Good Earth Good Eats

Take a group of friends, add delicious food, pour a good bottle of wine and sprinkle generously with laughter. My recipe for good times.

Nicolette Novak, The Good Earth Hostess

Nicolette's philosophy of life certainly came out this afternoon during a cooking class at the Good Earth Food and Wine Co.


What could be more conducive to good cooking than a setting of Niagara Peninsula's vineyards and orchards on a Fall afternoon?


Chef Ross Midgley created an outstanding meal that could (in theory) be replicated at home. He is the executive chef and owner of the Kitchen House Restaurant, which I hope to visit soon.


Our first course was soft goat cheese floating on root vegetable 'fettuccine' (with celery root, carrot, parsnip, butternut squash and turnip) all on a base of arugula. Greenlane Estate Winery's Sauvignon Blanc paired ever so well with all the various flavours. I was in heaven. We were off to a great start.


The BIGGEST sea scallop I've ever seen was served atop a shredded Waldorf salad and topped with mushroom pesto made from the gills of portabella mushrooms. The meat of the mushroom cap was chopped for the main course. This dish was very tasty and I could sense how good the mushroom pesto would taste on pasta too. "Twisted" wine produced by Flat Rock Cellars matched the flavours nicely.


Chef Ross cures his own bacon and treated us to a large slab in his Split Pea Soup. I'll be making this heart-warmer very soon.


Chef Ross' adaptation of tenderloin of beef "Wellington" placed the succulent beef on top of a pillow of mushroom duxelles in puff pastry and blanketed with veal jus. All I can say is, "WOW".


A spicy flourish ended the meal with pumpkin fritters. Think of it: pumpkin, sour cream, brandy, maple syrup, orange zest, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Yummy.