Rachael Ray's Secret Ingredient

The Food Network superstar has ten cookbooks, four TV shows and a brand-new magazine. What makes her so hot?

By Bob Spitz

From Reader's Digest

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Demystifying Food

This just in: Rachael Ray, wildly popular TV cook who's never at a loss for words, has been struck speechless. Eyewitness accounts report that one word silenced the gabby Food Network star: figs. Well, almost one word. An intrepid admirer inquired which kind of figs Ray used in her recipe for Montepulciano chicken -- calimyrna or black mission -- and an unprecedented silence ensued. For about three seconds. Ray shot her visitor an incredulous look, then managed a nifty recovery. "What kind of figs?" she stammered. "Why, grocery-store figs, of course!"

That's as complicated as cooking gets with Rachael Ray, 37, author of 30-Minute Meals and $40 a Day, who disdains the pretensions associated with the gourmet food universe. "I have a certain rule," she explains during a recent stove-top session in a sweltering Manhattan loft kitchen. "If I can't find an ingredient on an upstate New York grocery store shelf, I take it out. Simple as that. And when I write a cookbook, if I need an unusual spice in a recipe, I make sure I use it in six more recipes so that people won't get stuck with things they will never use again."

Such is the down-to-earth approach that Ray has perfected, drawing legions of faithful viewers to her TV shows, and something she hopes to expand on in her new magazine, Every Day With Rachael Ray. Published by the Reader's Digest Association, it hits the newsstands in October. "The magazine is where it will all come together," she says, "everything I've been working toward for the past four years. I want people to be more adventurous in the kitchen without having to worry about fussy details -- without being intimidated. And I intend to simplify the process for them with useful information, great recipes and simple preparations."

It seems so ridiculously, well, simple. Her idea is to make the kitchen a more interactive workplace and to demystify the process of throwing together a fabulous-tasting meal. No question, she's revolutionized everyday cooking by making it look easy. No fancy chopping methods, no exact measurements (she says measuring ingredients "would feel too much like science class"). Her inventive recipes satisfy time and budget constraints without skimping on taste.

Which brings us back to the silky-rich Montepulciano chicken that simmers noisily on a back burner of the stove. It's a one-two-three-step dish she created in honor of her wedding to John Cusimano, lead singer for The Cringe. The event took place in Italy in September, and will be featured in an upcoming issue of the magazine. "This was intended as a variation on coq au vin, but John told me I couldn't do that in 30 minutes; it was a whole-day affair," Ray says, rolling her eyes with exaggerated exasperation. "So I just cut some corners and threw in grocery-store figs to thicken it and give it sweetness."

The process, as she barrels through it, resembles one of her inimitable shows: straightforward, slightly irreverent, and seemingly off-the-cuff. But behind the scenes, Rachael Ray is a whirligig, everywhere at once -- furiously prepping vegetables, swigging bottled water, feeding the crew, gabbing on a cell phone that seems to be permanently attached to her ear, rummaging through a wardrobe for an upcoming costume change. New book projects beckon, the fifth year of her TV shows demand attention, and the magazine photo shoot is exhausting. It's a torrid pace, and Ray has a very hard time staying focused on any one thing, although she rejects the suggestion that she is spread too thin.