Garden State on Your Plate tastings

Chef Gary Giberson, of Sustainable Fare and Lawrenceville School, is cooking up New Jersey's famous corn from Oak Grove Plantation in Pittstown for April's Garden State on Your Plate events. 

Parents are invited to join their children for polenta tastings during lunchtime on Wednesday, April 6, at Community Park Elementary School, and on Wednesday, April 13, at Littlebrook Elementary School.

He will be serving two versions, a sweet and savory. He suggests topping the sweet version with fruit puree or jam, and the savory version with stew, tomato sauce or pesto. Here are the recipes:

Chef Gary’s Sweet Creamy Polenta (Gary Giberson, Sustainable Fare)

Makes 12 four-ounce portions

• 4 cups water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup cornmeal (yellow or white)
• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a heavy bottom 4-quart saucepan.
2. Add sugar and cream.
3. Whisking constantly, add cornmeal in a slow steady stream until all is incorporated.
4. Add butter, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir with a wooden kitchen spoon until well incorporated.
5. Lower heat and continue cooking, stirring with spoon until consistency is dense but still pourable (around 10 minutes). 
6. Serve by placing in a large bowl and garnish by drizzling with raspberry sauce or other fruit sauce.

Chef Gary’s Creamy Polenta

Makes 12 four-ounce portions

• 4 cups water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup cornmeal (yellow or white)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Bring water to boil in a heavy bottom 4-quart saucepan.
2. Add salt and cream.
3. Whisking constantly, add the cornmeal in a slow steady stream until all is incorporated.
4. Add butter, and stir with a wooden kitchen spoon until well incorporated.
5. Lower heat and continue cooking, stirring with spoon until consistency is dense but still pourable (around 10 minutes). 
6. Remove heat and stir in parmesan cheese.
7. Serve by placing in a large bowl and garnish by drizzling with basil pesto or other savory sauces.

— Gary Giberson, Sustainable Fare & the Lawrenceville School

Monday, March 7, 2011. At a recent teacher-garden workshop hosted by the Princeton Public Library, Sharon Goldman, principal at Community Park Elementary School, explained her evolution to enthusiastic booster of the gardens and food-based learning. The workshop, conducted by Dorothy Mullen and Diane Landis of the Princeton School Gardens Cooperative, drew 80 participants from the mid-Atlantic region.