A Taste of the Holidays: Local Recipes to Make Your Season Merry

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped pecans divided
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup Hawksview honey
• 3 large local eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Chalice Spices’ ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon Chalice Spices’ ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups Honeycrisp apples peeled & chopped from Meleg’s Orchard

Honey Caramel Sauce

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup local butter
• ¼ cup Hawksview honey
• ¼ cup heavy cream or half and half from Kawartha Dairy

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 12- cup bundt pan {or spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray} and sprinkle bottom of pan with ¼ cup of chopped pecans.
2. In a medium bowl, beat sugar, oil and honey until combined. {Note: This batter is going to be thick so a hand mixer or stand mixer is the best bet here.}
3. Add eggs one at a time, making sure each is well incorporated after each addition.
4. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gradually add to wet mixture until just incorporated. Like I said, it’s a super-thick batter, so make sure there are no pockets of flour hiding, but also try not to overmix.
5. Fold in vanilla, remaining ¾ cup chopped pecans and chopped apples — this part can be done by hand, but it’ll take some muscle!
6. Spoon mixture evenly over pecans in pan. Bake at 350° for 65-75 minutes. Note: This cake browns very quickly due to the high sugar content. If you notice that it’s looking like it might burn, loosely place a piece of foil on top to prevent over-browning.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 20-30 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to remove from pan. When the cake is slightly cooled, pour ½ cup honey sauce over top.
8. Serve the remaining honey sauce with each slice of cake.

For sauce:

1. Bring sugar, butter and honey to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for about 3-4 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and carefully add cream {it will bubble quite a bit}, and stir until the mixture looks uniform and is slightly thickened. {For a thicker sauce, allow to cool before drizzling.}
3. Place the cooled cake on a cooling rack on top of a baking pan. Drizzle some of the sauce over bundt cake. Allow to set slightly before transferring cake to a serving dish or cake plate.

Variations:

• Swap pecans for walnuts.
• Try different types of apples such as Granny Smith, Fuji or Golden Delicious.
• Switch up the spices! Try adding a bit of ground cloves, allspice or cardamom for a different flavor.
• Don’t feel like making caramel? Try serving the cake with a sprinkle of powdered sugar instead.
• For Gluten Free Version: Try using cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend for a gluten-free version. (Note: I have not tried this specifically for this recipe, but I imagine it should work fairly well.)
• For Dairy-Free Version: This recipe is naturally dairy-free when served without the caramel sauce. You can also try making the caramel sauce with dairy-free creamer, coconut milk or serve with store-bought dairy free caramel.
• For Nut-free Version: Omit the pecans for a completely nut-free version.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp Fruit Wagon original apple cider vinegar
• 500g ricotta cheese
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tbsp smoked honey or regular honey
• 3 large Silken apples, sliced in 1/4 inch rounds, seeds removed
• 1 Harrow Crisp pear, slice lengthwise in 1/4 inch slices, seeds removed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp water (egg wash)
• sesame seeds (optional)

Galette Dough

• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup full fat sour cream

Preparation

Galette dough

Pulse all-purpose flour and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; drizzle with lemon juice and add sour cream Mix with a fork, until dough comes together; lightly knead until no dry spots remain and dough is smooth. Pat into a disk and wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour.

Filling

• In a sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions  and sauté for 7-8 minutes until onions have turned golden. Add vinegar and season with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper. stir and sauté for another 1-2 minutes until caramelized. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta, 1 tbsp thyme, 1 tbsp honey and remaining  salt and pepper.
• Place apples and pear slices in a bowl, toss with remaining holes and thyme.
• Preheat oven to 375F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and let rest to soften for a few minutes. Dust clean surface with flour and roll out dough to 14 inches round with even thickness.
• Carefully transfer to lined backing sheet. Spread ricotta cheese evenly on dough, leaving about 2 inches around the edges. Spread onions evenly on ricotta and lay pears and apples evenly and slightly overlapping onto. Drizzle any juices from the bowl onto.
• Fold in the sides just enough to meet up with the apples and pears to make a frame around the them.
• Brush the frame of the dough with the egg wash and sprinkle the sesame seeds ( if using) on top of egg wash around the pastry frame.
• Place in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 45-50 minutes until crust is dark golden and fruit has softened. Let cool for 5 minutes prior to serving. You can also drizzle additional honey on top.

SERVINGS 6-8 | PREP & COOK TIME 1.5 hour + chilling time

• Ingredients:
  • 1 large butternut squash
  • 3 medium apples
  • 2 large spanish onions
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp chopped thyme
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup of butter
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 1 litre heavy cream
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • salt to taste

Directions:

1. Cut butternut squash in half and remove seeds. Lightly rub with oil and season with salt. Roast on 375°F for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check it is fork tender with some caramelization on the squash. Remove and let cool. Once cool, remove skin and set aside.
2. Dice onions and in a large pot sauté low and slow until onions are caramelized.
3. Dice apple and add to pot once onions are caramelized. Cook for a few minutes.
4. Add diced garlic, thyme, cinnamon to pot and stir for a few minutes until aromatic and fragrant.
5. Deglaze pot with apple juice and cook down liquid by half.
6. Add your processed butternut squash to the pot and then your heavy cream.
7. Bring to a boil then let simmer for at least 1 hour on low.
8. To finish blend in a high-speed blender or use an immersion blender. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Adjust consistency if needed.

Your soup can be garnished with many things, this recipe chose to go with toasted pumpkins seeds, creme fraiche, goat cheese pickled apples, and pea shoots.

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium medium-high heat.
2. Add the onions and generously season with salt. Cook for about 30 minutes or until the onions are caramelized and jammy, stirring occasionally. Pour in balsamic vinegar & cook for another minute. Transfer to a plate. Allow to cool slightly. Take half of the cooled caramelized onion & chop.
3. Preheat the oven to 410 degrees F
4. In a large bowl combine the ground beef, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, parsley, salt & pepper. Add in the chopped caramelized onions. Mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
5. Shape into meatballs 1-2 inches. Place the meatballs into the same skillet. Add in a couple Tbsp beef tallow & bake for 12 minutes.
6. Remove the skillet from the oven. Whisk together the beef broth with the flour in a small bowl. Pour the mixture into the skillet with the meatballs, add in the remaining caramelized onions and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Serve immediately with crusty bread.

Instructions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat then stir in garlic and bell pepper stirring constantly for 2 minutes
3. Add Majanna’s Mediterranean Hot Peppers and Butcher of Kingsville Italian Sausage
4. Stir for two minutes
5. Add white wine, salt, pepper and Majanna’s Tomato Basil Sauce and bring to a boil
6. Remove from heat.
7. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add to the tomato mixture stirring to coat.
8. Serve topped with grated parmesan

Serves 4