Friday October 10, 2025

Shop Local, Feast Local: 5 Recipes for a Homegrown Holiday Table

Original blog by Tourism Windsor Essex

Recipes worth making and eating! Eat local and eat fresh with these dishes and desserts provided by Windsor Essex businesses.

Many of the ingredients listed below can be found at local markets. Visit weheartlocal.ca for a list of businesses offering the freshest local ingredients to whip up the most delicious recipes! Pick up your vegetables, fruit, meats and other items to see just how local you can make the following dishes!

Beef Tallow Chocolate Chip Cookies from: Denver’s Homestead

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup of melted beef tallow
  • 3/4 cup of brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup of white sugar
  • 2 Farm Fresh large eggs from Denver’s Homestead
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1 + 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips


Morrocan Lamb from: Mezzo Ristorante & Lounge

Reduction:

  • 1 large white onion…or 3 shallots (peeled & diced0\1 tsp. butter)
  • 1 tbsp canola or olive oil
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 200ml balsamic vinegar
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 2 tbsp nutella – (it’s a lot easier than milling bittersweet chocolate with butter!)
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 1 sprig thyme

Morrocan Spice:

  • ½ tsp. dried clove
  • ½ tsp. dried cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp cardamom 2 tsp. brown sugar
  • Pinch of salt

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup from: Oxley Estate Winery

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

French Onion Meatballs from: Trimble Cattle Co.

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 large yellow onions, halved & thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 lb Trimble Farms ground beef (or primal ground blend)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 large egg
  • 2-3 Tbsp parsley
  • 1/2 tsp salt & pepper
  • 2-3 Tbsp Trimble Farms Tallow
  • 1 3/4 C Trimble Farms Beef Bone Broth
  • 1 Tbsp flour

Black Truffle Sacchetti from: Vittorio’s Trattoria

Ingredients:

  • Your favourite pasta (we used Black Truffle Sacchetti)
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 6 – 8 Sage leaves (The Fruit Wagon)
  • 2 cloves Chopped garlic (Kranicz Orchard)
  • Salt & pepper (Windsor Salt)
  • Lemon zest to taste
  • Parmesan cheese (Galati Cheese)

Cocktail Recipes

Looking to take things up a notch with a pre-dinner cocktail? Head to our Locally Inspired Cocktails blog post for four perfectly crafted cocktail recipes to serve this holiday season using locally distilled whisky!

Find recipes from:

  • Blind Owl
  • Erie St. Gastropub
  • Funky Chow Kitchen
  • Maiden Lane Wine & Spirits
  • Wolfhead Distillery

Click here for full recipes. 


Wine Pairings

Having trouble figuring out what wine to serve this holiday? Make things a bit more joyous with our pairing guide featuring options from local wineries. Find more seasonal suggestions at visitwindsoressex.com/wine.

Poultry

Meat

Vegetarian

Sweets


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