblano peppers
3 bunches cilantro, roughly chopped
1 ½ tablespoons fresh oregano, roughly chopped
2 green apples, roughly chopped
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup Swanson^® Chicken Broth
1 ½ tablespoons dry oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
10 Biscuits

Directions

1. Prep and bake your favorite biscuit recipe.

2. Sauté the bacon (diced). Once cooked, remove from pan and set aside. Season your pork to taste. Cook the ground pork until browned and add the fennel (julienne slice) and Campbell’s^® Cream of Chicken Soup to the pan and let it simmer. Add bacon back in.

3. Blend the Anaheim and poblano peppers with the cilantro, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper, green apples, and pumpkin seeds with Swanson^® Chicken Broth.

4. Simmer your blended ingredients over low heat in a cast-iron skillet for 3 to 5 minutes. Add ½ of the blended sauce to your ground pork mixture and simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Place individual biscuits on their own plates and top with the pork and salsa verde. Serve with a light salad!

Optional Side Salad
Spring Mix Salad: sliced fennel, green onions, and cucumber
Cucumber Lemon Dressing: Juice from 1 orange and 1 lemon mixed with ½ cup of canola oil, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of honey.

Top Chefs Tips!

1. The pork sauce can also be used as a sauce for pasta or other dishes.

2. If you want to cut corners, instead of adding a roux, use the Campbell’s® Cream of Chicken Soup. It’s a thickening agent and packs a lot of flavor!

Shop the full recipes at Target.com.