one of my favorite dishes in there the
one I’m asked to do more than anything
is bread and butter pudding and that was
Princess Diana’s all-time favorite that
took us like six minutes seven minutes
to make it easy to make oh yeah that was
amazing
and two minutes to eat two minutes to
what makes for a great chef so one thing
I love listen my friends will say
perhaps very simple given good food and
he’s happy so I decided to bring back my
friend Darren McGrady it’s great to have
you in our home here I shouldn’t that
yes we had a good time with the party
was we really did but we were kind of
putting a lot of attention into the
guests yeah today we’re gonna put the
attention into food and into the belly
right look at that we want to see what
we can cook together if you don’t know
this man he’s cooked for Princess Diana
he’s cooked for the Queen
you’ve been on The Oprah Winfrey Show
weren’t you with Princess Diana for like
four years
Princess Diana for four years right up
until the car accident 11 years with the
Queen at Buckingham Palace cooked for
President Reagan Clinton for both
Presidents Bush and that one save the
best to last
that’s right right that’s today well
Patrick made David Val you tell me
you’re gonna be able to see the recipe
so you mind if we look at short movie
that just came out and decide what we
want to come out with the royal chef
these are your like secret recipes that
everybody is access to yeah this one
just came out so these are recipes from
my 20 years that have been here now
these are recipes for every single
season every single event whether it’s a
garden party or fourth of July or
Thanksgiving Easter every single that’s
called holiday there’s something to cook
in 4th of July fireworks fiesta
so you’re specifically saying here’s
what you could make on this day with
everything being in there lined up these
are foolproof recipe so we have this
habit when we we have friends and over
are of going to those tried and tested
recipes and it’s the same old same old
what I’m saying is well next time it’s
one of those holidays whichever one it
is whether it’s March Madness wrist
Spring Break Mardi Gras go to this and
these are foolproof recipes these are
recipes I’ve been cooking for 20 years
now so what are we gonna be doing today
what’s the residue what I want to do is
one recipe from this bouquet and then
one recipe from my first
the first book eating royally which is
the name of my catering company in
Dallas is about my sort of 15 years
where they’re all family and one of my
favorite dishes in there the one I’m
asked to do more than anything is bread
and butter pudding and that was Princess
Diana’s all-time favorite bread and
butter pudding yeah so it’s it’s not
like the the bread pudding that you have
here which is sort of really thick and
really starchy it’s like a cross between
a bread pudding and a creme brulee and
the reason being is because we just use
egg yolks in there and then it has
raisins soaked in our maretto the almond
liqueur which sort of takes it to that
next level so am I gonna be able to do
what your gala can you teach me on how
to make this maybe not as good as you
but can I make it oh if I can do it you
can do it I like roll up my sleeves yeah
and we’ll get right into so the dish
we’re making today I heard lamb curry
something like that so we’ll do the
bread and butter pudding from the first
first cookbook and then we’ll do the
lamb curry because I wanted to sort of I
have one section on curries
Prince Harry loves curries in the UK and
so I have one section just on different
types of curries so we’re doing an
English version of that well I’m a
die-hard curry guy so I love curries
this is something fun this will be this
is a different one yeah okay well let’s
get right into okay so let’s start off
with the bread and butter pudding okay
and the bread and butter pudding we
start off with just egg yolks in there
as I said no whole eggs so that makes it
slightly different into that we’re going
to add some cream and some milk but we
need to boil them first then we’ve got
the egg yolks there and some sugar going
in there as well it’s a lot of sugar
it’s about a teaspoon right that’s a
good teaspoon we we really do eat well
in the UK but we die about 25 and then
once this milk and cream comes to the
boil then we’re going to pour that into
there and while we’re waiting for that
to come to the boil we’ll start with the
bread in the bottom and this again is
where it’s different the American
version of the bread and butter pudding
is where they just start piling up all
that bread and once it’s cooked you can
actually slice it so you get the best
part because this is my
part of bread that I shouldn’t be eating
but this was Princess Diana’s favorite
and she just eat it in small portions
what she tastes it you’ll see why she
loved it so much now can I try once yeah
by the way our dogs will eat these four
pieces no problem then I noticed the way
you did it you just kind of spread it
right on the plate
yeah and don’t worry if it tears it’s
going in the bottom of the dish you
won’t see so you grab this and then you
just sprinkle that in the bottom okay
and then on top of that we’ve got the
raisins soaked in our maretto okay and I
did those about half an hour ago because
I want them to really play off so you
want about half of those in here on the
top if you want to sprinkle those on
with my hands or do you need your hands
yeah yes wash your hands halfway them in
there I like it so what is it mixed with
what does this mix with your senses this
is amaretto Obama liquor now if you’re
cooking this for you know for the kids
you can use just orange juice in there
instead what we’re trying to do is
hydrate those raisins to make it really
tasty but when we’re just cooking for me
and you I want to add a little of this
amaretto into there we put our next
layer on there so we go back to our
bread again and this time we’re actually
going to slice it the crusts off and
this time this is what makes it
different what makes in English is we
actually use butter so we take some soft
butter and actually butter the bread so
it’s a brittle butter pudding and then
those we go into half using unsalted
butter on there unsalted butter yeah
what’s the reason for that and we don’t
want the salty flavor to class room so
that’s why we prefer to use unsalted in
there and then those splitting just in
half okay on the angle like these nice
[Music]
prissy right and now the milks coming to
the boil the milk and cream so if you
want to pour that into there for me and
our whisk so we’ve got the egg yolks the
sugar cream and milk in there now you
can smell it doesn’t it yeah good no
it’s not amazing yeah and then the next
stage carefully we just want to pour
this mixture into
our bread makes carefully I like we can
do this carefully and this thing’s
pretty hot so it is yeah am I putting it
over the bread or it doesn’t matter all
over yeah he’s smelling vanilla I’ll be
about enough we got it all in then it’s
gonna go into the oven 350 degrees for
about 30 minutes or so okay we just keep
an eye on it we wanted to jiggle so that
it’s not sort of too overcooked if
you’re familiar with cooking like a
creme brulee or something that’s the
consistency we’re looking for we don’t
want to overcook it so I’m gonna put
this in the oven now 30 minutes 30
minutes so that was it that took us like
six minutes seven minutes to make it
easy to make right yeah that was amazing
and two minutes to eat few minutes while
that’s cooking in the oven why don’t we
make the long curry let’s do it okay so
how was it like working with princess
Dan and you know working with the Queen
for that entire time you were with them
the first 11 years I was working with
the Queen at Buckingham Palace and
travelling around the world where though
ever she went to Sandringham Windsor
Balmoral the Royal Yacht Britannia
wherever it was in the world as well and
was the most incredible time that’s
where I got to cook for all the
different kings queens and presidents
and everything was very formal but it
was incredible experience in the sense
that the food had to be amazing
everything had to be perfect the China
was sort of mice and China from the
1900s beautiful hand-painted China Wow
and everything was run to military
precision when I moved to Princess Diana
it was much more relaxed and for her she
would come in the kitchen all the time
and bring the boys in and I held Prince
Harry as a baby while Princess tiny I
was eating cereals in the kitchen it’s
like literally I’ve got the crown jewels
Amanda
[Music]
okay so this is looking good then can
you tell us what we have here so this is
just a little preparation ahead of time
for our curry curry is super popular in
the UK in fact chicken tikka masala is
the UK’s favourite dish now it used to
be fish and chips in the old days but
the tikka masala is the favorite now
that’s slightly different from the old
English style curry and this curry is
one that sort of been made in in England
for hundreds of years now
it comes from that sort of India when we
sort of had the Empire and yeah sure so
ever a curry powder which is a
ready-made mix just for the UK and the
US now – and this sort of turmeric in
there and this is very similar to the
garam masala which they use in a lot of
the Indian cooking yeah – this is a lot
milder curry but it’s sort of a nice
creamy sauce and in the UK we’ll do this
with sort of chicken we’ll do this with
lamb and sometimes beef as well and it’s
super popular and then with that I’m
doing some rice which is super easy to
make when I’m cooking rice you’d always
get sticky or overcooked
the thing with rice is you do equal
amounts of the rice so you do two to one
with the rice and the water and then
that just come to water which is one of
the right to one of the rise yeah you
know what do we have here what’s there
and then here some chicken bouillon some
broth which is going to flavor the curry
sauce and then I’ve got we’re doing a
lamb curry today that’s what I’ve got in
my wok we’ll start off by getting the
rice on the go so I want a little oil in
the pan and then I’m gonna put my rice
in there and then I’m actually coating
the rice in that little bit of oil and
once that’s in I can add my water give
that a stir so what we do is bring that
water or broth whichever you want to use
in the boil once it comes to the boil we
then turn you down low and pop a lid on
it and then we leave it for 18 minutes
18 and 18 minutes has to be 18 or every
side exactly
never lift the lid if you lift the lid
the steam starts shooting out and we
need that steam to sort of open those
rice granules now why 18 minutes that’s
the perfect timing on opening the rice
granules and this we’ve done so many
tests on Wow interesting
20 minutes too long let me ask you what
makes for a great chef like how much
math has to do with being a great chef
when I was at school I knew I wanted to
be a chef and I thought okay I want to
be a chef
I don’t need English I don’t need math
all I need to do is cook in and that’s
all and I went for so long doing all of
the I’m not interested in the math
interested in the English until my
mother who was also a cook at a local
hotel she said what happens when you’re
writing menus and recipes what happens
when your time gene recipes and you’ve
got to do two times the recipe and
things that’s up I mean need to start
buckling down and learning how to do
math in English so that’s super
important in there now to was sort of
working out those times the rest so map
came next you’ve went at the fashion
dimension and then the math and then the
English came in that yeah you know I
need to do that and that came in later
to for writing the book it’s like yes we
do once it comes to the boil we’ll turn
it down low pop the lid on took 18
minutes from the moment the lip goes all
goes on yeah and then in the meantime
we’ll start the curry gonna chop the
you’re just using that center part there
you know you got rid of most of it
overnight just those outside pieces I
just want these nice pieces there and
then I’m just going to chop this and the
thing with chopping it’s important that
you go down your knuckle when you’re
chopping keep those fingernails took to
laying down the knuckle yeah so you can
see there I’m cutting down my finger is
it angled a little bit or yeah no sorry
that’s interesting yeah so that when
you’re chopping and most people are sort
of cut yeah like this jános fingernail
then I try out out your okay you know
you’re a lefty I’m a left right I’m a
right yes so okay you’re doing this yes
down there you know my style let me see
the way I typically do this like this
young girls no no okay
so now how do you keep them those are
like this or no what you can do now is
take this part and turn it this way and
then cut that same thing yeah and you
don’t do anything too like this we’re
going half yet that we to again I okay
yeah and this is rustic as well you know
we’re not doing sort of a fine fine chop
or anything like that this is a rustic
one so that’s boiling lid on let alone a
lot and yeah that’s down low now so we
need to tone that for 18 minutes and
then we’ll be good and in the meantime
we can start the curry you got the 80
minute starter I let’s do this
clock 18 minutes okay there we go
okay the timer’s on excellent okay okay
so well that we’re waiting for the rice
then we can take our onion and pop that
in there now you don’t really worry
about splitting up the onions that we
start stirring away that’ll be fine yeah
and then we can take a lamb and I’ve got
some leg of lamb that I’ve just slide I
it’s gonna be a little bit easier and
all I want from this is sort of little
bite-sized pieces garlic and leave some
of that fat on there too because we
don’t get exact labor all right yeah it
really does Washington Post came out
with an article yesterday saying it’s
not fat that’s bad for you it’s cars I
think so yeah I agree with that yeah I
think bread is probably
it’s as brilliant yeah yeah I think it
is I think if you were saying I want to
lose weight I want to start healthy
eating I’d say give up bread
for a week it’ll make a difference you
lose guaranteed two or three pounds
we’re not we’re they because today we’re
having bread today yeah so don’t judge
us they won’t haven’t read what up no I
think the fats good and in moderation I
think all of its good in moderation
so looking good then we can put our lamb
in there too okay
and if you want to get the wooden spoon
give that a stir around not about you
guys I haven’t eaten anything since this
morning and this is looking incredibly
good right now this is like well legit
here so once you stirred all that in
then I’m going to put some curry powder
in there that’s the curry powder and
then some flour in there which you’ll
just find and can’t smell it it’s so
again it’s so amazing yeah and then we
can stir those around again stir that
mix in so now I’ll add some water in
there you know a lot of people say well
why are you putting water in and not
chicken broth or something if you don’t
give that a stir
I like to do my own flavour my own
strengths when it comes to broths you
know if you put a broth in there it
could be well it’s not very weak or it’s
too strong so I like to use some bullion
some chicken bouillon I can add more if
I need and the same as the curry powder
when we taste it later we can add more
if we need got it so that’s gonna be on
the stove now wait for it to come to the
boil and then we’ll turn it down and let
it simmer
same 18 minutes or no this one’s gonna
take a little bit longer okay this will
take about 25-30 minutes once the rice
is cooked we’ll take that to one side
let that cool down a little and then the
lamb should be ready and then it’s magic
so as this comes to the boil it starts
to thicken it opens up that starch
granules in the flour and then we’ll
have a nice thick sauce is that gonna
get thick or it’s not gonna be a thing
that’s not teasing but it starts to get
thick so it’s gonna get this can I get a
bit thicker that’s what we put the flour
alright yeah one of the problems with
the Indian restaurants over here
to the masses is they’ll make a big pot
of curry sauce and then they’ll cook
goat separate they’ll cook chicken
separate they’ll cook lamb separate and
then when somebody wants it they’d put a
ladle of sauce over that cooked lamb
over that cooked chicken and he never
takes on the flavor you know the
traditional home maker that’s cooking
this in small kitchens they will
actually start with the lamb and they
let him marinate in there and let it
cook through all those flavors can you
tell that apart like when you go to a
restaurant do you know that they’re
doing that or they’re not yeah it’s I
every time yeah you can taste it
if you’re an Indian and you’re trying
those dishes or someone that’s cooking
the authentic dishes you can when you
buy into the lamb you can really taste
that flavor of the curry all the way
through 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 see that’s coming
together never starting to thicken we
just leave that turn it down a little
let it simmer away that smells the house
is just gorgeous it’s just I love doing
this dish in the fall we 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
it’s just great you know my dad used to
say when we were growing up and here and
he would always say to keep the kids
away from cars in trouble yeah always
have the home smell like good food
because kids will always come home talk
about this is if there’s a smell of food
at the house kids won’t leave they’ll
always come to your own yeah kids are
always hungry right yeah they want to
come to game and if they have a parent
that cooks good they’re always a rough
ride if they go they’re like mom I gotta
go somewhere I gotta be yeah you know
and all their friends – yeah I know
their friend well I think the bread
puddings done I can smell when it’s
cooked I can I can smacking you smell it
yes again yeah let’s check oh yes oh my
we want it nice and firm on the top and
g1e underneath yeah so that Wow
that’s just what we’re looking for okay
so we actually gonna be able to eat this
or we’re just gonna look how pretty it
is I think we should eat it sure yeah
yeah sure but let’s just check the
inside first I want to show you when I
cut into it you see there’s liquid in
the bottom there you see there’s still
some Zac weird
that’s good that’s what we’re looking
for okay this is what I mean about sort
of not taking it out too early by just
using the egg yolks in there you create
your own like custard sauce so when that
sits there now by the tongue we actually
sit down and eat that will all have come
together so we’ll have the bread pudding
and a little sauce to go with it all in
one dish easy gosh so that’s the sauce
in the middle right now yeah so we’ve
got a nice and firm here we’ve got a
little bit runny on the inside but we’ll
leave that and the residual heat we’ll
just keep that cooking it’s pulling me
it’s same don’t listen to very just take
a bite and eat me yeah yeah I think it’s
so well though it feels like jello just
so you know look at this yeah that sort
of gel factor to it we don’t need to
firm if it goes too firm what happens is
the the eggs start contracting and you
actually squeeze out all the liquid and
it just makes you really nasty so it’s
about timing
it’s the 18 minutes all about timing
yeah so rice is about five minutes or so
away is it smuggling oh my gosh it’s
amazing this is it the benefit of
actually cooking that lamb in the sauce
you really get the flavor Oh rice time
there we go right time it is let’s check
on this rice you see how all the liquid
is absorbed into the rice now and when
we just move it a little bit it’s all
nice and flaky and it’s foolproof every
time eighteen minutes that’s all it
takes into there a little salt to season
their ice Wow like you know cooking is
almost teasing girl how do you cook and
you smell it and you’re not like jumping
the gun you know it’s like I’m gonna
take a bite right there whereas things
are things that you know take a long
time if you’re doing a state you can say
haha this is so good it’s looking good
I’m ready eat it it’s when you’re doing
things like
like come on come on it’s been hours
he’s almost like the preparation of the
food is the foreplay aspect of cooking
would you agree answer I think that for
play I think so and my wife doesn’t like
your wife and I have something in common
I hope you’re hungry oh my goodness
and then little cilantro on the top to
give it some color and that’s it that’s
an English style curry with some easy to
make rice and a little cilantro on top
and that’s what they’re all chef at home
is all about just making simple foods
but making them perfect making all those
flavors together so that you can make
these dishes at home as perfect as I
made them when I cook for the Queen
perfection because we have the formula
absolutely so there are what would make
what makes for a good chef I think what
makes for a good chef is the passion
you’ve got to have passion for wanting
to cook for want and to get up every
morning and and and want to go into the
kitchen I’ve been cooking now for over
30 years and you know cooking for kings
queens presidents 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 is
amazing so I think passion creative it
is important to be creative and to come
up with new ideas all the time you know
we don’t want to make the same dishes
all the time we want to come up with new
ideas we want to stay with what’s new
and what’s modern and see what’s what’s
happening around the oil always testing
are you’re always testing new edition
always leader like do you subscribe to
the magazine’s with recipes and you test
them out yourself the Internet is a
great thing now you know for going to
different magazine sites going to
different websites there’s so many food
bloggers there’s a saying try this
restaurant try this dish and you sort of
take a look you look at what’s trending
in different parts of the country and
then traveling to with my royal chef
side doing corporate events around
around the world and speaking events I
get to try some amazing restaurants you
know whether I’m in Singapore Japan New
York or over in England I bet you
probably get invited to a lot of
executive events to either speak or even
help with some of these because we’ve
got a lot of entrepreneurs that follow
the contents here you probably get
invited to do a lot of private functions
as well well I do a lot of private
functions a lot of sort of corporate
events and for a lot of clients they
want to say a thank you to to their
clients and treat them like royalty and
what better than sort of bringing in the
royal chef and having me either come in
and just do a presentation talk about my
15 years with the royal family whether
it’s with a slideshow presentation or
giving the recipes to the local hotel
and letting them and working with them
let them prepare them I do a lot of that
I enjoy that I can speak from experience
having you the other night here people
are still talking about it till today
really if we’re still on medical today
so can we can we you know have a deep
dive in this spoon and actually taste it
because I’m I’m losing a little bit of
patience and okay with you absolutely
yeah by the way the presentation is
amazing right here just looking at it so
I’m ready well before we you know dig
deep into the food is it fair to say
that if I get trained by the royal chef
does that officially like indirectly
make me chef is that kind of qualifies
me or I think you’ve helped create two
of my favorite dishes and certainly one
of Princess Diana’s favorites so I say
yeah you’re a chef for today welcome to
the family so you know I’m gonna go
change my outfit if you don’t mind I
love whoa Shan I think I love you and
even though your name on that by the way
this is from one of our valued caterers
he’s a chef Chris Martin he made this
for us and he send it to us so Chris
thank you for this gift now we’re
wearing it and I kind of feel like I’m
qualified now I think so I guess I think
now we can both sit together at the
chef’s take yes now before we do what do
you suggest I have friends that are big
on you know this goes with white wine
this goes with red wine what does this
go with well I always tell people you
know drink whatever you
want to drink don’t be a sort of snob
don’t think I’ve got a wheat wine I’ve
got to drink wine wine I’ve got a green
red wine I would say drink whatever you
want but when we’re doing courage the
best thing is beer and we’re in Dallas
Texas why not do some shiner with this
you’re a shiner guy I love shiner ok
Mario do we have shiner here let’s up
Mario as a shiner guys what Mario why
don’t we grab some shiner here for us ok
so here we have the shiner Mario
apparently told us these guys have been
brewing in the in Texas since 1909
should be good then let’s do it
did you just twist that I twist you I
work out you know five times a week so
you might come to these hands of my life
lamb curry ok rustic
one of the easier to make dishes from
the book and that’s what the book was
intended for to make simple dishes that
you can cook at home every night for
every occasion
lots more advanced dishes in there too
but save those for special occasions
got it beautiful ok let’s get into it
and I’m so excited
hungry oh my gosh good
go now join him for a table that curry
flavor really comes through doesn’t it
because you’re cooking curry into the
lamb it makes a huge difference and then
with a little beer it’s a lot different
than a Thai place down the street
the next time I good how much I want to
go back in your kitchen and see if you
got this sauce cos royal chef told us
you’re not doing it right
nothing me your chef cook user back in
the kitchen and teach them that’s right
here cuz I’m a chef yeah yeah
[Music]
by the way would you have every guest
like I would have never guessed beer
with curry right Buick curry and then if
it’s too hot it’s milk because milk
coats the tongue you’re being serious
serious yeah and so that takes away the
spice see that my Middle East and
friends got offended because there’s no
day look for excuses to drink alcohol
alright now let me ask you Darren I mean
obviously as a chef I said with Curtis
Stone and a friend of mine from LA runs
a couple restaurants for himself I asked
him this question I’m curious what
you’ll say to it how critical are you of
chefs when you go to restaurants like is
your expectation these guys better bring
me good luck are you very critical
because your expectations are so high
that’s a great question and I always
tell people that you know whenever I go
out I judge the restaurant judged the
chef on what I’m paying for the meal so
if I’m gonna the French Laundry I better
have a good meal the standard that
better be high 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 you stay could
just say surprise me surprise me
cuz it’s never gonna come I want it so I
I’m not as critical I don’t expect sort
of the you know the local burger joint
to cope yeah burgers as good as you know
one of the top five star hotels Michelin
restaurants and things got it are the
only restaurants that you’re like are
there any like you to I know you said
the French Laundry was there any other
ones that for you it’s like top five
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 I was
in Italy and in moderner Massimo Bottura
one of the most amazing chefs probably
the best chef in the whole universe
really you’ve seen his food traveling
around the country and even in in New
York
ABC kitchen another one of my favorite
restaurants here in Dallas there’s a
restaurant called Jemma
it’s a beautiful restaurant it’s small I
always find that dinner is always a not
just the food
it’s the ambiance – it’s the Syriac and
it’s the experience some people often
say well you know I tried this at the
Strong’s and it was amazing but when I
got home and cooked it it never quite
tasted the same and you cooked it as
good but you know the washing machines
armed the kids won’t help with that
homework they’re running around
screaming the TV’s on and so that makes
a difference it’s the ambiance so do you
typically go out or you’re more just
like I’m just gonna stay home and cook
what’s what’s your mindset with that I
like the idea of going out but my wife
Wendy says now let’s stay home you cook
is she also cook or no no she doesn’t
cook at all perfect food for you I mean
you guys are like perfection jesus loves
me to cook and and I just look cooking
anyway and so the odd times that you
know she’s cooking Shield of food for
her and the kids and you know when I’m
traveling and doing events occasionally
she’ll cook things like spaghetti with
bolognese sauce 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 she said how do you
know I said well because the do you not
hear the sound of the water when the
pastas ready
the bubbling is loud at a science and it
is science yeah it is
so we talked about English and math the
science is important too unbelievable so
what’s your favorite all-time favorite
like you for me I could eat sea urchin
every day of the week for the rest of my
life and overdose on it right I could
eat caviar every day for the rest of my
life I grew up in by Caspian Sea in Iran
so for us like very special yeah what is
it for you
you know I am partial to caviar I didn’t
like cap yeah the real cap yeah yeah
for me it’s Indian food I love curries I
love all the flavors that go into it
and for me too this is one of my
favorite chapters of the book where I
talk about all the different careers you
know with the Thai curry and everything
but for me not only to eat Indian food
but to cookie – I love the flavors that
all come together English food can be a
bit boring at times you know it’s just
sort of the protein the vegetables the
starch but I like all those flavors that
go into it let me ask you so I
automatically took this spoon and a fork
you only took the fork and your lefty
your spoon is still clean you keep an ax
so tell me about the etiquette here
because I grew up in a family where we
eat with the spoon and the fork what
what happened here with you we grew up
in the UK we have a knife
for okay so we’re using together yeah I
saw the spoon there and thought I’m
gonna get to the dessert before you so
that’s what it is yeah all right 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’re there
in the US you usually I work with them
both together like you always listen no
one’s perfect than you kids okay we’ll
teach you guys eventually hey guys I
just a a second okay so are we ready for
this I think so let’s do it yeah
so the Brennan butter pudding you’ve had
time to sit and relax you see it’s sort
of relaxed a little more hopefully when
we cut into this will have that liquid
that we saw earlier has gone into a
beautiful delicious custard so when I
lift this up oh my gosh
that beautiful custard at the bottom
that’s all set you can see why this was
Princess Diana’s favorite dish in the
world but you don’t need a small portion
and then sometimes she’d come back for
that’s the healthy part of the dish
that’s right it makes you feel good oh
yeah right yeah the smell I mean you
smell it I’m telling you so you want the
crispy crunchy of that bread on the
table the bread and butter and then
underneath we want that sort of
creaminess and then the raisins with the
amaretto really do come through with
this here we go
good flavor no gesture everything I’m
not a dessert cut this guy this is this
is insane
Wow holy moly
guys it’s terrible I don’t want you guys
to try to paint you know it’s it’s not
something you should try it’s not L feel
me and Dara will take care of it today
then they say it’s fat-free until you
eat it and those berries just break down
the sweetness you know to me it’s weird
it’s it’s almost a better bite if I
don’t have the berries right because I
get the actual taste there’s a sweetness
of it and you’ve got the raisins and
yeah the raisins you’ll be making it I
always tell people once you tried this
you’ll never go back to the American
style bread pudding oh my gosh now let
me ask you this does this got more would
be or more like a double shot of tequila
which it’s kind of what would you
recommend with this this one is actually
goes really well with port port wine or
something like a sweet white French one
like a so turn visit wine yeah so we do
a wine with it sister this one’s a
little bit more refined and sort of the
curry for sure how often would present
Princess Diana eat this was it in every
heart once a week really yeah and then
only a small portion I mean she’d only
have a tiny piece like this but it was
just the taste of having it by the way
she exercised a lot well she always like
was she always part of a you know taking
care of how she were town of the gym
three days a week
when I joined us she got a life back on
track she conquered the bulimia in the
hope that others would too and she was
patron of 119 different charities hazing
to me but no this really is and she had
that discipline you know she’d come back
from an engagement and she come into the
kitchen and if she was on her own she’d
sit at the table like this and just eat
lunch at the table and she’d come in the
kitchen and she say dad I’m starving
what’s for lunch and I’d be like oh it’s
chicken your highness but it’s not ready
yet another 10 minutes says oh that’s
fine I’ve got to go and write my
thank-you letters so she go and sit down
and write thank-you letters to all the
charities before she came back and so
when I joined her she got a life back
tribe she was patron of all those
charity ism working out at the gym and
she came in the kitchen when I first
started there and she said down I want
you to take care of all the fats and
I’ll take care of the carbs at the gym
and so that’s when my recipes changed he
became more sort of that the healthier
eating side for her have you ever
watched her interviews like the you sit
there and watch her interviews and
reminisce about your time with her I’ve
seen you know I watched the interviews
and you know you don’t have to look so
the too far back to see William and
Harry now those boys and I still call
them boys but they’re taller than me and
they’ve got their own children and
everything but you know I think back to
holding Harry as a baby and William
coming in the kitchen with Princess
Diana and he was going riding on his
little Shetland pony smokey and he’s
just sort of this high I can’t see above
the camp and he said Dan can I get some
orange juice please
and you know those days watching them
grow up seeing them come in the kitchen
and seeing what they do now you know the
the charity work that both do and the
work that Harry’s doing and know both I
mean Princess Diana’s looking down on
those boys and she’s so proud but are
you still connected with the family do
you go back and visit every once in a
while I send them notes I’ve been known
again or something my first book when it
came out I’m gonna send them this one I
think they’ll enjoy the recipes in there
there are you a Twitter guy Instagram
which are you active on one of those or
no Twitter Instagram Facebook old oh
really I’m a black Twitter ready for a
sleep now I think oh my god I am like in
heaven right now
I’m telling you this was amazing to me
so obviously been with Princess Diana
you’ve been with the Queen you said
Ronald Reagan presidents all these but
how about some celebrities like who were
some of the guys you know some of the
celebrities you cooked for and had
experiences with where I cooked for the
Queen they was sort of mainly kings
queens president ass you know all those
dignitaries when I moved to Princess
Diana it was much different she she was
good friends with sort of George Michael
Elton John one day I was working in the
kitchen I got four people for lunch and
the door opened and the boss walked in
and she said come and meet my chef and
she walked in and right behind there was
Gianni Versace behind him was George
Michael
and then Elton John and they walked into
the kitchen and George Michael was just
like whoa I love Diana you eat this die
a me and I just stood there looking
thinking whoa this is cool
lots of celebrities will come all the
time to the palace but you know with
moving to Dallas now I’m cooking for an
incredible plethora of different people
having so much fun is it more
entrepreneurs now are you are you is it
more is there still some politician some
businesspeople what are some of the
mixture you’re seeing right now and it’s
a mixture politicians business people
celebrities flying around the country
and the world doing corporate events
lots of celebrities we I have my
catering company in Dallas and we fly
out will load food on the plane and go
out to Laguna Beach and up to Aspen and
across to North Carolina and down to
Florida and the whole team so they come
along and give that royal experience to
the client yeah because so you rush a
whole team here when you were we did it
yeah you brought the whole we did and
these were the way they treated the
executives we had here was just
priceless as we said earlier it’s all
about the whole ambience it’s not just
the food and it’s no good me being in
the kitchen making something beautiful
and then you know the server’s just
slapping it out so they’re all trained
we do everything from service at the
table to a synchronized service but
they’re good at what they do
my whole team are what was the biggest
transition for you gone from being a
chef for the Queen and Princess Diana to
then wanting to you know you run your
own business now what was that
transition for you I work for the Queen
for 11 years I moved to Princess Diana
for four and then moved to Dallas and
spend 17 years cooking for a family in
Dallas as their private chef and then
decided okay let’s go out into the real
world and start my catering company you
know it’s tough starting a new business
it really is you know making sure you’ve
got the right team around you and you’ve
got to get sort of a place where you can
prepare all the food you’ve got to get
their most amazing suppliers and
ingredients it’s you know all of that
all comes together and it’s taken three
years now since I started eating Riley
and now we’ve got everything together
we’ve got an amazing team I think that
you know every one of us wakes up every
morning
and want to come to work and I always
tell the team it’s funny when we talk to
people they say how many people work for
you
I said nobody works for me they work
with me the whole team work with me and
I couldn’t do my job in the kitchen
without my servers doing an amazing job
without my team in the kitchen just
washing all the dishes and doing all the
cleaner you know I couldn’t do it
without that we’re a team together a lot
of times the criticism which chefs not
criticism it’s like their curiosity from
other people who are not chefs like you
and I obviously but you know people at
your level of chef everybody thinks
there’s a madness side to them they’re
like crazy you know you see them on
camera they look normal but then behind
camera these guys are insane and
powerful they’re always losing them half
the time how much truth is there to that
you know there is I mean you get chefs
like that but I mean you get people like
that in all industry too we have those
moments and the team will tell you you
know at certain times you stay away from
the kitchen stay away from the chef’s
don’t come and ask where the napkins are
when I’m getting a big meal on the go
because I’m concentrating but I grew up
you know cooking out Buckingham Palace
and any minute you know Prince William
could come running into the kitchen so
there could be no sort of shouting and
swearing and things like that you had to
be a pretty car discipline well so that
helped oh absolutely it did yeah
interesting so that’s good to know well
listen if you’re watching this and you
obviously learn two formulas on what to
make for yourself one if you’re in the
world and you’re like cooking you’ve got
to get this book you will put the link
below if you’re not in the world but
mother wife girlfriend boyfriends
somebody who enjoys cooking buy copy
that book and send it to them and how
about if we do this how about if we do
something where the copy that I have
here if you could sign it and the first
person that watches this and you tweet
at he and I what your biggest takeaway
was from today’s interview we will mail
you a copy signed by Darren the great is
that for which we do let’s do the finale
so with that being said there and thank
you so much my pleasure niggas here at
the house nice thank you
this was phenomenal father would go
ahead and subscribe to the channel below take everybody bye-bye
one I’m asked to do more than anything
is bread and butter pudding and that was
Princess Diana’s all-time favorite that
took us like six minutes seven minutes
to make it easy to make oh yeah that was
amazing
and two minutes to eat two minutes to
what makes for a great chef so one thing
I love listen my friends will say
perhaps very simple given good food and
he’s happy so I decided to bring back my
friend Darren McGrady it’s great to have
you in our home here I shouldn’t that
yes we had a good time with the party
was we really did but we were kind of
putting a lot of attention into the
guests yeah today we’re gonna put the
attention into food and into the belly
right look at that we want to see what
we can cook together if you don’t know
this man he’s cooked for Princess Diana
he’s cooked for the Queen
you’ve been on The Oprah Winfrey Show
weren’t you with Princess Diana for like
four years
Princess Diana for four years right up
until the car accident 11 years with the
Queen at Buckingham Palace cooked for
President Reagan Clinton for both
Presidents Bush and that one save the
best to last
that’s right right that’s today well
Patrick made David Val you tell me
you’re gonna be able to see the recipe
so you mind if we look at short movie
that just came out and decide what we
want to come out with the royal chef
these are your like secret recipes that
everybody is access to yeah this one
just came out so these are recipes from
my 20 years that have been here now
these are recipes for every single
season every single event whether it’s a
garden party or fourth of July or
Thanksgiving Easter every single that’s
called holiday there’s something to cook
in 4th of July fireworks fiesta
so you’re specifically saying here’s
what you could make on this day with
everything being in there lined up these
are foolproof recipe so we have this
habit when we we have friends and over
are of going to those tried and tested
recipes and it’s the same old same old
what I’m saying is well next time it’s
one of those holidays whichever one it
is whether it’s March Madness wrist
Spring Break Mardi Gras go to this and
these are foolproof recipes these are
recipes I’ve been cooking for 20 years
now so what are we gonna be doing today
what’s the residue what I want to do is
one recipe from this bouquet and then
one recipe from my first
the first book eating royally which is
the name of my catering company in
Dallas is about my sort of 15 years
where they’re all family and one of my
favorite dishes in there the one I’m
asked to do more than anything is bread
and butter pudding and that was Princess
Diana’s all-time favorite bread and
butter pudding yeah so it’s it’s not
like the the bread pudding that you have
here which is sort of really thick and
really starchy it’s like a cross between
a bread pudding and a creme brulee and
the reason being is because we just use
egg yolks in there and then it has
raisins soaked in our maretto the almond
liqueur which sort of takes it to that
next level so am I gonna be able to do
what your gala can you teach me on how
to make this maybe not as good as you
but can I make it oh if I can do it you
can do it I like roll up my sleeves yeah
and we’ll get right into so the dish
we’re making today I heard lamb curry
something like that so we’ll do the
bread and butter pudding from the first
first cookbook and then we’ll do the
lamb curry because I wanted to sort of I
have one section on curries
Prince Harry loves curries in the UK and
so I have one section just on different
types of curries so we’re doing an
English version of that well I’m a
die-hard curry guy so I love curries
this is something fun this will be this
is a different one yeah okay well let’s
get right into okay so let’s start off
with the bread and butter pudding okay
and the bread and butter pudding we
start off with just egg yolks in there
as I said no whole eggs so that makes it
slightly different into that we’re going
to add some cream and some milk but we
need to boil them first then we’ve got
the egg yolks there and some sugar going
in there as well it’s a lot of sugar
it’s about a teaspoon right that’s a
good teaspoon we we really do eat well
in the UK but we die about 25 and then
once this milk and cream comes to the
boil then we’re going to pour that into
there and while we’re waiting for that
to come to the boil we’ll start with the
bread in the bottom and this again is
where it’s different the American
version of the bread and butter pudding
is where they just start piling up all
that bread and once it’s cooked you can
actually slice it so you get the best
part because this is my
part of bread that I shouldn’t be eating
but this was Princess Diana’s favorite
and she just eat it in small portions
what she tastes it you’ll see why she
loved it so much now can I try once yeah
by the way our dogs will eat these four
pieces no problem then I noticed the way
you did it you just kind of spread it
right on the plate
yeah and don’t worry if it tears it’s
going in the bottom of the dish you
won’t see so you grab this and then you
just sprinkle that in the bottom okay
and then on top of that we’ve got the
raisins soaked in our maretto okay and I
did those about half an hour ago because
I want them to really play off so you
want about half of those in here on the
top if you want to sprinkle those on
with my hands or do you need your hands
yeah yes wash your hands halfway them in
there I like it so what is it mixed with
what does this mix with your senses this
is amaretto Obama liquor now if you’re
cooking this for you know for the kids
you can use just orange juice in there
instead what we’re trying to do is
hydrate those raisins to make it really
tasty but when we’re just cooking for me
and you I want to add a little of this
amaretto into there we put our next
layer on there so we go back to our
bread again and this time we’re actually
going to slice it the crusts off and
this time this is what makes it
different what makes in English is we
actually use butter so we take some soft
butter and actually butter the bread so
it’s a brittle butter pudding and then
those we go into half using unsalted
butter on there unsalted butter yeah
what’s the reason for that and we don’t
want the salty flavor to class room so
that’s why we prefer to use unsalted in
there and then those splitting just in
half okay on the angle like these nice
[Music]
prissy right and now the milks coming to
the boil the milk and cream so if you
want to pour that into there for me and
our whisk so we’ve got the egg yolks the
sugar cream and milk in there now you
can smell it doesn’t it yeah good no
it’s not amazing yeah and then the next
stage carefully we just want to pour
this mixture into
our bread makes carefully I like we can
do this carefully and this thing’s
pretty hot so it is yeah am I putting it
over the bread or it doesn’t matter all
over yeah he’s smelling vanilla I’ll be
about enough we got it all in then it’s
gonna go into the oven 350 degrees for
about 30 minutes or so okay we just keep
an eye on it we wanted to jiggle so that
it’s not sort of too overcooked if
you’re familiar with cooking like a
creme brulee or something that’s the
consistency we’re looking for we don’t
want to overcook it so I’m gonna put
this in the oven now 30 minutes 30
minutes so that was it that took us like
six minutes seven minutes to make it
easy to make right yeah that was amazing
and two minutes to eat few minutes while
that’s cooking in the oven why don’t we
make the long curry let’s do it okay so
how was it like working with princess
Dan and you know working with the Queen
for that entire time you were with them
the first 11 years I was working with
the Queen at Buckingham Palace and
travelling around the world where though
ever she went to Sandringham Windsor
Balmoral the Royal Yacht Britannia
wherever it was in the world as well and
was the most incredible time that’s
where I got to cook for all the
different kings queens and presidents
and everything was very formal but it
was incredible experience in the sense
that the food had to be amazing
everything had to be perfect the China
was sort of mice and China from the
1900s beautiful hand-painted China Wow
and everything was run to military
precision when I moved to Princess Diana
it was much more relaxed and for her she
would come in the kitchen all the time
and bring the boys in and I held Prince
Harry as a baby while Princess tiny I
was eating cereals in the kitchen it’s
like literally I’ve got the crown jewels
Amanda
[Music]
okay so this is looking good then can
you tell us what we have here so this is
just a little preparation ahead of time
for our curry curry is super popular in
the UK in fact chicken tikka masala is
the UK’s favourite dish now it used to
be fish and chips in the old days but
the tikka masala is the favorite now
that’s slightly different from the old
English style curry and this curry is
one that sort of been made in in England
for hundreds of years now
it comes from that sort of India when we
sort of had the Empire and yeah sure so
ever a curry powder which is a
ready-made mix just for the UK and the
US now – and this sort of turmeric in
there and this is very similar to the
garam masala which they use in a lot of
the Indian cooking yeah – this is a lot
milder curry but it’s sort of a nice
creamy sauce and in the UK we’ll do this
with sort of chicken we’ll do this with
lamb and sometimes beef as well and it’s
super popular and then with that I’m
doing some rice which is super easy to
make when I’m cooking rice you’d always
get sticky or overcooked
the thing with rice is you do equal
amounts of the rice so you do two to one
with the rice and the water and then
that just come to water which is one of
the right to one of the rise yeah you
know what do we have here what’s there
and then here some chicken bouillon some
broth which is going to flavor the curry
sauce and then I’ve got we’re doing a
lamb curry today that’s what I’ve got in
my wok we’ll start off by getting the
rice on the go so I want a little oil in
the pan and then I’m gonna put my rice
in there and then I’m actually coating
the rice in that little bit of oil and
once that’s in I can add my water give
that a stir so what we do is bring that
water or broth whichever you want to use
in the boil once it comes to the boil we
then turn you down low and pop a lid on
it and then we leave it for 18 minutes
18 and 18 minutes has to be 18 or every
side exactly
never lift the lid if you lift the lid
the steam starts shooting out and we
need that steam to sort of open those
rice granules now why 18 minutes that’s
the perfect timing on opening the rice
granules and this we’ve done so many
tests on Wow interesting
20 minutes too long let me ask you what
makes for a great chef like how much
math has to do with being a great chef
when I was at school I knew I wanted to
be a chef and I thought okay I want to
be a chef
I don’t need English I don’t need math
all I need to do is cook in and that’s
all and I went for so long doing all of
the I’m not interested in the math
interested in the English until my
mother who was also a cook at a local
hotel she said what happens when you’re
writing menus and recipes what happens
when your time gene recipes and you’ve
got to do two times the recipe and
things that’s up I mean need to start
buckling down and learning how to do
math in English so that’s super
important in there now to was sort of
working out those times the rest so map
came next you’ve went at the fashion
dimension and then the math and then the
English came in that yeah you know I
need to do that and that came in later
to for writing the book it’s like yes we
do once it comes to the boil we’ll turn
it down low pop the lid on took 18
minutes from the moment the lip goes all
goes on yeah and then in the meantime
we’ll start the curry gonna chop the
you’re just using that center part there
you know you got rid of most of it
overnight just those outside pieces I
just want these nice pieces there and
then I’m just going to chop this and the
thing with chopping it’s important that
you go down your knuckle when you’re
chopping keep those fingernails took to
laying down the knuckle yeah so you can
see there I’m cutting down my finger is
it angled a little bit or yeah no sorry
that’s interesting yeah so that when
you’re chopping and most people are sort
of cut yeah like this jános fingernail
then I try out out your okay you know
you’re a lefty I’m a left right I’m a
right yes so okay you’re doing this yes
down there you know my style let me see
the way I typically do this like this
young girls no no okay
so now how do you keep them those are
like this or no what you can do now is
take this part and turn it this way and
then cut that same thing yeah and you
don’t do anything too like this we’re
going half yet that we to again I okay
yeah and this is rustic as well you know
we’re not doing sort of a fine fine chop
or anything like that this is a rustic
one so that’s boiling lid on let alone a
lot and yeah that’s down low now so we
need to tone that for 18 minutes and
then we’ll be good and in the meantime
we can start the curry you got the 80
minute starter I let’s do this
clock 18 minutes okay there we go
okay the timer’s on excellent okay okay
so well that we’re waiting for the rice
then we can take our onion and pop that
in there now you don’t really worry
about splitting up the onions that we
start stirring away that’ll be fine yeah
and then we can take a lamb and I’ve got
some leg of lamb that I’ve just slide I
it’s gonna be a little bit easier and
all I want from this is sort of little
bite-sized pieces garlic and leave some
of that fat on there too because we
don’t get exact labor all right yeah it
really does Washington Post came out
with an article yesterday saying it’s
not fat that’s bad for you it’s cars I
think so yeah I agree with that yeah I
think bread is probably
it’s as brilliant yeah yeah I think it
is I think if you were saying I want to
lose weight I want to start healthy
eating I’d say give up bread
for a week it’ll make a difference you
lose guaranteed two or three pounds
we’re not we’re they because today we’re
having bread today yeah so don’t judge
us they won’t haven’t read what up no I
think the fats good and in moderation I
think all of its good in moderation
so looking good then we can put our lamb
in there too okay
and if you want to get the wooden spoon
give that a stir around not about you
guys I haven’t eaten anything since this
morning and this is looking incredibly
good right now this is like well legit
here so once you stirred all that in
then I’m going to put some curry powder
in there that’s the curry powder and
then some flour in there which you’ll
just find and can’t smell it it’s so
again it’s so amazing yeah and then we
can stir those around again stir that
mix in so now I’ll add some water in
there you know a lot of people say well
why are you putting water in and not
chicken broth or something if you don’t
give that a stir
I like to do my own flavour my own
strengths when it comes to broths you
know if you put a broth in there it
could be well it’s not very weak or it’s
too strong so I like to use some bullion
some chicken bouillon I can add more if
I need and the same as the curry powder
when we taste it later we can add more
if we need got it so that’s gonna be on
the stove now wait for it to come to the
boil and then we’ll turn it down and let
it simmer
same 18 minutes or no this one’s gonna
take a little bit longer okay this will
take about 25-30 minutes once the rice
is cooked we’ll take that to one side
let that cool down a little and then the
lamb should be ready and then it’s magic
so as this comes to the boil it starts
to thicken it opens up that starch
granules in the flour and then we’ll
have a nice thick sauce is that gonna
get thick or it’s not gonna be a thing
that’s not teasing but it starts to get
thick so it’s gonna get this can I get a
bit thicker that’s what we put the flour
alright yeah one of the problems with
the Indian restaurants over here
to the masses is they’ll make a big pot
of curry sauce and then they’ll cook
goat separate they’ll cook chicken
separate they’ll cook lamb separate and
then when somebody wants it they’d put a
ladle of sauce over that cooked lamb
over that cooked chicken and he never
takes on the flavor you know the
traditional home maker that’s cooking
this in small kitchens they will
actually start with the lamb and they
let him marinate in there and let it
cook through all those flavors can you
tell that apart like when you go to a
restaurant do you know that they’re
doing that or they’re not yeah it’s I
every time yeah you can taste it
if you’re an Indian and you’re trying
those dishes or someone that’s cooking
the authentic dishes you can when you
buy into the lamb you can really taste
that flavor of the curry all the way
through 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 see that’s coming
together never starting to thicken we
just leave that turn it down a little
let it simmer away that smells the house
is just gorgeous it’s just I love doing
this dish in the fall we 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
it’s just great you know my dad used to
say when we were growing up and here and
he would always say to keep the kids
away from cars in trouble yeah always
have the home smell like good food
because kids will always come home talk
about this is if there’s a smell of food
at the house kids won’t leave they’ll
always come to your own yeah kids are
always hungry right yeah they want to
come to game and if they have a parent
that cooks good they’re always a rough
ride if they go they’re like mom I gotta
go somewhere I gotta be yeah you know
and all their friends – yeah I know
their friend well I think the bread
puddings done I can smell when it’s
cooked I can I can smacking you smell it
yes again yeah let’s check oh yes oh my
we want it nice and firm on the top and
g1e underneath yeah so that Wow
that’s just what we’re looking for okay
so we actually gonna be able to eat this
or we’re just gonna look how pretty it
is I think we should eat it sure yeah
yeah sure but let’s just check the
inside first I want to show you when I
cut into it you see there’s liquid in
the bottom there you see there’s still
some Zac weird
that’s good that’s what we’re looking
for okay this is what I mean about sort
of not taking it out too early by just
using the egg yolks in there you create
your own like custard sauce so when that
sits there now by the tongue we actually
sit down and eat that will all have come
together so we’ll have the bread pudding
and a little sauce to go with it all in
one dish easy gosh so that’s the sauce
in the middle right now yeah so we’ve
got a nice and firm here we’ve got a
little bit runny on the inside but we’ll
leave that and the residual heat we’ll
just keep that cooking it’s pulling me
it’s same don’t listen to very just take
a bite and eat me yeah yeah I think it’s
so well though it feels like jello just
so you know look at this yeah that sort
of gel factor to it we don’t need to
firm if it goes too firm what happens is
the the eggs start contracting and you
actually squeeze out all the liquid and
it just makes you really nasty so it’s
about timing
it’s the 18 minutes all about timing
yeah so rice is about five minutes or so
away is it smuggling oh my gosh it’s
amazing this is it the benefit of
actually cooking that lamb in the sauce
you really get the flavor Oh rice time
there we go right time it is let’s check
on this rice you see how all the liquid
is absorbed into the rice now and when
we just move it a little bit it’s all
nice and flaky and it’s foolproof every
time eighteen minutes that’s all it
takes into there a little salt to season
their ice Wow like you know cooking is
almost teasing girl how do you cook and
you smell it and you’re not like jumping
the gun you know it’s like I’m gonna
take a bite right there whereas things
are things that you know take a long
time if you’re doing a state you can say
haha this is so good it’s looking good
I’m ready eat it it’s when you’re doing
things like
like come on come on it’s been hours
he’s almost like the preparation of the
food is the foreplay aspect of cooking
would you agree answer I think that for
play I think so and my wife doesn’t like
your wife and I have something in common
I hope you’re hungry oh my goodness
and then little cilantro on the top to
give it some color and that’s it that’s
an English style curry with some easy to
make rice and a little cilantro on top
and that’s what they’re all chef at home
is all about just making simple foods
but making them perfect making all those
flavors together so that you can make
these dishes at home as perfect as I
made them when I cook for the Queen
perfection because we have the formula
absolutely so there are what would make
what makes for a good chef I think what
makes for a good chef is the passion
you’ve got to have passion for wanting
to cook for want and to get up every
morning and and and want to go into the
kitchen I’ve been cooking now for over
30 years and you know cooking for kings
queens presidents 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 is
amazing so I think passion creative it
is important to be creative and to come
up with new ideas all the time you know
we don’t want to make the same dishes
all the time we want to come up with new
ideas we want to stay with what’s new
and what’s modern and see what’s what’s
happening around the oil always testing
are you’re always testing new edition
always leader like do you subscribe to
the magazine’s with recipes and you test
them out yourself the Internet is a
great thing now you know for going to
different magazine sites going to
different websites there’s so many food
bloggers there’s a saying try this
restaurant try this dish and you sort of
take a look you look at what’s trending
in different parts of the country and
then traveling to with my royal chef
side doing corporate events around
around the world and speaking events I
get to try some amazing restaurants you
know whether I’m in Singapore Japan New
York or over in England I bet you
probably get invited to a lot of
executive events to either speak or even
help with some of these because we’ve
got a lot of entrepreneurs that follow
the contents here you probably get
invited to do a lot of private functions
as well well I do a lot of private
functions a lot of sort of corporate
events and for a lot of clients they
want to say a thank you to to their
clients and treat them like royalty and
what better than sort of bringing in the
royal chef and having me either come in
and just do a presentation talk about my
15 years with the royal family whether
it’s with a slideshow presentation or
giving the recipes to the local hotel
and letting them and working with them
let them prepare them I do a lot of that
I enjoy that I can speak from experience
having you the other night here people
are still talking about it till today
really if we’re still on medical today
so can we can we you know have a deep
dive in this spoon and actually taste it
because I’m I’m losing a little bit of
patience and okay with you absolutely
yeah by the way the presentation is
amazing right here just looking at it so
I’m ready well before we you know dig
deep into the food is it fair to say
that if I get trained by the royal chef
does that officially like indirectly
make me chef is that kind of qualifies
me or I think you’ve helped create two
of my favorite dishes and certainly one
of Princess Diana’s favorites so I say
yeah you’re a chef for today welcome to
the family so you know I’m gonna go
change my outfit if you don’t mind I
love whoa Shan I think I love you and
even though your name on that by the way
this is from one of our valued caterers
he’s a chef Chris Martin he made this
for us and he send it to us so Chris
thank you for this gift now we’re
wearing it and I kind of feel like I’m
qualified now I think so I guess I think
now we can both sit together at the
chef’s take yes now before we do what do
you suggest I have friends that are big
on you know this goes with white wine
this goes with red wine what does this
go with well I always tell people you
know drink whatever you
want to drink don’t be a sort of snob
don’t think I’ve got a wheat wine I’ve
got to drink wine wine I’ve got a green
red wine I would say drink whatever you
want but when we’re doing courage the
best thing is beer and we’re in Dallas
Texas why not do some shiner with this
you’re a shiner guy I love shiner ok
Mario do we have shiner here let’s up
Mario as a shiner guys what Mario why
don’t we grab some shiner here for us ok
so here we have the shiner Mario
apparently told us these guys have been
brewing in the in Texas since 1909
should be good then let’s do it
did you just twist that I twist you I
work out you know five times a week so
you might come to these hands of my life
lamb curry ok rustic
one of the easier to make dishes from
the book and that’s what the book was
intended for to make simple dishes that
you can cook at home every night for
every occasion
lots more advanced dishes in there too
but save those for special occasions
got it beautiful ok let’s get into it
and I’m so excited
hungry oh my gosh good
go now join him for a table that curry
flavor really comes through doesn’t it
because you’re cooking curry into the
lamb it makes a huge difference and then
with a little beer it’s a lot different
than a Thai place down the street
the next time I good how much I want to
go back in your kitchen and see if you
got this sauce cos royal chef told us
you’re not doing it right
nothing me your chef cook user back in
the kitchen and teach them that’s right
here cuz I’m a chef yeah yeah
[Music]
by the way would you have every guest
like I would have never guessed beer
with curry right Buick curry and then if
it’s too hot it’s milk because milk
coats the tongue you’re being serious
serious yeah and so that takes away the
spice see that my Middle East and
friends got offended because there’s no
day look for excuses to drink alcohol
alright now let me ask you Darren I mean
obviously as a chef I said with Curtis
Stone and a friend of mine from LA runs
a couple restaurants for himself I asked
him this question I’m curious what
you’ll say to it how critical are you of
chefs when you go to restaurants like is
your expectation these guys better bring
me good luck are you very critical
because your expectations are so high
that’s a great question and I always
tell people that you know whenever I go
out I judge the restaurant judged the
chef on what I’m paying for the meal so
if I’m gonna the French Laundry I better
have a good meal the standard that
better be high 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 you stay could
just say surprise me surprise me
cuz it’s never gonna come I want it so I
I’m not as critical I don’t expect sort
of the you know the local burger joint
to cope yeah burgers as good as you know
one of the top five star hotels Michelin
restaurants and things got it are the
only restaurants that you’re like are
there any like you to I know you said
the French Laundry was there any other
ones that for you it’s like top five
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 I was
in Italy and in moderner Massimo Bottura
one of the most amazing chefs probably
the best chef in the whole universe
really you’ve seen his food traveling
around the country and even in in New
York
ABC kitchen another one of my favorite
restaurants here in Dallas there’s a
restaurant called Jemma
it’s a beautiful restaurant it’s small I
always find that dinner is always a not
just the food
it’s the ambiance – it’s the Syriac and
it’s the experience some people often
say well you know I tried this at the
Strong’s and it was amazing but when I
got home and cooked it it never quite
tasted the same and you cooked it as
good but you know the washing machines
armed the kids won’t help with that
homework they’re running around
screaming the TV’s on and so that makes
a difference it’s the ambiance so do you
typically go out or you’re more just
like I’m just gonna stay home and cook
what’s what’s your mindset with that I
like the idea of going out but my wife
Wendy says now let’s stay home you cook
is she also cook or no no she doesn’t
cook at all perfect food for you I mean
you guys are like perfection jesus loves
me to cook and and I just look cooking
anyway and so the odd times that you
know she’s cooking Shield of food for
her and the kids and you know when I’m
traveling and doing events occasionally
she’ll cook things like spaghetti with
bolognese sauce 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 she said how do you
know I said well because the do you not
hear the sound of the water when the
pastas ready
the bubbling is loud at a science and it
is science yeah it is
so we talked about English and math the
science is important too unbelievable so
what’s your favorite all-time favorite
like you for me I could eat sea urchin
every day of the week for the rest of my
life and overdose on it right I could
eat caviar every day for the rest of my
life I grew up in by Caspian Sea in Iran
so for us like very special yeah what is
it for you
you know I am partial to caviar I didn’t
like cap yeah the real cap yeah yeah
for me it’s Indian food I love curries I
love all the flavors that go into it
and for me too this is one of my
favorite chapters of the book where I
talk about all the different careers you
know with the Thai curry and everything
but for me not only to eat Indian food
but to cookie – I love the flavors that
all come together English food can be a
bit boring at times you know it’s just
sort of the protein the vegetables the
starch but I like all those flavors that
go into it let me ask you so I
automatically took this spoon and a fork
you only took the fork and your lefty
your spoon is still clean you keep an ax
so tell me about the etiquette here
because I grew up in a family where we
eat with the spoon and the fork what
what happened here with you we grew up
in the UK we have a knife
for okay so we’re using together yeah I
saw the spoon there and thought I’m
gonna get to the dessert before you so
that’s what it is yeah all right 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’re there
in the US you usually I work with them
both together like you always listen no
one’s perfect than you kids okay we’ll
teach you guys eventually hey guys I
just a a second okay so are we ready for
this I think so let’s do it yeah
so the Brennan butter pudding you’ve had
time to sit and relax you see it’s sort
of relaxed a little more hopefully when
we cut into this will have that liquid
that we saw earlier has gone into a
beautiful delicious custard so when I
lift this up oh my gosh
that beautiful custard at the bottom
that’s all set you can see why this was
Princess Diana’s favorite dish in the
world but you don’t need a small portion
and then sometimes she’d come back for
that’s the healthy part of the dish
that’s right it makes you feel good oh
yeah right yeah the smell I mean you
smell it I’m telling you so you want the
crispy crunchy of that bread on the
table the bread and butter and then
underneath we want that sort of
creaminess and then the raisins with the
amaretto really do come through with
this here we go
good flavor no gesture everything I’m
not a dessert cut this guy this is this
is insane
Wow holy moly
guys it’s terrible I don’t want you guys
to try to paint you know it’s it’s not
something you should try it’s not L feel
me and Dara will take care of it today
then they say it’s fat-free until you
eat it and those berries just break down
the sweetness you know to me it’s weird
it’s it’s almost a better bite if I
don’t have the berries right because I
get the actual taste there’s a sweetness
of it and you’ve got the raisins and
yeah the raisins you’ll be making it I
always tell people once you tried this
you’ll never go back to the American
style bread pudding oh my gosh now let
me ask you this does this got more would
be or more like a double shot of tequila
which it’s kind of what would you
recommend with this this one is actually
goes really well with port port wine or
something like a sweet white French one
like a so turn visit wine yeah so we do
a wine with it sister this one’s a
little bit more refined and sort of the
curry for sure how often would present
Princess Diana eat this was it in every
heart once a week really yeah and then
only a small portion I mean she’d only
have a tiny piece like this but it was
just the taste of having it by the way
she exercised a lot well she always like
was she always part of a you know taking
care of how she were town of the gym
three days a week
when I joined us she got a life back on
track she conquered the bulimia in the
hope that others would too and she was
patron of 119 different charities hazing
to me but no this really is and she had
that discipline you know she’d come back
from an engagement and she come into the
kitchen and if she was on her own she’d
sit at the table like this and just eat
lunch at the table and she’d come in the
kitchen and she say dad I’m starving
what’s for lunch and I’d be like oh it’s
chicken your highness but it’s not ready
yet another 10 minutes says oh that’s
fine I’ve got to go and write my
thank-you letters so she go and sit down
and write thank-you letters to all the
charities before she came back and so
when I joined her she got a life back
tribe she was patron of all those
charity ism working out at the gym and
she came in the kitchen when I first
started there and she said down I want
you to take care of all the fats and
I’ll take care of the carbs at the gym
and so that’s when my recipes changed he
became more sort of that the healthier
eating side for her have you ever
watched her interviews like the you sit
there and watch her interviews and
reminisce about your time with her I’ve
seen you know I watched the interviews
and you know you don’t have to look so
the too far back to see William and
Harry now those boys and I still call
them boys but they’re taller than me and
they’ve got their own children and
everything but you know I think back to
holding Harry as a baby and William
coming in the kitchen with Princess
Diana and he was going riding on his
little Shetland pony smokey and he’s
just sort of this high I can’t see above
the camp and he said Dan can I get some
orange juice please
and you know those days watching them
grow up seeing them come in the kitchen
and seeing what they do now you know the
the charity work that both do and the
work that Harry’s doing and know both I
mean Princess Diana’s looking down on
those boys and she’s so proud but are
you still connected with the family do
you go back and visit every once in a
while I send them notes I’ve been known
again or something my first book when it
came out I’m gonna send them this one I
think they’ll enjoy the recipes in there
there are you a Twitter guy Instagram
which are you active on one of those or
no Twitter Instagram Facebook old oh
really I’m a black Twitter ready for a
sleep now I think oh my god I am like in
heaven right now
I’m telling you this was amazing to me
so obviously been with Princess Diana
you’ve been with the Queen you said
Ronald Reagan presidents all these but
how about some celebrities like who were
some of the guys you know some of the
celebrities you cooked for and had
experiences with where I cooked for the
Queen they was sort of mainly kings
queens president ass you know all those
dignitaries when I moved to Princess
Diana it was much different she she was
good friends with sort of George Michael
Elton John one day I was working in the
kitchen I got four people for lunch and
the door opened and the boss walked in
and she said come and meet my chef and
she walked in and right behind there was
Gianni Versace behind him was George
Michael
and then Elton John and they walked into
the kitchen and George Michael was just
like whoa I love Diana you eat this die
a me and I just stood there looking
thinking whoa this is cool
lots of celebrities will come all the
time to the palace but you know with
moving to Dallas now I’m cooking for an
incredible plethora of different people
having so much fun is it more
entrepreneurs now are you are you is it
more is there still some politician some
businesspeople what are some of the
mixture you’re seeing right now and it’s
a mixture politicians business people
celebrities flying around the country
and the world doing corporate events
lots of celebrities we I have my
catering company in Dallas and we fly
out will load food on the plane and go
out to Laguna Beach and up to Aspen and
across to North Carolina and down to
Florida and the whole team so they come
along and give that royal experience to
the client yeah because so you rush a
whole team here when you were we did it
yeah you brought the whole we did and
these were the way they treated the
executives we had here was just
priceless as we said earlier it’s all
about the whole ambience it’s not just
the food and it’s no good me being in
the kitchen making something beautiful
and then you know the server’s just
slapping it out so they’re all trained
we do everything from service at the
table to a synchronized service but
they’re good at what they do
my whole team are what was the biggest
transition for you gone from being a
chef for the Queen and Princess Diana to
then wanting to you know you run your
own business now what was that
transition for you I work for the Queen
for 11 years I moved to Princess Diana
for four and then moved to Dallas and
spend 17 years cooking for a family in
Dallas as their private chef and then
decided okay let’s go out into the real
world and start my catering company you
know it’s tough starting a new business
it really is you know making sure you’ve
got the right team around you and you’ve
got to get sort of a place where you can
prepare all the food you’ve got to get
their most amazing suppliers and
ingredients it’s you know all of that
all comes together and it’s taken three
years now since I started eating Riley
and now we’ve got everything together
we’ve got an amazing team I think that
you know every one of us wakes up every
morning
and want to come to work and I always
tell the team it’s funny when we talk to
people they say how many people work for
you
I said nobody works for me they work
with me the whole team work with me and
I couldn’t do my job in the kitchen
without my servers doing an amazing job
without my team in the kitchen just
washing all the dishes and doing all the
cleaner you know I couldn’t do it
without that we’re a team together a lot
of times the criticism which chefs not
criticism it’s like their curiosity from
other people who are not chefs like you
and I obviously but you know people at
your level of chef everybody thinks
there’s a madness side to them they’re
like crazy you know you see them on
camera they look normal but then behind
camera these guys are insane and
powerful they’re always losing them half
the time how much truth is there to that
you know there is I mean you get chefs
like that but I mean you get people like
that in all industry too we have those
moments and the team will tell you you
know at certain times you stay away from
the kitchen stay away from the chef’s
don’t come and ask where the napkins are
when I’m getting a big meal on the go
because I’m concentrating but I grew up
you know cooking out Buckingham Palace
and any minute you know Prince William
could come running into the kitchen so
there could be no sort of shouting and
swearing and things like that you had to
be a pretty car discipline well so that
helped oh absolutely it did yeah
interesting so that’s good to know well
listen if you’re watching this and you
obviously learn two formulas on what to
make for yourself one if you’re in the
world and you’re like cooking you’ve got
to get this book you will put the link
below if you’re not in the world but
mother wife girlfriend boyfriends
somebody who enjoys cooking buy copy
that book and send it to them and how
about if we do this how about if we do
something where the copy that I have
here if you could sign it and the first
person that watches this and you tweet
at he and I what your biggest takeaway
was from today’s interview we will mail
you a copy signed by Darren the great is
that for which we do let’s do the finale
so with that being said there and thank
you so much my pleasure niggas here at
the house nice thank you
this was phenomenal father would go
ahead and subscribe to the channel below take everybody bye-bye
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