CRU Winery Hosts First Chowder Contest

September 24, 2024 – More than 30 recipes were submitted to be considered in the first ever chowder contest organized by Rebecca Gilbert, marketing manager at CRU Vineyards and Winery. The objective of the contest was to create an original chowder recipe to complement the 2023 CRU Highlands Select Chardonnay, which comes primarily from the Smith-Lindley vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands. It was fermented in stainless steel, and presents notes of apricot, apple and a whisper of pineapple. 

Gilbert says the recipes came in from all over California, including the Central Valley, Monterey and the southern Central Coast. She and her team at CRU narrowed the entries down to two: and those home chefs went all out to show off their very different and delicious versions for a very receptive crowd at CRU Vineyards & Winery’s tasting room in Soledad on Saturday, Sept 21.  

A stellar day with pristine views across the Salad Bowl of The World provided the backdrop for the contest. There were more winners than trophies, and as the MC and musician for the day, Whitney Brandt, proclaimed, we are all winners here!

The three judges included newly minted Monterey Winegrowers Association executive director Helena Walsh, along with Margot Kandarian of Flying Color Oysters (a popup oyster bar out of Los Osos) and myself. While there were no oysters featured at this particular feast, Margot is an expert on raising oysters, having worked for Morro Bay Oyster Company and we learned a lot about these mollusks.

The two home chefs who presented their recipes to the public for the first time were understandably under a bit of pressure, but neither one showed it. Their chowders were both righteous and flavorful, and one was the winner, by unanimous decision, based on the criteria by which we were asked to judge: creativity, presentation and pairing with the chosen wine. 

After much discussion, the overall contest winner was Marilynne Manfredi from Visalia, who grew up in Sanger, and has amazing knife skills, along with a patient husband who is her chief taster. She was calm and collected while assembling her chowder and sipping her wine, never even donning an apron. 

“My chowder recipe was always based on kielbasa,” Manfredi told us. “But when we went to the CRU tasting room in Madera and tried a Chardonnay with an apricot chicken jalapeño sausage, we both loved the combination so much, that when the chowder contest was announced, I thought, ‘Why not?!’” 

She went to visit the butcher shop (Chase’s Chop Shop in Madera) where the sausage was made and put together a batch of chowder. Despite the heat of the summer, she got two thumbs up from hubby and entered the contest.

The execution of the winning chowder was gorgeous, with the precision of the vegetables a thing to behold. You’d think she had a Michelin level prep cook helping her in the kitchen, but no, she has nothing fancier than a set of knives from Costco. My Mom always said that all you really need in a kitchen is a good paring knife, a tomato knife and a cleaver.

The chowder was light in weight to compliment the unoaked wine, and it was filled with potato and carrot, along with fresh corn and bits of sausage. Each vegetable-packed bite was perfect in its balance of flavor and satiation level. This is the chowder you want to mark the end of summer when corn is making its exit, even though her recipe indicates frozen corn can be used. See winning recipe below.

The runner up chowder, Blushing Gnocchi Clam Chowder by Lauren Barisic, was richly brothed, and a true taste of autumn, with mushrooms, mini cheese gnocchi, sausage balls, chopped tomato, corn, parmesan cheese, pickled fennel, parsley, tarragon and topped with garlic and parmesan oyster crackers. That recipe will publish in Friday’s Edible Monterey Bay newsletter. We declared it a perfect pairing with the 2021 Sarmento Pinot Noir, which happened to be the top selling wine of the day. 

CRU had a wine station set up where attendees could taste through the current lineup, along with two caterer stations, serving their executions of the recipes provided by the two finalists, so that Marilyn and Lauren did not have to make enough to feed the crowd. The caterers, Phresh Food Inc. (San Luis Obispo) and A Party for Your Palate (Monterey), also made their very own chowders to share: we scored those recipes as well and will be posting them. The ladies at Phresh Food also put out quite a spread of shrimp ceviche, chipotle dusted bacon popcorn, along with a variety of breads topped with butter and special seasoning salts.

To say it was a flavorful day would be selling it short. Hopefully, CRU will host something like this again, as it was a winning formula of wine, food, music and fun.

Congratulations to the contestants and to winner Marilynne Manfredi! 

Chicken, Apricot and Jalapeño Sausage Chowder

Courtesy Marilynne Manfredi

½ pound Chicken Apricot Jalapeño Sausage – about 2 sausages*This is a fresh chicken sausage so squeeze it out of the casing and break up to cook*
2 tablespoon butter
½ cup celery, small dice
½ cup carrot, small dice
½ cup onion, small dice
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 cups chicken broth
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 cups Yukon gold potatoes, small cubes (Peeling optional)
10 ounce package frozen/2 cups fresh corn kernels
2 ½ – 3 cups whole milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I use Kerrygold Dubliner Cheddar)
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
3 sprigs fresh thyme

| INSTRUCTIONS |

1. In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Remove sausage from casing and crumble into pan, add onion, garlic, carrot and celery. Stir often and cook until the sausage is done, about 7 minutes.

2. Add the chicken broth, potatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to simmer. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

3. When the potatoes are fork tender, add the frozen corn and stir well. Turn the heat down to low. Add 2 ½ cups milk and cheese. Stir well making sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan and cheese is melted. Add the parsley and thyme sprigs. Continue to stir until everything is heated through, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining milk if needed.

4. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Remove the thyme sprigs and serve. Serves 6-8.
 
* Sausage was purchased from Chase’s Chop Shop meat market in Madera (chaseschopshop.com; 559-674-6247).Feel free to substitute the Chicken Apricot Jalapeño Sausage with another chicken variety and flavor combination.