UW grad has appetite for success

Susan Troller — 8/22/2008 3:31 pm

Even a rising young star on the Food Network met her culinary match when she tried to grill an octopus.

"It was tough as a tire," said Mary Nolan, a 2004 University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism graduate, and host of the new series, "Chic & Easy," which airs locally at 8:30 a.m. on Sundays on the Food Network, which Charter subscribers can find on Ch. 38.

Plenty of chefs have their own kitchen disaster stories, but fortunately for Nolan, she's had a string of exciting successes lately.

Nolan, 26, landed her first post-college job at Gourmet magazine in New York City immediately after graduation. While living in one of the culinary epicenters of the world, she enrolled in Manhattan's Institute of Culinary Education, and made a homemade tape of herself as an entry to the Food Network's reality competition, "The Next Food Network Star."

The tape didn't get her on the reality show. Instead, the network approached her to get started right away on a pilot series of her own. She had no prior experience on television.

"It's been really exciting, and I honestly couldn't have imagined this would have happened like this," she said.

The first of six "Chic & Easy" pilot episodes debuted on May 18.

In one episode, Nolan creates a posh indoor picnic for a group of friends. The menu includes deviled eggs, Cuban steak sandwiches and watermelon enlivened with the flavors of mint, balsamic vinegar and feta cheese.

"I love to entertain, and you can't go wrong when you start with great, seasonal ingredients and some imaginative menus," she said. "I like to add something unique or unexpected. Those are often easy things that really make an impression."

In fact, all the episodes of "Chic & Easy" are based on Nolan's own entertaining interests. Assisted by the Food Network staff, Nolan refined and developed her own themes for the show (like "Movie and a meal with Mary," or "Team bonding brunch") and then applied a menu and recipes to the concepts.

"Each segment is applicable to real life, and it's what I genuinely do," she said.

A native of Davenport, Iowa, Nolan has a long resume of cooking experience that began with her mother, Patricia Nolan, a self-taught cook who mentored her in the kitchen.

"I can't remember a time when I wasn't cooking with her. She was always willing to let me have a hand in helping put meals on the table," Nolan said.

Nolan also had access to her grandparents' nearby farm, and learned to appreciate fresh ingredients.

In college, in addition to her journalism classes, Nolan took food science and nutrition, as she was interested in some kind of career that involved food and cooking.

She worked as a waitress for three years at Biaggi's and further refined her Italian cooking sensibilities when spent a semester in Italy as a student.

"It was part of a UW program where a whole group of students lived in a villa in the countryside. The meals were to die for, and the woman who cooked for us was willing to give us some cooking classes. Just basic things like lasagna and Bolognese sauce, but the key was the use of the seasonal ingredients," Nolan said.

Nolan was also inspired during her years in Madison by the Dane County Farmers' Market and its locally grown produce. The market was just a few blocks from the house she lived in with six roommates on West Washington Avenue.

Each time her father, a beekeeper, and her mother, the avid cook, came to Madison, they made a point of trekking around the Capitol Square on Saturday to see what was in season.

"We'd figure out what we were going to fix for dinner based on what was available and what looked delicious," she said. She said she still loves coming back to Madison to visit a sister who lives here, and still loves the farmers' market.

Even as a college student, she was regularly asked to help cook or plan menus for friends' parties and showers.

An internship at Madison Magazine led to a foot in the door at Gourmet, but she missed cooking, so she decided to try culinary school.

One of the most rewarding experiences in New York was teaching a cooking class to homeless people who were moving into single occupancy residences and learning to cook for themselves.

"It was my first teaching experience. They were an incredibly supportive, appreciative audience," Nolan said.

She called the course "One-burner Wonders'" and it was designed to demonstrate simple meals with an absolute bare bones budget and equipment.

"When you cook for any audience, you learn to get very organized and you learn to plan ahead. And, you want it to be entertaining, not just informative," she said.

That ability to roll with whatever happens in the kitchen helped Nolan survive the notorious octopus debacle, one culinary disaster she laughs about now.

She tried to make the dish during a visit to her aunt and uncle's house in Texas. Nolan had been raving about the fabulous Greek restaurants in her Astoria, Queens, neighborhood, so her aunt suggested she make marinated octopus.

But the young cook said she was a little doubtful, because she had never made it. Worse, the critter came frozen in a block of ice.

"We had to boil it before we could even get it thawed, and then I was trying to peel off all this purple skin. When it was finally time to put it on the grill, my uncle was more than grossed out by the tentacles.

"By the time I served it, none of us were really very hungry. We cut it up in these tiny pieces, and, seriously, it was like chewing on tires," she said with a laugh.

It will come as no surprise that none of the "Chic & Easy" episodes feature octopus.

RECIPES

Watermelon with Balsamic and Feta

Recipe courtesy Mary Nolan

1/4 cup good-quality balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

8 (roughly 4- by 2-inch) pieces seedless watermelon

4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

2 tablespoons shredded mint leaves

In a small saucepan, whisk together the balsamic vinegar and sugar. Cook over medium heat until reduced by half and syrupy, about 4 minutes.

Stack 2 pieces of watermelon on each plate and drizzle with the balsamic reduction. Sprinkle with feta cheese and mint and serve.

Yield: 4 servings