Princess Diana
, one of the most photographed women in the world, was known for a lot of things including her food choices. Until this day, people around the world discuss the royal member's ability to stay fit and toned, even after the birth of her two kids, Prince William and Prince Harry.
Royal chef Darren McGrady recently opened up about the late Princess' culinary fondness on a video for Delish and revealed what she liked and disliked on her food plate.
McGrady has become Diana's personal chef eleven years after cooking for Queen Elizabeth II.
Let's see what the People's Princess' favourite dish was...
Stuffed bell pepper
According to the royal chef Darren, "Her favourite dish was bell peppers stuffed with zucchini, mushrooms, rice, garlic topped with Parmesan and mozzarella and finished with a smoked tomato and pepper sauce."
"She asked for this dish several times a week."
"She would often come into the kitchen and ask for her favourite dish, and sit there chatting while [I] made it," he adds.
In his book "Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from the Palace Kitchen,", Darren has provided the recipe for the same.
Ingredients:
- 4 medium red bell peppers
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup roughly chopped onion
- 1 cup finely sliced button mushrooms
- 1 zucchini, diced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 cup rice, cooked until al dente and cooled
- ½ cup water
- ½ chicken or vegetable bouillon cube
- 4 slices smoked bacon, broiled crispy and chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh basil, shredded
- 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, diced
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
How to prepare:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Step 2: Cut the tops off of each bell pepper and clean the insides. You can cut little pieces off the bottom to help them stand on a baking sheet. Sprinkle some oil.
Step 3: Bake for 25 minutes and remove from the oven to cool.
Step 4: To make the filling, [our the oil from the bell peppers into a frying pan and add the onions, mushrooms, zucchini and oregano. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper to taste and saute.
Step 5: Next, add the tomatoes, rice, water and bouillon cube in the frying pan, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Step 6: Fold in the bacon, basil and mozzarella cheese into the rice mixture and sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese on top of the peppers/
Step 7: Put it back into the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted. Serve hot.
Bread and butter pudding
Another one of Princess Diana's favourites include bread and butter pudding.
"Her favourite dessert? Bread and butter pudding – she would only have it when William and Harry were staying, and then she would only have a small portion," said Darren.
To prepare, you will need 11 ingredients:
- ¼ cup of Amaretto
- 3 ounces raisins
- 12 slices of white bread with the crust removed
- 1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter, melted
- 9 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla paste
- ¾ cup of sugar
- ½ cup of milk
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar (to caramelize the dessert)
- 3 ounces of lightly toasted almonds
- 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
How to prepare:
Step 1: Soak a bowl of raisins in Amaretto overnight.
Step 2: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 3: Take four slices of white bread, cut the crust off, and dice them into 1/2-inch squares. Then spread them on the bottom of a casserole dish.
Step 4: Pour the Amaretto-soaked raisins on the diced bread.
Step 5: Cut each bread slice into four triangles.
Step 6: Melt one and a half sticks of unsalted butter and coat each bread slice.
Step 7: Next, combine nine egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk together two tablespoons of vanilla paste, and ¾ cups of granulated sugar.
Step 8: Bring half a cup of milk and two cups of heavy cream to a boil and pour into the egg mixture, whisking continuously.
Step 9: Pour the mixture on top of the bread. Let it sit for 20 minutes.
Step 10: Put it into the oven and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the bread is golden brown. You can add some almonds for crunch!
