Black Eyed Peas

Living in Texas you have to love black eyed peas. I am more used to cooking them than listening to them. But these guys are amazing in concert... and really nice people too (smiles).

Wendy and me hanging out with THE Black Eyed Peas

Come and watch me cook and share stories of my fifteen years with the royal family. Sample my food, then take the recipes home to prepare delights for your family and friends...

10 APRIL 2010 Central Market - San Antonio (2 classes)
17 APRIL 2010 Central Market - Houston
24 APRIL 2010 Central Market - Austin

preparing...

• Garlic Marinated Shrimp with White Bean Hummus;
• Zucchini & Pecorino Salad with Prosciutto & Arugula;
• Pan Seared Chicken with Salbitxada Sauce, Creamy Sage & Wild Mushroom Polenta;
• Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse with Limoncello Panna Cotta & Rosemary Biscotti.

preparing...

• Caesars Salad with Shrimp and Parmesan Baskets;
• Jalapeno Jelly Crusted Whole Beef Tenderloin with Caramelized Onion Dip;
• Warm Hollandaise Potato and Bacon Salad;
• Lush Lemon Meringue Pie with Ice Cream.

Ok, that is what it would read IF I ever decide to have my own restaurant. Nanny Lambert was my old Nan who passed away a few years ago now and I would just love to call a restaurant after her name. It just oozes comfort food to me, hmm... royal chef comfort food restaurant....

It's something as a chef that is always on the back of our minds - our own restaurant. In May I will get chance to see if I really would enjoy the restaurant life as I take over the kitchens of 48 Nights in Dallas.

Dallas area restaurateurs Chris Jeffers, Chris Zielke and Tim Byres, together with the Mass Care Task Force (American Red Cross Dallas Area Chapter, North Texas Food Bank, The Salvation Army DFW Metroplex Area Command, and Volunteer Center of North Texas), present 48 nights @ SYLVAN | THIRTY; proceeds from which will benefit the efforts of the Mass Care Task Force to increase North Texas' level of disaster preparedness.

There will be a weekly rotating schedule of featured area chefs - 24 in total - who would contribute their time to the effort. The restaurant will be open for six months only, on Mondays and Tuesdays of each week and will be located in a small building on SYLVAN | THIRTY. With seating for approximately 30 people, it is hoped that the prix-fixe menus will afford $1,000 per night for the cause.

Unfortunately, I am banned from telling you which nights I will be rattling pans there, but if you keep checking the menus and see something VERY British on the menu... then bob's yer uncle, as say across the pond. (laughs)

For more information, to look at menus and to purchase tickets CLICK HERE

Culinary Trip to Tuscany, Italy
August 2-8, 2010

Sienna, Viareggio, Parma, Pisa, Florence, and Modena are just some of the places we get to visit on my culinary tour this year as we head of to the breathtaking countryside of gourmet Tuscany.

Watch the video clip on my Home Page to see the full itinerary and see me prepare a fabulous pasta dish that you can make at home. Then come and join me on the trip. It's going to be SO much fun.

I recently did a cooking segment for " Good Taste with Tanji " Tanji is an Emmy award winning journalist and has worked as an investigative reporter, news anchor, producer and host and runs one of the best culinary websites on the net. Here's what she had to say ...

"Eating like royalty will certainly pack on the pounds... but wow, is it ever a lot of fun. Recently, I had the honor of cooking with Princess Diana's former personal chef Darren McGrady. Today the chef shares a fabulous recipe for a fresh, healthy Tuscan salad."

Check out the cooking segment and enjoy the recipe...CLICK HERE

"Tea at the Ritz" for Breast Cancer...

There are two princess Diana exhibits going on right now in the USA. One in Atlanta (the official one owned by Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer) and then other (the best one in my opinion) put together by a group of volunteers who are donating ALL of the proceeds from this one to breast cancer charity. This one is in Naples and I am doing everything I can to support it.

Congratulations and a HUGE thank you to Shari Graham, who owns two of Princess Diana's dresses, and her husband, Bill Graham, former North Carolina gubernatorial candidate for bidding $11,500 to have me come and cook dinner for them with the money raised going to promote breast cancer awareness.

To read more about the exhibit CLICK HERE

I have agreed to go back to Naples and the Princess Diana exhibit 2 May 2010 and host a Royal Tea Party at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and am looking forward to sharing some of my recipes and stories at the event. Keep checking back at my website or call the Ritz Carlton for ticket information

That's about it for this month. An action packed newsletter with loads going on. Make sure you click on all the links to get the recipes and enjoy that chocolate cake over Easter. Remember, it's fat free - until you eat it (laughs)

Hope to see you at one of my cooking classes, charity or corporate events and remember my cookbook EATING ROYALLY - recipes and remembrances from a palace kitchen makes a GREAT Easter gift and Mother's day present too. Order your SIGNED Copies with FREE shipping from my website...