‘Dead Celebrity’ chef and author Frank DeCaro says his series’s latest incarnation is about spreading the love for deceased entertainers through their favorite foods — with a holiday twist.  

The Protagonist does not shy away from dark and morbid content, which is why my ears perked when I heard about comedic entertainer Frank DeCaro’s Dead Celebrity Cookbook series.

DeCaro emphasizes, however, the series is more about promoting great performers than capitalizing on their deaths, a shock-value title or even the very recipes themselves.

DeCaro said he’s regularly frustrated at the younger generation’s lack of awareness about some of entertainment’s greatest deceased stars. He sees his project as a “spoonful of sugar” in making sure certain important names are remembered well after their time.

“I wanted to be able to pass along some pop culture history and so that was part of it,” he said, of the series’s origin. “You need to know who these people are — if Lady Gaga can know who Liberace is, so can you.”

“If a show meant a lot to me, I’d slip in a recipe,” he explained. “Even if it only had one deceased star.”

I asked DeCaro if including a recently deceased performer ever struck him as taboo or if his books garnered any negative reactions for their grimness.

“Once they go, I want to get them in the book,” he added, emphasizing it’s never “too soon,” especially since his series is all about paying tribute. The reactions from readers have been overwhelmingly positive as well. “Joey Arias was so happy I included Klaus Nomi,” he said. “Everyone in the book is someone I admire.”

Following the success of the original Dead Celebrity Cookbook, DeCaro is releasing The Dead Celebrity Cookbook Presents Christmas in Tinseltown: Celebrity Recipes from Six Feet Under the Mistletoe just in time for the holidays.

The holiday edition will feature recipes from stars who have passed, like Dick Clark, Robert Mitchum and several recipes from Miracle on 34th Street actors. DeCaro said the film was a jackpot in terms of celebrity recipes.

As evidence this book is largely about paying homage to entertainment greats and little else, DeCaro concedes some of the recipes are actually downright disastrous. A few of the recipes’ names are even a giveaway to this end, such as Lucille Ball’s “Chinese-y thing.” (Just because you’re a great entertainer, doesn’t mean you’re a great cook or culinary innovator.)

“The recipe I always make fun of is Isabel Sanford’s Boston Chicken,” said DeCaro. The recipe’s sauce calls for Russian dressing, onion soup mix, pineapple and apricot jam.

“We call it Chicken a la Barf,” said DeCaro. He assured me it didn’t change his love for Isabel Sanford.

If anything, hopefully DeCaro’s book can humanize these stars a bit for readers too.

“There’s a recipe in the new book that’s just downright creepy,” added DeCaro, describing something like jelly consomme flakes in avocado. He made a retching noise over the phone as he described the recipe, and I was right there with him.

“But I love me some Bea Arthur,” he continued. “Even if you don’t try that recipe, you certainly need to watch the bootleg Star Wars holiday special.”

Of course the series also has its major culinary successes. One consistent favorite is Katharine Hepburn’s brownies from the original book.

“You don’t really want to eat Elvis’s peanut-butter-bacon-whatever,” DeCaro pointed out, “but people always say ‘make those [brownies] again.’”

Check out Frank DeCaro’s books for yourself: www.deadcelebritycookbook.com

‘THE CHEW’ CO-HOST DISHES ON LED ZEPPELIN, TAKE-OUT MENUS AND HER SIGNATURE MAC AND CHEESE BUNDLES

By Angela Barbuti

If you turn on The Chew each weekday afternoon, you will see Carla Hall’s warm personality, which she can’t help but blend into all that she cooks. Therefore, it is not surprising that the name of her new cookbook is Cooking with Love. The Southern-born 48-year-old lives on the Upper West Side, so if you see her, be sure to say, “Hootie Hoo,” the catchphrase she started during her days on Top Chef.

What was it like to write your first cookbook?
I knew it was going to be a lot of homework, and it was even more homework than I thought. When people used to come up to me and say, “Do you have a cookbook?” all I heard was, “Do you want more homework?” because I was already doing a lot of stuff. I had an amazing team. Genevieve Ko, the co-author, who I met through my literary agent, would always stick to the schedule and say, “just talk.” I would start talking, and all these memories would come back. It was really fun to do.

What are your favorite things about The Chew?
One of the things I love about the show is having certain celebrities come on and show skills that we don’t realize they have. And also, because there are five co-hosts, there are at least two different perspectives, sometimes five. I love it, because I think it empowers the audience, and shows there is not always one way to do something.

How was moving to New York?
I’m from Nashville, but live in D.C. My husband comes up every other weekend, and I’ll go home every other weekend. People forget how stressful it is to move. I had to find an apartment, my husband wasn’t here, and I had a new job— everything was changing. I like New York, but I think it can get a little busy for me. I make sure to not fall into the trap of doing something every minute, because there is something going on all the time.

What are you still getting used to here?
The thing about New York that I haven’t gotten into is that when I go to friends’ homes, they pull out a stack of menus. I can’t wrap my head around that, the delivery thing. It’s a culture very unique to New York. I have menus just to look through at home, then I’ll go out and get the food.

You were the executive chef in restaurants in Washington, D.C. Do you miss being in a restaurant setting?
You know what, I don’t. But I did a couple of pop-up dinners and I like going back to the kitchen—the buzz, putting out fires, the team coming together. But it’s hard—the daily grind and coming home smelling like onions.

Would you consider your break to be Top Chef?
Absolutely. I totally give all props, thanks and praise to Bravo and Top Chef. When I went on the show, I didn’t realize how popular it was; I was just going on for the personal challenge. I think I surprised myself; I’m sure I probably surprised the producers. For Top Chef All-Stars, winning Fan Favorite, I believe, was truly my big break. I think that’s when the executives from ABC saw me and suggested me for The Chew.

You are quoted as saying, “If you’re not in a good mood, the only thing you should make is a reservation.”
That’s just the way I look at life. My grandmother always told me, “Love what you do.” I was an accountant at Price Waterhouse. When I was working, I had this fear of being 40 and hating my job. I had modeled at Howard University and had met these girls who were going to Paris. So at 23, I quit my job and went. Some people would think it’s scary to go to a foreign country when you don’t even know the language, you have one phone number and you’re living in a hotel. For me it wasn’t scary, it was being 40, hating my job and being trapped. All my life, I’ve looked for the thing that makes me happy. I don’t care what you do—if you love something, you do a better job than someone who doesn’t want to do it.

THE FOODIE TALKS ABOUT CELEBRITY CHEFS SETTING HER KITCHEN ON FIRE, HER APPLE-ONION THANKSGIVING STUFFING AND MICHAEL J. FOX

By Angela Barbuti

Rachael Ray is an inspiration to home cooks everywhere, but the fact that she lives downtown gives New Yorkers a definite advantage. Neighbors go so far as to ask her what she’s cooking for dinner when they run into her. The 44-year-old has created a food empire encompassing a talk show, magazine, nonprofit organization and 21 cookbooks. Her newest book, My Year in Meals, hit shelves Nov. 13. When she is not writing recipes for her famous 30-Minute Meals, she is stirring up carbonara sauce for her husband, John.

What is a typical day like for you?
[Laughs] There are no typical days. But if we are taping the daytime show, I will get up around 5 a.m. and head to the gym, then start getting ready for the show. We typically tape between two to three shows during the day. At lunch, I will write some recipes for Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine or for an upcoming book. Then, after taping, I’ll head home and make dinner for John.

Walk us through the process of writing a cookbook.
I keep a notebook with me at all times, and when I have an idea or am inspired, I start jotting down recipes. Then I have to code them—“EDWRR” means it might work for the magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray, while “MYIM” means it would go in the new book My Year in Meals. I code them as the ideas come to me. For the books, I’m always working one or two concepts out so if a recipe doesn’t fit for this cookbook, it could roll over to someplace else. There’s always a home for it.

Your daytime television show, Rachael Ray, launched in 2006. Who has been your most memorable guest?
I can’t pick the most memorable. We’ve had so many seasons of amazing guests. I would have to say it’s a three-way tie between Michelle Obama, President Clinton and Michael J. Fox, who is my personal hero. Oh wait … Hugh Jackman and Ringo Starr were pretty amazing!

Any funny set stories that stand out?
One day the turntable that our audience sits on, allowing them to rotate to different parts of the set, broke down, so all of them had to get up and help us spin it around. There was another time when Emeril and Bobby Flay both set the kitchen set on fire.

What is your favorite dish to cook at home with your husband?
Carbonara—hands down—it’s his favorite.

What area of the city do you live in? What are your favorite places there?
I live below 14th Street and love being downtown. I’m always at the Union Square market and stores like John Derian.

Do people stop you in the city to discuss food?
Yes, all the time. My fans come up to me in the grocery store and say, “Hey Rach, do you know where the canned tomatoes are?” or “What are you making for dinner?”

What are your favorite restaurants and food stores in Manhattan?
My husband and I like eating pizza at Motorino. I love shopping in Chelsea Market where the Food Network is, especially Buon Italia, where I get a lot of groceries.

Where were you during hurricane Sandy?
The daytime show was dark that week, so I was already home with my family upstate.

What was it like to help the victims by working the ABC telethon?
It was great to be a part of it. The folks we were talking to on the phone were so happy to help. It was really empowering to see how people come together in times like these.

You also run a nonprofit, Yum-o! Please describe this organization and let readers know how they can help.
Yum-o! is a nonprofit organization that empowers kids and their families to develop healthy relationships with food and cooking by teaching families to cook, feeding hungry kids and funding cooking education and scholarships. Through our three core work areas of Cook, Feed and Fund, Yum-o! educates kids and their families about food and cooking by offering an interactive website that enables young cooks to get started in the kitchen and try out family-friendly recipes. We team up with partner organizations to feed hungry children, and fund innovative cooking programs in schools and give educational opportunities for kids who are interested in pursuing careers in the restaurant and food service industry. People can help by visiting www.yum-o.org.

You are known for your 30-Minute Meals. Which is your favorite?
That’s like picking your favorite kid!

What will be on the menu for your Thanksgiving dinner this year?
We usually make two smaller birds since they take less time to cook and we can sleep in. We make an apple and onion stuffing and mashed potatoes with parsnips.

You won the Outstanding Talk Show Emmy twice. Where are your awards?
Sitting in my office at the daytime show.

Who are your favorite celebrity chefs?
I can’t choose favorites. I love Mario and Bobby. Emeril is the greatest.

What are your future plans?
I haven’t planned anything to this point, so why start now?

Why do you think you have become so successful?
When you love what you do and work hard, it’s hard not to find success on some level.
To learn more about Rachael, visit www.rachaelray.com