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Great meals for great causes

‘Tis the season for farm-to-table dinners

By Bernadette Suski-Harding, Special Writer
If you’re a foodie with a soft spot for socially responsible organizations, instead of simply writing a check and being done with it, why not enjoy an evening out?
In September and October, caterers and chefs from the area’s top restaurants will prepare elaborate farm-to-table meals using freshly picked, locally sourced ingredients. Here is a roundup of some of the dinners coming to the area.
Sunday, Sept. 14
Starting at 4 p.m., at Blue Moon Acres Farm in Pennington, enjoy a farm-to-table dinner prepared by Chef Max Hansen of Bucks County.
Themed "A Rice Sagra" — or "Sagra del a Riso," after the tradition where an Italian village celebrates the harvest of a specific crop with a big community meal and festival, this dinner will feature several dishes made with the certified organic rice grown and harvested in small batches at Blue Moon Acres.
Enjoy a local artisan cheese-and-appetizer spread, Blue Moon vegetable crudités and rice balls, salad with baby leaf lettuce and tomatoes, locally baked bread, risotto made with Blue Moon Arborio rice, pilaf made with Blue Moon long-grain brown rice, Griggstown chicken, Blue Moon rice pudding, bent spoon sorbet, and Laurie’s dark chocolate-and-peanut butter bark.
Beverages include beer from Flying Fish Brewery, wine from Unionville Vineyards, Italian juices and club soda from Organic Volcano, and freshly brewed iced and hot tea and coffee.
Benefiting from the event is the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. A silent auction will feature an array of products (restaurant gift certificates, private cooking lessons, acupuncture treatments and more), plus a private concert with the violist performing during the event’s cocktail hour.
Tickets cost $125 per person, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. To purchase tickets, contact Natalie Rockwell at [email protected], or call 609-737-8333.
Sunday, Sept. 28
At the Grand Colonial at 86 Route 173 West in Hampton, beginning at 5 p.m, enjoy a full-course dinner where local farm-fresh food takes center stage.
Chefs Christine Ayres from the Grand Colonial, Ed and Amy Coss from the Milford Oyster House, Jonas Gold from 55 Main, Matt McPherson from Matt’s Red Rooster Grill and Susan Peterson from Teaberry’s Tea Room will combine their formidable talents, using local food provided by the farmers who make the Land Trust’s Sunday morning farmers market such a success.
Produce and ingredients for the dinner will be provided by Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse, Comeback Farm, Fulper Farms, Hollandview Farm, Milford Farms, Phillips Farms and Purely Farm.
The event includes a cocktail hour and silent auction.
Tickets cost $125 each, and all proceeds benefit the Hunterdon Land Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving farmland and open space in Hunterdon County.
To reserve a seat, contact Christine Dimas, [email protected], or call 908-237-4582.
Sunday, Oct. 5
At Duke Farms Coach Barn, on Route 206 in Hillsborough, beginning at 5 p.m, celebrate the season with a Harvest Dinner featuring food and drink from New Jersey’s finest restaurants and gourmet caterers. Enjoy handcrafted hors d’oeuvres; a cheese tasting bar by Cherry Grove Farm; wines from Alba Vineyards; seasonal craft beers; and tastings from New Jersey’s finest farm-to-table restaurants, among them Princeton’s Agricola, Dean’s Natural Food Market, DISHcatering, Kuzina, The Ryland Inn, Lovin’ Oven and Teressa Café. Staff from each participating restaurant sets up a cooking station where they prepare and display their culinary talents, and share with participants foods made with freshly harvested ingredients.
Guests will have the opportunity to mingle, chat with the chef and staff, and ask about the dishes and preparation techniques.
After dinner, enjoy a dessert room featuring sweets from The Dessert Plate, chocolates from Donna & Co., Jersey City’s Milk Sugar Love organic ice cream and organic coffee from The Coffee Scoop. There also will be live music by local artists, and a silent auction.
Tickets are $75 per person before Sept. 30, and $90 per person after. This is the only fundraiser held by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFA-NJ), and proceeds help fund educational programs and training workshops for farmers, gardeners and anyone in the community who is concerned about the purity of the food system.
To reserve tickets, contact Nita Melancon at [email protected], or call 908-371-1111.