The Royal Chef

While in Dallas I had a wonderful opportunity to take a cooking class from The Royal Chef: Darren McGrady. My mom set it all up and it was such a treat and so special! Chef McGrady is the "Royal Chef" because he was personal chef for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace. He was also Princess Diana's personal chef for four years before her tragic accident. He has cooked for many distinguished people such as President Bush, Clinton, Reagan and Ford. In addition to being the Royal Chef at Buckingham Palace he also traveled with the royal family to Windsor Castle, Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle as well as on the royal yacht Britannia on royal tours around the world.

The class was wonderful. While we cooked he told stories about what it was like to work for the royal family, he kept me laughing for sure! He showed us several ways to prepare the same meal-- since Greg and I don't eat a fancy meal every night it was nice to learn some ways to "dress down" nice meals.

We started with Lobster, Jumbo Lump Crab and Heirloom Tomato Salad with Yellow Tomato Gazpacho, then moved on to Braised Beef Short Ribs with Parsnip Chips served with Soft Polenta with Wild Mushrooms and Crispy Prosciutto. Last but certainly not least we made an AMAZING dessert-- Milk Chocolate Cremosa with an Espresso Parfait and Butterscotch Sauce. At first glance the menus looked pretty difficult, but with Chef McGrady breaking it down I thought that I would actually make these things again.

I had such a fun day cooking with Chef McGrady, I am hoping to do it again in January. I really enjoyed just relaxing, drinking some wine and doing something I love... COOKING!

Thank you Mom for surprising me with such a wonderful time... You are the BEST!