Valuetainment - Episode 183： Princess Diana’s Favorite Recipe

00:00:00.440 30 seconds. One time for the underdog.

00:00:04.460 Ignition sequence start.

00:00:07.000 Let me see you put them up.

00:00:09.040 Reach the sky, touch the stars up above.

00:00:11.100 Cause it's one time for the underdog.

00:00:15.060 One time for the underdog.

00:00:17.320 Listen, I do want to give you a disclaimer before you listen to this sit down.

00:00:19.900 If you haven't eaten for the last two hours, you're about to get very, very hungry.

00:00:22.720 Because the person I'm sitting down with was a former chef to Princess Diana,

00:00:26.200 Queen of England, multiple different presidents.

00:00:29.020 Gives us two formulas, which one of them is Princess Diana's favorite dish

00:00:34.000 she would want him to make on a regular basis.

00:00:36.780 And we talk about some of the dynamics of what it takes to be a great chef.

00:00:40.500 So with that being said, here is Darren McGrady.

00:00:43.040 My friends will say, Pat's very simple.

00:00:45.080 Give him good food and he's happy.

00:00:47.180 So I decided to bring back my friend Darren McGrady.

00:00:51.460 It's great to have you in our home here.

00:00:52.520 Nice to be back.

00:00:53.300 Yes, we had a good time. The party was good.

00:00:55.420 We really did.

00:00:55.840 But we were kind of putting a lot of attention into the guests.

00:00:58.760 Today, we're going to put the attention into food and into the belly.

00:01:01.900 We love that.

00:01:02.720 We want to see what we can cook together.

00:01:04.180 If you don't know this man, he's cooked for Princess Diana.

00:01:07.680 He's cooked for the Queen.

00:01:09.220 You've been on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

00:01:10.820 Weren't you with Princess Diana for like four years or something?

00:01:13.060 Princess Diana for four years, right until the car accident.

00:01:15.460 11 years with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

00:01:18.340 Cooked for President Reagan, Clinton, Ford, both Presidents Bush.

00:01:22.220 And saved the best to last.

00:01:23.760 That's right.

00:01:24.320 And today, for Patrick May, David Value, tell me, you're going to be able to see the recipes.

00:01:28.380 So you mind if we look at your new book that just came out and decide what we want to come out with?

00:01:32.600 The Royal Chef.

00:01:33.940 These are your secret recipes that everybody has access to, right?

00:01:36.640 These are, yeah.

00:01:37.600 This one just came out.

00:01:38.680 So these are recipes from my 20 years that I've been here now.

00:01:43.280 These are recipes for every single season, every single event.

00:01:46.500 Whether it's a garden party or 4th of July or Thanksgiving, Easter, every single holiday, there's something to cook in there.

00:01:55.600 4th of July fireworks fiesta.

00:01:57.420 So you're specifically saying, here's what you could make on this day with everything being in there lined up.

00:02:02.360 These are foolproof recipes.

00:02:03.440 So we have this habit when we have friends and over of going to those tried and tested recipes.

00:02:11.580 And it's the same old, same old.

00:02:13.260 What I'm saying is, next time it's one of those holidays, whichever one it is, whether it's March Madness, whether it's Spring Break or Mardi Gras, go to this.

00:02:22.420 And these are foolproof recipes.

00:02:24.240 These are recipes I've been cooking for 20 years now.

00:02:27.020 So what are we going to be doing today?

00:02:28.480 What's the recipe today?

00:02:29.380 What I want to do is one recipe from this book and then one recipe from my first book.

00:02:34.380 The first book, Eating Royally, which is the name of my catering company in Dallas, is about my sort of 15 years with the royal family.

00:02:42.960 And one of my favorite dishes in there, the one I'm asked to do more than anything, is bread and butter pudding.

00:02:48.440 And that was Princess Diana's all-time favorite.

00:02:50.660 Bread and butter pudding.

00:02:51.620 Yeah, so it's not like the bread pudding that you have here, which is sort of really thick and really stodgy.

00:02:57.820 It's like a cross between a bread pudding and a crème brûlée.

00:03:01.280 And the reason being is because we just use egg yolks in there.

00:03:04.180 And then it has raisin soaked in amaretto, the almond liqueur, which sort of takes it to that next level.

00:03:10.000 So am I going to be able to do what you're doing?

00:03:12.400 Can you teach me on how to make this?

00:03:15.380 Maybe not as good as you, but can I make it?

00:03:17.460 Oh, if I can do it, you can do it.

00:03:19.100 I like that.

00:03:20.000 Okay, so I'm going to roll up my sleeves.

00:03:21.520 Sure.

00:03:22.060 And we'll get right into it.

00:03:23.080 So the dish we're making today, I heard lamb curry, something like that.

00:03:26.640 Yeah, so we'll do the bread and butter pudding from the first cookbook.

00:03:30.560 And then we'll do the lamb curry, because I wanted to sort of, I have one section on curries.

00:03:36.920 Prince Harry loves curries in the UK.

00:03:39.540 And so I have one section just on different types of curries.

00:03:42.380 So we're doing an English version of that.

00:03:44.540 Well, I'm a diehard curry guy, so I love curries.

00:03:46.780 Oh, this is an English one.

00:03:48.240 This will be a tough one.

00:03:49.120 This is a different one.

00:03:50.060 Yeah.

00:03:50.380 Okay, well, let's get right into it.

00:03:51.660 Okay.

00:03:55.540 So let's start off with the bread and butter pudding.

00:03:57.720 Okay.

00:03:57.920 And the bread and butter pudding, we start off with just egg yolks in there.

00:04:01.600 As I said, no whole eggs.

00:04:03.400 So that makes it slightly different.

00:04:05.660 Into that, we're going to add some cream and some milk, but we need to boil them first.

00:04:10.900 Then we've got the egg yolks there and some sugar going in there as well.

00:04:15.580 That's a lot of sugar. 0.99

00:04:16.400 It's about a teaspoon, right?

00:04:17.580 It takes a size teaspoon, right?

00:04:19.180 That's a good amount of sugar.

00:04:20.700 We really do eat well in the UK, but we die about 25.

00:04:24.260 And then once this milk and cream comes to the boil, then we're going to pour that into

00:04:29.540 there.

00:04:30.040 And while we're waiting for that to come to the boil, we'll start with the bread in the

00:04:34.560 bottom.

00:04:35.060 And this, again, is where it's different.

00:04:36.900 The American version of the bread and butter pudding is where they just start piling up

00:04:41.100 all that bread.

00:04:41.940 And once it's cooked, you can actually slice it.

00:04:44.340 So you get the best part, because this is my favorite part of bread that I shouldn't

00:04:47.900 be eating.

00:04:48.660 This was Princess Diana's favorite, and she'd just eat it in small portions.

00:04:53.160 Once you taste it, you'll see why she loved it so much.

00:04:56.600 Now, can I try once?

00:04:57.640 Yeah.

00:04:58.200 By the way, our dogs will eat these four pieces, no problem.

00:05:02.280 Then I noticed the way you did it, you just kind of spread it right on the plate.

00:05:06.260 Yeah.

00:05:06.540 And don't worry if it tears.

00:05:07.780 It's going in the bottom of the dish.

00:05:09.140 You won't see.

00:05:09.720 Okay, so you grab this, and then you just sprinkle that all the way on the bottom.

00:05:13.580 Okay.

00:05:14.200 And then on top of that, we've got the raisins soaked in amaretto.

00:05:17.500 Okay.

00:05:18.100 And I did those about half an hour ago, because I want them to really plump off.

00:05:21.940 So you want about half of those in here on the top, if you want to sprinkle those on.

00:05:26.280 With my hands?

00:05:27.180 Yeah, you can do it with your hands.

00:05:28.740 Yeah, you just wash your hands.

00:05:29.900 Half of them in there.

00:05:31.340 I like it.

00:05:32.340 So what is it mixed with?

00:05:33.420 What is this mixed with, you said?

00:05:34.520 This is amaretto, the almond liqueur.

00:05:36.700 Now, if you're cooking this for the kids, you can use just orange juice in there instead.

00:05:42.540 What we're trying to do is hydrate those raisins to make it really tasty. 0.68

00:05:46.120 But when we're just cooking for me and you, I want to add a little of this amaretto into there.

00:05:51.720 We put our next layer on there, so we go back to our bread again.

00:05:55.360 And this time, we're actually going to slice it, the crusts off.

00:06:02.220 And this time, this is what makes it different, what makes it English, is we actually use butter.

00:06:07.940 So we take some soft butter and actually butter the bread.

00:06:13.020 So it's a bread and butter pudding.

00:06:14.380 And then those, we go into half using unsalted butter on there.

00:06:19.360 Unsalted butter?

00:06:20.280 Yeah.

00:06:20.860 What's the reason for that?

00:06:22.100 We don't want the salty flavor to come through, so that's why we prefer to use unsalted in there.

00:06:27.080 And then those, we're cutting just in half.

00:06:29.260 Okay.

00:06:29.980 On the angle, like these.

00:06:31.980 Nice.

00:06:36.180 Prissy.

00:06:37.000 Right.

00:06:37.620 And now the milk's coming to the boil, the milk and cream.

00:06:40.100 So if you want to pour that into there for me, and I'll whisk.

00:06:44.660 So we've got the egg yolks, the sugar, cream and milk in there now.

00:06:49.120 You can smell it, by the way.

00:06:50.240 Doesn't it smell good?

00:06:51.080 Yeah, you smell it.

00:06:51.400 It smells amazing.

00:06:52.220 Yeah.

00:06:52.720 And then, the next stage, carefully, we just want to pour this mixture into our bread mix.

00:07:01.840 Carefully.

00:07:02.600 Let's see if we can do this carefully.

00:07:04.200 And this thing's pretty hot, so it's...

00:07:05.820 It is, yeah.

00:07:07.180 Am I putting it over the bread, or it doesn't matter?

00:07:09.000 All over.

00:07:09.480 Yeah.

00:07:10.100 You can smell that vanilla.

00:07:13.740 That's probably about enough.

00:07:14.760 We've got it all in.

00:07:15.620 Then, it's going to go into the oven, 350 degrees, for about 30 minutes or so.

00:07:21.140 Okay.

00:07:21.440 We just keep an eye on it.

00:07:22.480 We want it to jiggle, so that it's not sort of too overcooked.

00:07:26.180 If you're familiar with cooking like a creme brulee or something, that's the consistency we're looking for.

00:07:31.100 We don't want to overcook it.

00:07:32.740 So I'm going to put this in the oven now.

00:07:34.380 30 minutes.

00:07:35.160 30 minutes.

00:07:37.600 So that was it.

00:07:38.540 That took us like six minutes, seven minutes to make it.

00:07:40.680 Easy to make, right?

00:07:41.440 Yeah, that was amazing.

00:07:42.460 And two minutes to eat.

00:07:43.660 Two minutes to eat, yes.

00:07:45.220 While that's cooking in the oven, why don't we make the lamb curry?

00:07:47.900 Let's do it.

00:07:48.500 Okay.

00:07:48.640 So how was it like working with Princess Diana and, you know, working with the Queen for that entire time you were with them?

00:07:57.060 The first 11 years I was working with the Queen at Buckingham Palace and traveling around the world with her, wherever she went, to Sandringham, Windsor, Balmoral, the Royal Yacht Britannia, wherever it was in the world as well.

00:08:08.840 It was the most incredible time.

00:08:10.420 That's where I got to cook for all the different kings, queens, and presidents.

00:08:15.020 And everything was very formal.

00:08:17.720 But it was an incredible experience in the sense that the food had to be amazing.

00:08:23.660 Everything had to be perfect.

00:08:25.320 The china was sort of Mice and China from the 1900s. 0.79

00:08:28.940 Beautiful hand-painted china.

00:08:30.540 And everything was run to military precision.

00:08:34.020 When I moved to Princess Diana, it was much more relaxed.

00:08:36.900 And for her, she would come in the kitchen all the time and bring the boys in. 0.99

00:08:41.400 And I held Prince Harry as a baby while Princess Diana was eating cereals in the kitchen.

00:08:46.660 It's like, literally, I've got the crown jewels in my hand there.

00:08:52.800 Okay, so this is looking good, Darren.

00:08:54.720 Can you tell us what we have here?

00:08:56.100 So this is just a little preparation ahead of time for our curry.

00:08:59.920 Curry is super popular in the UK.

00:09:02.200 In fact, chicken tikka marsala is the UK's favorite dish now.

00:09:06.500 It used to be fish and chips in the old days.

00:09:08.780 But the tikka marsala is the favorite.

00:09:11.060 Now, that's slightly different from the old English-style curry.

00:09:15.040 And this curry is one that's sort of been made in England for hundreds of years now.

00:09:20.560 It comes from that sort of India when we sort of had the empire.

00:09:24.840 Can I smell it?

00:09:25.620 Yeah, sure.

00:09:26.380 So we have a curry powder, which is a ready-made mix.

00:09:29.920 Just for the UK and the US now, too.

00:09:32.900 And there's sort of turmeric in there.

00:09:35.140 And this is very similar to the garam masala, which they use in a lot of the Indian cooking, too.

00:09:41.520 This is a lot milder curry, but it's sort of a nice creamy sauce.

00:09:45.580 And in the UK, we'll do this with sort of chicken.

00:09:48.100 We'll do this with lamb and sometimes beef as well.

00:09:51.080 And it's super popular.

00:09:52.560 And then with that, I'm doing some rice, which is super easy to make.

00:09:55.820 When I'm cooking rice, it always gets sticky or overcooked.

00:09:59.540 The thing with rice is you do equal amounts of the rice.

00:10:02.960 So you do two to one with the rice and the water.

00:10:07.480 And then that just comes down perfect.

00:10:09.020 Two to one, two water to one of the rice. 0.94

00:10:11.080 Two to one of the rice, yeah.

00:10:12.580 And then what do we have here?

00:10:13.620 What's this?

00:10:13.940 And then here's some chicken bouillon, some broth, which is going to flavor the curry sauce.

00:10:19.760 And then I've got, we're doing a lamb curry today.

00:10:22.980 That's what I've got in my book.

00:10:24.980 We'll start off by getting the rice on the go.

00:10:28.800 So I want a little oil in the pan.

00:10:32.180 And then I'm going to put my rice in there.

00:10:34.420 And then I'm actually coating the rice in that little bit of oil.

00:10:40.240 And once that's in, I can add my water.

00:10:45.880 Give that a stir.

00:10:46.980 So what we do is bring that water or broth, whichever you want to use, to the boil.

00:10:52.160 Once it comes to the boil, we then turn it down low and pop a lid on it.

00:10:56.780 And then we leave it for 18 minutes.

00:10:59.880 18 minutes?

00:11:00.500 18 minutes.

00:11:01.280 It has to be 18 minutes.

00:11:02.120 Very precise, huh?

00:11:02.960 Exactly, yeah.

00:11:03.840 Never lift the lid.

00:11:05.100 If you lift the lid, the steam starts shooting out.

00:11:07.700 And we need that steam to sort of open those rice granules. 0.99

00:11:10.800 Now, why 18 minutes?

00:11:12.000 That's the perfect timing on opening the rice granules in this.

00:11:15.580 We've done so many tests on it.

00:11:16.980 Wow, interesting.

00:11:17.760 20 minutes too long.

00:11:19.000 Darren, let me ask you, what makes for a great chef?

00:11:21.440 Like, how much math has to do with being a great chef?

00:11:24.500 When I was at school, I knew I wanted to be a chef.

00:11:27.800 And I thought, okay, I want to be a chef.

00:11:31.500 I don't need English.

00:11:32.560 I don't need math.

00:11:33.680 All I need to do is cooking.

00:11:35.360 And that's all.

00:11:36.120 And I went for so long doing all of the, I'm not interested in the math, interested in the

00:11:41.980 English, until my mother, who was also a cook at a local hotel, she said, what happens when

00:11:48.360 you're writing menus and recipes?

00:11:50.420 What happens when you're timing recipes and you've got to do two times the recipe and things?

00:11:56.400 I mean, need to start knuckling down and learning how to do math and English.

00:12:01.480 So that's super important in there now, too, for sort of working out those times the recipes.

00:12:06.360 So math came next.

00:12:08.080 You first had the passion, then the math showed up.

00:12:09.620 The passion, and then the math, and then the English came in that, yeah, you know, I

00:12:13.820 need to do that.

00:12:14.560 And that came in later, too, for writing the book.

00:12:16.660 It's like, yikes, we need to do.

00:12:19.320 Once it comes to the boil, we'll turn it down low, pop the lid on.

00:12:22.880 So 18 minutes from the moment the lid goes on?

00:12:24.740 The lid goes on.

00:12:25.820 Yeah.

00:12:26.620 And then in the meantime, we'll start the curry.

00:12:28.880 Going to chop the onion.

00:12:30.960 You're just using that center part there.

00:12:36.740 You got good at most of it.

00:12:39.120 Haven't I?

00:12:39.540 Just those outside pieces.

00:12:40.640 I just want these nice pieces there.

00:12:42.480 And then I'm just going to chop this.

00:12:46.700 And the thing with chopping, it's important that you go down your knuckle when you're chopping.

00:12:51.080 Keep those fingernails tucked away. 0.96

00:12:53.640 Go down the knuckle. 0.98

00:12:54.380 Yeah.

00:12:54.600 So you can see there as I'm cutting down, my finger...

00:12:58.200 Is it angled a little bit or no?

00:12:59.640 No, straight down there.

00:13:00.920 Yeah, that's interesting.

00:13:01.760 Yeah.

00:13:02.040 So that when you're chopping, and most people are sort of cutting like this, and those fingernails...

00:13:06.440 Can I try?

00:13:06.860 It's like, out, out, sure.

00:13:07.960 Okay.

00:13:08.320 So you're a lefty.

00:13:09.620 I'm a lefty.

00:13:10.060 Right?

00:13:10.280 I'm a righty.

00:13:10.900 So you're doing this.

00:13:12.440 Yes, down there.

00:13:13.300 Okay.

00:13:13.560 So my style...

00:13:14.640 Let me see.

00:13:14.920 The way I typically do this like this...

00:13:16.360 You're saying don't do it like this.

00:13:17.360 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

00:13:20.160 Okay.

00:13:21.160 So, now how do you keep them though?

00:13:23.160 Is it like this or no?

00:13:24.360 What you can do now is take this part and turn it this way, and then cut down.

00:13:27.960 Same thing?

00:13:28.460 Yeah.

00:13:28.960 And then you don't do anything to it like this?

00:13:31.820 We can go in half, yeah, that way too.

00:13:33.260 Again, I...

00:13:34.260 Okay.

00:13:35.260 Yeah.

00:13:35.760 And this is rustic as well, you know, we're not doing sort of a fine, fine chop or anything

00:13:40.580 like that.

00:13:41.580 This is a rustic one.

00:13:42.580 So that's boiling.

00:13:43.580 Lid on.

00:13:44.580 Turn it down low.

00:13:45.580 18 minutes on low.

00:13:46.580 And yeah.

00:13:47.580 So that's down low now.

00:13:48.840 So we need to time that for 18 minutes, and then we'll be good.

00:13:52.500 And in the meantime, we can start the curry.

00:13:55.640 Got the 18 minutes started?

00:13:56.960 Okay.

00:13:57.960 All right, let's do this.

00:13:58.960 Clock.

00:13:59.960 18 minutes.

00:14:00.960 Okay.

00:14:01.960 There we go.

00:14:03.960 Okay.

00:14:04.960 The timer's on.

00:14:05.960 Excellent.

00:14:06.960 Okay.

00:14:07.960 Okay.

00:14:08.960 So while that, we're waiting for the rice, then we can take our onion and pop that in

00:14:14.760 there.

00:14:15.760 Now, you don't really worry about splitting up the onions that are like, just leave them

00:14:17.960 the way there.

00:14:18.960 No.

00:14:19.960 Once we start stirring away, that'll be fine.

00:14:20.960 Got it.

00:14:21.960 Yeah.

00:14:22.960 And then we can take our lamb, and I've got some leg of lamb that I've just sliced.

00:14:25.960 It's going to be a little bit easier.

00:14:26.960 And all I want from this is sort of little bite-sized pieces.

00:14:30.960 Got it.

00:14:31.960 And leave some of that fat on there too, because that gives you the flavor, right?

00:14:35.960 Yes.

00:14:36.960 Yeah.

00:14:37.960 It really does.

00:14:38.960 Washington Post came out with an article yesterday saying, it's not fat that's bad for

00:14:42.960 you, it's carbs.

00:14:43.960 I think so.

00:14:44.960 Yeah.

00:14:45.960 I agree with that.

00:14:46.960 Yeah.

00:14:47.960 I think bread is probably one of the worst things we have.

00:14:48.960 That's exactly what they said.

00:14:49.960 It says bread is the worst.

00:14:50.960 Yeah.

00:14:51.960 Yeah.

00:14:52.960 I think it is.

00:14:53.960 I want to start healthy eating.

00:14:55.960 I'd say, give up bread for a week.

00:14:58.960 It'll make a difference.

00:14:59.960 You'll lose guaranteed two or three pounds in a week.

00:15:02.960 But not today, because today we're having bread pudding.

00:15:03.960 Today we're having bread pudding.

00:15:04.960 Today's our afternoon.

00:15:05.960 Yeah.

00:15:06.960 So don't judge us today when we're having a bread pudding.

00:15:08.960 No, I think the fat's good.

00:15:10.960 And in moderation, I think all of it's good in moderation.

00:15:14.960 It's looking good.

00:15:15.960 So then we can put our lamb in there too.

00:15:18.960 Okay.

00:15:19.960 And if you want to get the wooden spoon and give that a stir around.

00:15:25.960 Not about you guys.

00:15:26.960 I haven't eaten anything since this morning.

00:15:28.960 And this is looking incredibly good right now.

00:15:31.960 This is like legit here.

00:15:34.960 So once you've stirred all that in, then I'm going to put some curry powder in there.

00:15:39.960 Lots of curry powder.

00:15:40.960 And then some flour in there, which will just bind it.

00:15:43.960 You can smell it.

00:15:44.960 It's so strong.

00:15:45.960 It's amazing.

00:15:46.960 Yeah.

00:15:47.960 And then we can stir those around again.

00:15:50.960 Stir that mix in.

00:15:53.960 So now I'll add some water in there.

00:15:55.960 You know, a lot of people say, well, why you put water in and not chicken broth or something?

00:16:00.960 If you want to give that a stir.

00:16:01.960 I like to do my own flavor, my own strengths when it comes to broths.

00:16:05.960 You know, if you put a broth in there, it could be, well, it's not very weak or it's too strong.

00:16:10.960 So I like to use some bouillon, some chicken bouillon.

00:16:13.960 I can add more if I need and the same as the curry powder.

00:16:16.960 When we taste it later, we can add more if we need.

00:16:19.960 Got it.

00:16:20.960 So that's going to sit on the stove now.

00:16:22.960 Wait for it to come to the boil and then we'll turn it down and let it simmer.

00:16:27.960 Same 18 minutes or no?

00:16:29.960 This one's going to take a little bit longer.

00:16:30.960 Okay.

00:16:31.960 This will take about 25, 30 minutes.

00:16:33.960 Once the rice is cooked, we'll take that to one side and let that cool down a little and then the lamb should be ready.

00:16:38.960 And then it's magic.

00:16:39.960 So as this comes to the boil, it starts to thicken.

00:16:41.960 It opens up that starch granules in the flour and then we'll have a nice thick sauce.

00:16:46.960 Is that going to get thick or it's not going to be, is it going to be like a...

00:16:48.960 It'll start to get thick.

00:16:49.960 Okay.

00:16:50.960 It's not too thick, but it starts to get thick.

00:16:51.960 So it's going to get thick.

00:16:52.960 It's not thick right now.

00:16:53.960 It's going to get a little bit thicker.

00:16:54.960 Got it.

00:16:55.960 That's what we put the flour in for.

00:16:56.960 One of the problems with the Indian restaurants over here catering to the masses is they'll make a big pot of curry sauce and then they'll cook goat separate.

00:17:05.960 They'll cook chicken separate.

00:17:06.960 They'll cook lamb separate.

00:17:08.960 And then when somebody wants it, they put a ladle of sauce over that cooked lamb, over that cooked chicken.

00:17:14.960 And it never takes on the flavor.

00:17:16.960 You know, the traditional homemaker that's cooking this in small kitchens, they will actually start with the lamb and they let it marinate in there and let it cook through and all those flavors go in.

00:17:25.960 Can you tell that apart?

00:17:26.960 Like when you go to a restaurant, do you know that they're doing that or they're not doing that?

00:17:29.960 Every time.

00:17:30.960 Every time.

00:17:31.960 Every time.

00:17:32.960 Yeah, you can taste it.

00:17:33.960 If you're in India and you're trying those dishes or someone that's cooking the authentic dishes, you can, when you bite into the lamb, you can really taste that flavor of the curry all the way through.

00:17:42.960 Whereas, you know, you're just tasting lamb or chicken with a little curry sauce on the side in the way some of the restaurants do it.

00:17:51.960 See, that's coming together now.

00:17:52.960 Yes.

00:17:53.960 It's starting to thicken.

00:17:54.960 We just leave that, turn it down a little and let it simmer away.

00:17:59.960 That smells the house.

00:18:01.960 It's just gorgeous.

00:18:02.960 It's just, I love doing this dish in the fall.

00:18:04.960 You know, we go out and it's freezing cold and then we come back and you can smell the curry cooking and then a big bowl of rice with some curry over the top.

00:18:13.960 It's just great.

00:18:14.960 It's great.

00:18:15.960 You know, my dad used to say when we were growing up in Iran, he would always say, to keep the kids away from causing trouble, always have the home smell like good food.

00:18:24.960 Because kids will always come home.

00:18:25.960 That makes sense.

00:18:26.960 We always talk about this.

00:18:27.960 If there's a smell of food at the house, kids won't leave.

00:18:29.960 They'll always come to your home.

00:18:30.960 Yeah.

00:18:31.960 Kids are always hungry, right?

00:18:32.960 Yeah.

00:18:33.960 And if they have a parent that cooks good, they're always around, right?

00:18:36.960 If they don't, they're like, mom, I got to go somewhere.

00:18:38.960 I got to meet you, you know?

00:18:39.960 And all their friends too.

00:18:40.960 Yeah.

00:18:41.960 Bring all their friends.

00:18:42.960 Well, I think the bread pudding is done.

00:18:43.960 I can smell when it's cooked.

00:18:44.960 I can, I can smell.

00:18:45.960 Can you smell it?

00:18:46.960 Yes.

00:18:47.960 I can.

00:18:48.960 Yes.

00:18:49.960 Let's check.

00:18:50.960 Oh my gosh.

00:18:51.960 We want it nice and firm on the top and jiggly underneath.

00:18:59.960 You want it firm?

00:19:00.960 Yeah.

00:19:01.960 So that's, that's just what we're looking for.

00:19:03.960 Okay.

00:19:04.960 So are we actually going to be able to eat this or are we just going to look how pretty it is?

00:19:08.960 I think we should eat it.

00:19:09.960 I think we should eat it.

00:19:10.960 Yeah.

00:19:11.960 But let's just check the inside first.

00:19:12.960 I want to show you.

00:19:13.960 When I cut into it, you see there's liquid in the bottom there.

00:19:16.960 See there's still some liquid.

00:19:17.960 Is that good?

00:19:18.960 That's good.

00:19:19.960 Okay.

00:19:20.960 This is what I mean about sort of not taking it out too early.

00:19:22.960 By just using the egg yolks in there, you create your own like custard sauce.

00:19:26.960 So when that sits there now, by the time we actually sit down and eat, that will all

00:19:31.960 have come together.

00:19:32.960 So we'll have the bread pudding and a little sauce to go with it all in one dish.

00:19:36.960 Easy.

00:19:37.960 Oh my gosh.

00:19:38.960 So that's the sauce in the middle right now.

00:19:39.960 Yeah.

00:19:40.960 So we've got it nice and firm here.

00:19:41.960 We've got a little bit runny on the inside, but we'll leave that and the residual heat will

00:19:45.960 just keep that cooking.

00:19:46.960 It's pulling me.

00:19:47.960 It's saying, don't listen to Darren, just take a bite.

00:19:50.960 It's saying, eat me, eat me.

00:19:51.960 Yeah.

00:19:52.960 It's just saying it.

00:19:53.960 So by the way, it feels like jello.

00:19:54.960 Just so you know, look at this.

00:19:55.960 Yeah.

00:19:56.960 There's a jello factor to it.

00:19:57.960 Yeah.

00:19:58.960 We don't want it too firm.

00:19:59.960 If it goes too firm, what happens is the eggs start contracting and you actually squeeze

00:20:05.960 out all the liquid and it just makes it really nasty.

00:20:07.960 So it's about timing.

00:20:08.960 It's the 18 minutes.

00:20:09.960 Yes.

00:20:10.960 It's all about timing.

00:20:11.960 Yeah.

00:20:12.960 So rice is about five minutes or so away.

00:20:15.960 Doesn't it smell good?

00:20:16.960 Oh my gosh.

00:20:17.960 It's amazing.

00:20:18.960 This is the benefit of actually cooking that lamb in the sauce.

00:20:21.960 You really get the flavor.

00:20:22.960 Oh.

00:20:23.960 Rice time.

00:20:24.960 There we go.

00:20:25.960 Rice time it is.

00:20:26.960 Let's check on this rice.

00:20:29.960 You see how all the liquid is absorbed into the rice now.

00:20:33.960 And when we just move it a little bit, it's all nice and flaky.

00:20:37.960 And it's foolproof every time.

00:20:39.960 18 minutes.

00:20:40.960 That's all it takes.

00:20:42.960 Into there, a little salt to season the rice.

00:20:47.960 Wow.

00:20:49.960 This is like, you know, cooking is almost teasing though.

00:20:52.960 When you cook and you smell it and you're not like jumping the gun.

00:20:56.960 You know, it's like, I want to take a bite right now.

00:20:58.960 The worst things are things that, you know, take a long time.

00:21:01.960 If you're doing a steak, you can say, oh, this is so good.

00:21:03.960 It's looking good.

00:21:04.960 I'm ready.

00:21:05.960 Eat it.

00:21:06.960 It's when you're doing things like curries that are like, come on, come on.

00:21:08.960 It's been hours.

00:21:09.960 It's almost like the preparation of the food is the foreplay aspect of cooking.

00:21:13.960 Would you agree?

00:21:14.960 I think so.

00:21:15.960 I think so.

00:21:16.960 And my wife doesn't like that. 1.00

00:21:18.960 My wife likes to go straight in and eat. 1.00

00:21:20.960 Your wife and I have something in common.

00:21:27.960 I hope you're hungry.

00:21:32.960 Oh my goodness.

00:21:34.960 And then a little cilantro on the top to give it some color.

00:21:40.960 And that's it.

00:21:41.960 That's an English style curry with some easy to make rice and a little cilantro on top.

00:21:48.960 And that's what the Royal Chef at Home is all about.

00:21:50.960 Just making simple foods, but making them perfect.

00:21:53.960 Making all those flavors together so that you can make these dishes at home as perfect as I made them when I cooked for the Queen.

00:22:00.960 Perfection.

00:22:01.960 Perfection.

00:22:02.960 Because we have the formula.

00:22:03.960 Absolutely.

00:22:04.960 So Darren, what makes for a good chef?

00:22:07.960 I think what makes for a good chef is the passion.

00:22:11.960 You've got to have passion for wanting to cook, for wanting to get up every morning and want to go into the kitchen.

00:22:19.960 I've been cooking now for over 30 years and cooking for kings, queens, presidents.

00:22:24.960 And even now, you know, with eating royally, going into people's homes and cooking, I still have that same passion, that still same drive to get up each day and say, I'm cooking today.

00:22:35.960 Isn't that amazing?

00:22:36.960 So I think passion, creativity is important to be creative and to come up with new ideas all the time.

00:22:43.960 You know, we don't want to make the same dishes all the time.

00:22:46.960 We want to come up with new ideas.

00:22:48.960 We want to stay with what's new and what's modern and see what's happening around the world.

00:22:53.960 So are you always testing?

00:22:54.960 Are you always testing new dishes?

00:22:55.960 Always testing.

00:22:56.960 Do you subscribe to the magazines with recipes and you test them out yourself?

00:23:01.960 The internet's a great thing now, you know, for going to different magazine sites, going to different websites.

00:23:06.960 There's so many food bloggers that are saying, try this restaurant, try this dish.

00:23:10.960 And you sort of take a look, you look at what's trending in different parts of the country.

00:23:15.960 And then traveling too, with my Royal Chef side, doing corporate events around the world and speaking events.

00:23:21.960 I get to try some amazing restaurants, you know, whether I'm in Singapore, Japan, New York, or over in England.

00:23:28.960 I bet you probably get invited to a lot of executive events to either speak or even help with some of these,

00:23:33.960 because we've got a lot of entrepreneurs that follow the content here.

00:23:36.960 You probably get invited to do a lot of private functions as well.

00:23:39.960 Well, I do a lot of private functions, a lot of sort of corporate events.

00:23:43.960 And for a lot of clients, they want to say a thank you to their clients and treat them like royalty.

00:23:50.960 And what better than sort of bringing in the Royal Chef and having me either come in and just do a presentation,

00:23:57.960 talk about my 15 years with the Royal Family, whether it's with a slideshow presentation or giving the recipes to the local hotel,

00:24:04.960 and letting them and working with them, let them prepare them.

00:24:07.960 I do a lot of that. I enjoy that.

00:24:09.960 I can speak from experience having you the other night here.

00:24:11.960 People are still talking about it till today.

00:24:13.960 Really, people are still talking about it till today.

00:24:15.960 So can we, can we, you know, have a deep dive in this food and actually taste it?

00:24:19.960 Because I'm, I'm losing a little bit of patience. It's okay with you.

00:24:23.960 Absolutely. Let's dig in and eat. Yeah.

00:24:25.960 By the way, the presentation is amazing right here. Just looking at it. So I'm ready.

00:24:29.960 But before we, you know, dig deep into the food, is it fair to say that if I get trained by the Royal Chef,

00:24:36.960 does that officially like indirectly make me a chef? Is that kind of qualifies me or?

00:24:41.960 I think you've helped create two of my favorite dishes and certainly one of Princess Diana's favorites.

00:24:46.960 So I say, yeah, you're a chef too. Welcome to the family.

00:24:50.960 So, you know, I'm gonna go change my outfit if you don't mind.

00:24:52.960 I love that. Is that okay with you? Absolutely.

00:24:54.960 Whoa, chef. What do you think?

00:24:56.960 I love it. You've even got your name on there too.

00:24:58.960 Yeah, I like this. By the way, this is from one of our value tainers.

00:25:01.960 He's a chef, Chris Martin. He made this for us and he sent it to us.

00:25:04.960 So Chris, thank you for this gift. Now we're wearing it.

00:25:07.960 And I kind of feel like I'm qualified now.

00:25:09.960 I think so. I think it's, I think now we can both sit together at the chef's tainer.

00:25:13.960 Yes. Now, before we do, what do you suggest?

00:25:16.960 I have friends that are big on, you know, this goes with white wine, this goes with red wine.

00:25:19.960 What does this go with?

00:25:21.960 Well, I always tell people, you know, drink whatever you want to drink.

00:25:25.960 Don't be a sort of snob. Don't think, ah, I've got to eat white wine.

00:25:28.960 I've got to drink white wine. I've got to drink red wine.

00:25:30.960 I always say, drink whatever you want.

00:25:32.960 But when we're doing Kure's, the best thing is beer.

00:25:35.960 And we're in Dallas, Texas. Why not do some Shiner with this?

00:25:39.960 You're a Shiner guy. I love Shiner.

00:25:40.960 Okay. Mario, do we have Shiner here?

00:25:43.960 I think we do a little Shiner.

00:25:44.960 Let's, Mario is a Shiner guy as well. Mario, why don't we grab some Shiner here for us? 0.98

00:25:48.960 Okay, so here we have the Shiner. Mario apparently told us these guys have been brewing in Texas since 1909.

00:25:54.960 Should be good then, right?

00:25:55.960 Should be good. Let's do it.

00:25:56.960 Did you just twist that?

00:25:57.960 I twist it. I work out, you know, five times a week.

00:25:59.960 I can't twist that. These hands are my life.

00:26:02.960 All right. Okay.

00:26:08.960 Lamb curry. Okay.

00:26:10.960 Rustic. One of the easier to make dishes from the book.

00:26:13.960 And that's what, you know, the book was intended for.

00:26:16.960 To make simple dishes that you can cook at home every night for every occasion.

00:26:21.960 Lots more advanced dishes in there too, but save those for special occasions.

00:26:25.960 Got it. Beautiful. Okay. Let's get into it.

00:26:28.960 Man, I'm so excited. Hungry.

00:26:35.960 Oh my gosh. It's delicious.

00:26:37.960 Good. Good. Thank you.

00:26:38.960 No joke. It's incredible.

00:26:39.960 That curry flavor really comes through, doesn't it?

00:26:42.960 Because you're cooking that curry into the lamb, it makes a huge difference.

00:26:46.960 And then with a little beer.

00:26:48.960 It's a lot different in a Thai place down the street.

00:26:53.960 The next time I go there, I'm going to say, I want to go back in your kitchen and see if you got this sauce.

00:26:58.960 Because the royal chef told us you're not doing it right.

00:27:00.960 I think with your chef, you go back in the kitchen and teach them.

00:27:03.960 That's right. Because I'm a chef now, yes.

00:27:10.960 By the way, would you have ever guessed, like I would have never guessed beer with curry, right?

00:27:14.960 Beer with curry.

00:27:15.960 And then if it's too hot, it's milk. Because milk coats the tongue.

00:27:19.960 You're being serious.

00:27:20.960 Serious, yeah. And so that takes away the spice. 0.99

00:27:22.960 See, my Middle Eastern friends got offended because there's no, they look for excuses to drink alcohol. 1.00

00:27:27.960 So you tell them milk.

00:27:28.960 Right.

00:27:34.960 Now, let me ask you, Darren, I mean, obviously, as a chef, I sat with Curtis Stone, a friend of mine from L.A.,

00:27:40.960 runs a couple of restaurants for himself. I asked him this question. I'm curious what you'll say to it.

00:27:43.960 How critical are you of chefs when you go to restaurants?

00:27:46.960 Like, is your expectation, these guys better bring me good?

00:27:49.960 Like, are you very critical because your expectations are so high?

00:27:51.960 That's a great question.

00:27:52.960 And I always tell people that, you know, whenever I go out, I judge the restaurant, judge the chef on what I'm paying for the meal.

00:28:01.960 So if I'm going to the French Laundry, I'd better have a good meal. The standard had better be high.

00:28:07.960 If I'm at a restaurant where my young kids can actually draw on the table and with crayons, you know, and they say, how do you want your steak?

00:28:15.960 I'd just say, surprise me. Surprise me. Because it's never going to come how I want it.

00:28:20.960 So I'm not as critical. I don't expect sort of the, you know, the local burger joint to cook burgers as good as, you know, one of the top five star hotels, Michelin restaurants and things.

00:28:31.960 Got it. Are there any restaurants that you like? Are there any, like, I know you said the French Laundry, but is there any other ones that for you it's like top five?

00:28:38.960 There are so many. I mean, traveling all the time, you get to see some amazing restaurants. And I was recently because I host culinary trips, too, and I do speaking events around the world.

00:28:48.960 I was in Italy and in Modena. Massimo Bottura, one of the most amazing chefs, probably the best chef in the whole universe.

00:28:57.960 Really? You know, seeing his food. Traveling around the country, I mean, even in New York, ABC Kitchen, another one of my favorite restaurants.

00:29:05.960 Here in Dallas, there's a restaurant called Gemma. It's a beautiful restaurant. It's small. I always find that dinner is always not just the food. It's the ambiance, too.

00:29:16.960 It's the music and it's the experience. And people often say, well, you know, I tried this at the restaurant and it was amazing.

00:29:23.960 But when I got home and cooked it, it never quite tasted the same. And you cooked it as good.

00:29:29.960 But, you know, the washing machine's on. The kids want help with their homework. They're running around screaming. The TV's on.

00:29:35.960 And so that makes a difference. It's the ambiance.

00:29:37.960 So do you typically go out or you're more just like, I'm just going to stay home and cook? What's your mindset with that?

00:29:42.960 I like the idea of going out. But my wife, Wendy, says, no, let's stay home. You cook.

00:29:47.960 Does she also cook or no? No, she's not. She doesn't cook at all. 1.00

00:29:50.960 Perfect fit for you. I mean, you guys are like perfection right there.

00:29:53.960 She just loves me to cook. And I just love cooking anyway. And so the odd times that, you know, she's cooking, she'll do food for her and the kids.

00:30:01.960 And, you know, when I'm traveling and doing events, occasionally she'll cook things like spaghetti with bolognese sauce.

00:30:07.960 And I'm in my office working away and I'm listening to the cooking. And I'll say, Wendy, I think your spaghetti is ready.

00:30:15.960 She said, how do you know? I said, well, because the, do you not hear the sound of the water when the pasta is ready?

00:30:22.960 Wow.

00:30:23.960 The bubbling is louder.

00:30:24.960 Science.

00:30:25.960 And it is science. Yeah, it is. So we talked about English and math. The science is important too.

00:30:31.960 Unbelievable. So what's your favorite, all time favorite? Like for me, I could eat sea urchin every day of the week for the rest of my life and overdose on it.

00:30:40.960 Right. I could, I could eat caviar every day for the rest of my life. I grew up by Caspian Sea in Iran. So for us, it's like very special.

00:30:46.960 Yeah. What is it for you? Do you have?

00:30:48.960 Well, I am partial to caviar. I did like caviar.

00:30:50.960 You do like caviar?

00:30:51.960 Oh, I love caviar.

00:30:52.960 Black. I legit like caviar.

00:30:53.960 Yeah. The real caviar.

00:30:54.960 Yeah. Yeah.

00:30:55.960 For me, it's Indian food. I love curries. I love all the flavors that go into it.

00:30:59.960 That makes sense.

00:31:00.960 And for me too, this is one of my favorite chapters of the book where I talk about all the different curries, you know, with the Thai curry and everything.

00:31:06.960 But for me, not only to eat Indian food, but to cook it too. I love the flavors that all come together.

00:31:11.960 English food can be a bit boring at times. You know, it's just sort of the protein, the vegetables, the starch.

00:31:17.960 But I like all those flavors that go into it.

00:31:19.960 Let me ask you. So I automatically took the spoon and a fork. You only took the fork and you're lefty.

00:31:24.960 Your spoon is still clean. You're keeping a spoon. So tell me about the etiquette here, because I grew up in a family where we eat with the spoon and the fork.

00:31:30.960 What happened here with you?

00:31:31.960 We grew up in the UK. We have a knife and a fork.

00:31:33.960 Okay.

00:31:34.960 So we're using them both together.

00:31:35.960 Knife and a fork.

00:31:36.960 Yeah. I saw the spoon there and thought, I'm going to get to the dessert before you.

00:31:39.960 Okay.

00:31:41.960 So that's what it is.

00:31:43.960 Yeah.

00:31:44.960 All right.

00:31:45.960 So, yeah. So in the UK, it's a knife and a fork. And we use them together. We don't sort of prop them on the side like they do in the US.

00:31:50.960 You use them together.

00:31:51.960 We sort of work with them both together like you are with the spoon.

00:31:53.960 Listen, no one's perfect in the UK. It's okay. We'll teach you guys eventually.

00:31:55.960 There you go.

00:31:56.960 I just thought for a second.

00:31:57.960 Okay. So are we ready for this?

00:31:59.960 I think so. Let's do it. Yeah.

00:32:01.960 So the bread butter pudding, it's had time to sit and relax. You see, it's sort of relaxed down a little more.

00:32:06.960 Hopefully when we cut into this, we'll have that liquid that we saw earlier has gone into a beautiful, delicious custard.

00:32:15.960 So when I lift this up, that beautiful custard at the bottom is all set.

00:32:22.960 You can see why this was Princess Diana's favorite dish in the world.

00:32:26.960 Makes sense.

00:32:27.960 But she'd only eat a small portion and then sometimes she'd come back for seconds.

00:32:31.960 And a few berries on there too.

00:32:33.960 Yes.

00:32:34.960 That's the healthy part of the dish.

00:32:37.960 That's right. It makes you feel good at least, right?

00:32:40.960 Yeah.

00:32:41.960 Yeah.

00:32:42.960 The smell. I mean, you smell it. I'm telling you, you smell it.

00:32:46.960 So you want the crispy, crunchy of that bread on the top, the bread and butter, and then underneath we want that sort of creaminess.

00:32:52.960 And then the raisins with the amaretto really do come through with this.

00:32:58.960 Here we go.

00:33:00.960 Each bite is two miles on the treadmill.

00:33:10.960 Good.

00:33:11.960 Oh my gosh.

00:33:14.960 Flavor.

00:33:15.960 No joke.

00:33:16.960 Texture. Everything.

00:33:17.960 I'm not a dessert guy. This guy, this is, this is insane. 0.73

00:33:21.960 Wow. 0.86

00:33:24.960 Holy moly.

00:33:25.960 Guys, it's terrible. I don't want you guys to try that.

00:33:27.960 I just want you to know it's, it's not something you should try.

00:33:29.960 It's not healthy.

00:33:30.960 Me and Darren will take care of it today.

00:33:32.960 Then they say it's fat free until you eat it.

00:33:35.960 I think.

00:33:38.960 Mmm.

00:33:39.960 And those berries just spray down the sweetness.

00:33:41.960 You know, to me, it's weird.

00:33:42.960 It's, it's almost a better bite if I don't have the berries.

00:33:44.960 Right.

00:33:45.960 Because I get the actual taste, the sweetness of it.

00:33:48.960 And you've got the raisins in there. 0.88

00:33:49.960 Yeah, the raisins really making it.

00:33:53.960 I always tell people once you've tried this, you'll never go back to the American style bread pudding.

00:33:58.960 Oh my gosh.

00:33:59.960 Now let me ask you this.

00:34:01.960 Does this go more with beer or more like a double shot of tequila?

00:34:04.960 What's, it's kind of, what would you recommend with this?

00:34:07.960 This one is actually goes really well with port, port wine.

00:34:11.960 Or something like a sweet white French wine, like a Sauternes.

00:34:14.960 Desert wine.

00:34:15.960 Yeah.

00:34:16.960 Okay.

00:34:17.960 So we do a wine with this.

00:34:18.960 This one's a little bit more refined than sort of the curry.

00:34:21.960 So how often, how often would Princess Diana eat this?

00:34:24.960 Was it in every?

00:34:25.960 Probably once a week.

00:34:26.960 Really?

00:34:27.960 Yeah.

00:34:28.960 And then only a small portion.

00:34:29.960 I mean, she'd only have a tiny piece like this.

00:34:30.960 But it was just the taste of having it.

00:34:32.960 By the way, was she exercising at all?

00:34:33.960 Was she always like, was she always part of a, you know, taking care of her health?

00:34:36.960 She worked out at the gym three days a week.

00:34:38.960 When I joined her, she got her life back on track.

00:34:40.960 She conquered the bulimia in the hope that others would too.

00:34:44.960 And she was patron of 119 different charities.

00:34:47.960 That's amazing to me.

00:34:48.960 I know.

00:34:49.960 It really is.

00:34:50.960 And she had that discipline.

00:34:51.960 You know, she'd come back from an engagement.

00:34:53.960 And she'd come into the kitchen.

00:34:55.960 And if she was on her own, she'd sit at the table like this and just eat lunch at the table.

00:34:59.960 And she'd come in the kitchen and she'd say, Darren, I'm starving.

00:35:02.960 What's for lunch?

00:35:03.960 And I'd be like, chicken, your old highness.

00:35:06.960 But it's not ready yet.

00:35:07.960 Another 10 minutes.

00:35:08.960 She said, oh, that's fine.

00:35:09.960 I've got to go and write my thank you letters.

00:35:11.960 So she'd go and sit down and write thank you letters to all the charities before she came back and had lunch.

00:35:17.960 Wow.

00:35:18.960 When I joined her, she got her life back on track.

00:35:20.960 She was patron of all those charities and working out at the gym.

00:35:24.960 And she came in the kitchen when I first started there.

00:35:27.960 And she said, Darren, I want you to take care of all the fats and I'll take care of the carbs at the gym.

00:35:34.960 And so that's when my recipes changed.

00:35:36.960 It became more sort of the healthier eating side for her.

00:35:42.960 Have you ever watched her interviews?

00:35:43.960 Like, do you sit there and watch her interviews and reminisce about your time with her?

00:35:46.960 I've seen, you know, I watched the interviews and, you know, you don't have to look sort of too far back to see William and Harry now, those boys.

00:35:54.960 And I still call them boys, but they're taller than me and they've got their own children and everything.

00:35:58.960 But, you know, I think back to holding Harry as a baby and William coming in the kitchen with Princess Diana.

00:36:06.960 And he was going riding on his little Shetland pony, Smokey, and he's just sort of this high, can't see above the counter.

00:36:13.960 And he said, Dan, can I get some orange juice, please?

00:36:15.960 And, you know, those days watching them grow up, seeing them come in the kitchen and seeing what they do now.

00:36:21.960 You know, the charity work that both do and the work that Harry's doing and, you know, both.

00:36:27.960 I mean, Princess Diana's looking down on those boys and she's so proud.

00:36:30.960 I bet.

00:36:32.960 Are you still connected with the family? Do you go back and visit every once in a while?

00:36:35.960 I send them notes every now and again.

00:36:37.960 I sent them my first book when it came out.

00:36:40.960 I'm going to send them this one.

00:36:41.960 I think they'll enjoy the recipes in there.

00:36:43.960 Darren, are you a Twitter guy?

00:36:44.960 Instagram?

00:36:45.960 Which, are you active on one of those or no?

00:36:47.960 Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, all of them.

00:36:49.960 Oh, really?

00:36:50.960 Yeah.

00:36:51.960 Love Twitter.

00:36:52.960 Ready for a sleep now, I think.

00:36:53.960 Oh, my gosh.

00:36:54.960 I am like in heaven right now.

00:36:56.960 I'm telling you, this was amazing to me.

00:36:58.960 So, obviously, you've been with Princess Diana.

00:37:00.960 You've been with the Queen.

00:37:01.960 You said Ronald Reagan presence, all these.

00:37:02.960 But how about some celebrities?

00:37:03.960 Like, who were some of the guys, you know, some of the celebrities you cooked for and had experiences with?

00:37:07.960 When I cooked for the Queen, it was sort of mainly kings, queens, presidents, you know, all those dignitaries.

00:37:12.960 When I moved to Princess Diana, it was much different.

00:37:15.960 She was good friends with sort of George Michael, Elton John.

00:37:19.960 One day, I was working in the kitchen.

00:37:20.960 I got four people for lunch.

00:37:22.960 And the door opened, and the boss walked in, and she said, come and meet my chef. 1.00

00:37:27.960 And she walked in, and right behind her was Gianni Versace.

00:37:31.960 Behind him was George Michael, and then Elton John following up.

00:37:34.960 Wow.

00:37:35.960 And they walked into the kitchen, and George Michael was just like, whoa, I love it.

00:37:39.960 Diana, you eat this.

00:37:40.960 Diana, you... 0.57

00:37:41.960 And I just stood there looking, thinking, whoa, this is cool.

00:37:44.960 Lots of celebrities would come all the time to the palace, but, you know, with moving to Dallas,

00:37:50.960 now I'm cooking for an incredible plethora of different people and having so much fun.

00:37:56.960 Is it more entrepreneurs now?

00:37:58.960 Are you, are you, is it more, is it still some politicians, some business people?

00:38:01.960 What are some of the mixtures you're seeing right now in Dallas?

00:38:03.960 It's a mixture.

00:38:04.960 Politicians, business people, celebrities flying around the country and the world doing corporate

00:38:09.960 events.

00:38:10.960 Lots of celebrities.

00:38:11.960 We, I have my catering company in Dallas, and we fly out, we'll load food on the plane,

00:38:16.960 and go out to Laguna Beach, and up to Aspen, and across to North Carolina, and down to Florida.

00:38:22.960 And the whole team sort of come along and give that royal experience to the client.

00:38:27.960 Yeah, because, so you brought your whole team here when you were...

00:38:29.960 We did.

00:38:30.960 Yeah, you brought the whole...

00:38:31.960 Yeah, we did.

00:38:32.960 And these were, the way they treated the executives we had here was just priceless.

00:38:35.960 As we said earlier, it's all about the whole ambience.

00:38:38.960 It's not just the food.

00:38:39.960 And it's no good me being in the kitchen, making something beautiful, and then, you know,

00:38:44.960 the servers just slapping it out.

00:38:46.960 So they're all trained.

00:38:47.960 We do everything from service at the table to a synchronized service, but they're good

00:38:52.960 at what they do.

00:38:53.960 My whole team are.

00:38:54.960 What was the biggest transition for you going from being a chef for the Queen and Princess

00:38:58.960 Diana to then wanting to, you know, you run your own business now.

00:39:01.960 Yeah.

00:39:02.960 What was that transition for you?

00:39:03.960 I worked for the Queen for 11 years.

00:39:04.960 I moved to Princess Diana for four, and then moved to Dallas and spent 17 years cooking

00:39:09.960 for a family in Dallas as their private chef.

00:39:11.960 And then decided, okay, let's go out into the real world and start my catering company.

00:39:16.960 You know, it's tough starting a new business.

00:39:18.960 It really is, you know, making sure you've got the right team around you and you've got

00:39:22.960 to get sort of a place where you can prepare all the food.

00:39:25.960 You've got to get the most amazing suppliers and ingredients.

00:39:28.960 It's, you know, all of that all comes together.

00:39:30.960 And it's taken three years now since I started eating royally.

00:39:34.960 And now we've got everything together and we've got an amazing team.

00:39:37.960 I think that, you know, every one of us wakes up every morning and wants to come to work.

00:39:42.960 And I always tell the team, it's funny when we talk to people, they say, how many people

00:39:46.960 work for you?

00:39:47.960 I said, nobody works for me.

00:39:48.960 They work with me.

00:39:49.960 The whole team worked with me.

00:39:51.960 And I couldn't do my job in the kitchen without my servers doing an amazing job, without my

00:39:58.960 team in the kitchen, just washing all the dishes and doing all the cleanup.

00:40:02.960 You know, I couldn't do it without that.

00:40:03.960 We're a team together.

00:40:04.960 A lot of times the criticism with chefs, not criticism.

00:40:07.960 It's like the curiosity from other people who are not chefs like you and I, obviously,

00:40:12.960 but people at your level of chef.

00:40:15.960 Everybody thinks there's a madness side to them. 0.99

00:40:17.960 They're like crazy. 0.97

00:40:18.960 You know, you see them on camera. 0.99

00:40:19.960 They look normal, but then behind camera, these guys are insane and tolerable.

00:40:23.960 They're always losing it half the time.

00:40:25.960 How much truth is there to that?

00:40:27.960 You know, there is.

00:40:28.960 I mean, you get chefs like that, but I mean, you get people like that in all industry too.

00:40:32.960 We have those moments and the team will tell you, you know, certain times you stay away

00:40:35.960 from the kitchen, stay away from the chef. 1.00

00:40:37.960 Don't come and ask where the napkins are when I'm getting a big meal on the go, because

00:40:42.960 I'm concentrating.

00:40:43.960 But I grew up, you know, cooking at Buckingham Palace and any minute, you know, Prince William

00:40:49.960 could come running into the kitchen.

00:40:50.960 So there could be no sort of shouting and swearing and things like that.

00:40:54.960 You had to be pretty calm and disciplined.

00:40:56.960 Wow. So that helped.

00:40:57.960 Oh, absolutely it did.

00:40:58.960 Yeah.

00:40:59.960 Interesting.

00:41:00.960 Listen, if you're watching this and you obviously learn two formulas on what to make for yourself.

00:41:05.960 One, if you're in the world and you like cooking, you got to get this book here.

00:41:09.960 We'll put the link below.

00:41:10.960 If you're not in the world, but mother, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, somebody who enjoys

00:41:17.960 cooking, buy a copy of that book and send it to them.

00:41:21.960 And how about if we do this?

00:41:22.960 How about if we do something where the copy that I have here, if you could sign it and

00:41:26.960 the first person that watches this and you tweet at he and I what your biggest takeaway

00:41:33.960 was from today's interview, we will mail you a copy signed by Darren McGrady.

00:41:39.960 Is that fair?

00:41:40.960 Absolutely.

00:41:41.960 Phenomenal.

00:41:42.960 So with that being said, Darren, thank you so much for joining us here at the house.

00:41:44.960 My pleasure.

00:41:45.960 Thank you.

00:41:46.960 This was phenomenal.

00:41:47.960 Thank you, everybody, for listening.

00:41:48.960 And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.

00:41:52.960 Give us a five-star.

00:41:53.960 Write a review if you haven't already.

00:41:55.960 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat,

00:41:59.960 Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

00:42:01.960 Just search my name, Patrick MidDavid.

00:42:03.960 And I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.

00:42:08.960 With that being said, have a great day today.

00:42:10.960 Take care, everybody.

00:42:11.960 Bye-bye.

00:42:17.960 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - October 08, 2018

Episode 183： Princess Diana’s Favorite Recipe

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