The behind-the-scenes duties of personal chefs who work with movie stars and royalty are the subjects of two recent cookbooks.

"The Private Chef: Hollywood's Premier Private Chef & The Recipes & Techniques That Got Him There" (The Hamilton Group, $29.95) was written by Agoura Hills resident Richard Florczak, who is chef to actor-director Mel Gibson.

"Eating Royally: Recipes & Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen" (Thomas Nelson, $24.99), was written by Darren McGrady, who was Princess Diana's chef at the time of her death in 1997. He now works as the private chef for a family in Dallas, Texas.

Both include dozens of recipes, some of which are featured here.

At a Ventura Music Festival fundraiser last month, Florczak treated attendees to the "upscale presentation" version of this dish by bundling the asparagus in individual servings tied with blanched green onion tops. For everyday family dining, pile the spears on a platter and serve the vinaigrette on the side.

GRILLED ASPARAGUS SALAD WITH RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

For the asparagus:

1 pound pencil-thin asparagus, washed and dried

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Fresh raspberries for garnish, optional

For the vinaigrette:

1/4 cup raspberry vinegar

3 fresh raspberries

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fresh cracked pepper, to taste

3/4 cup canola oil

Asparagus: Preheat grill to high. Trim asparagus spears to about 5 inches in length. Lightly toss in oil, salt and pepper. Place spears on hot grill for approximately 2 minutes, turning once to get grill marks on both sides. Remove asparagus from grill and place on a serving plate. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Vinaigrette: Place the first five ingredients in a blender and blend for 30 seconds. With blender running, pour in the canola oil in a slow, steady stream. If dressing becomes too thick, add a few tablespoons of water and blend.

Serves 4 to 6.

When this dish was served at the festival fundraiser, Florczak used a metal ring to press the risotto into a cylinder that he then topped with a seared scallop, a dollop of sun-dried tomato tapenade and a crisscrossing of snipped chives. Read on for the cookbook variation.

PESTO RISOTTO WITH SEARED SCALLOPS

For the pesto:

2 cups packed basil leaves, plus extra for garnish

1 large clove garlic

4 tablespoons pine nuts

1/4 cup grated Reggiano Parmesan cheese

1/4 to 1/2 cup canola oil

Salt, to taste

For the risotto:

40 ounces chicken stock

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium shallot, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 cups Arborio rice

cup cream

For the scallops:

4 tablespoons canola oil

18 scallops

To make the pesto: Set aside a bowl of ice water. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water (with a dash of lemon juice added) to a boil. Place basil leaves in a sieve and plunge the sieve into the boiling water for about 15 seconds, using a spatula to push the leaves under the surface. Use the sieve to lift the basil from the boiling water and immediately plunge into the ice water. Drain immediately by using the sieve to lift the basil from the ice water. Squeeze excess water from the basil and rough-chop the leaves.

Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts and cheese in a blender. Add 1/4 cup of canola oil and puree. The mixture should be very dense and fully blended. If not, add more canola oil, a little at a time.

Add salt to taste, blending after each addition of salt. Transfer pesto to a small bowl and set aside.

To prepare the risotto: Bring the chicken stock to a very slow simmer in a deep saucepan.

In another saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced shallot and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook until almost evaporated. Add the rice and stir to mix.

Use a ladle to transfer just enough of the chicken stock from its saucepan to cover the rice in the other. The rice mixture should stay at a constant, slow simmer. Whenever the stock evaporates below the level of the rice, add more stock. Continue this process until the rice is tender, about 25 minutes. When rice is tender, pour in the cream and stir to incorporate.

Just before serving, spoon in the pesto and carefully stir until fully incorporated. Season with salt, if needed.

To prepare the scallops: Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan over very high heat. Add half of the scallops and sear, no more 2 or 3 minutes per side. Transfer scallops to a plate and repeat the process with the remaining oil and scallops.

To plate the dish: Put a small mound of pesto risotto at the center of a pasta bowl. Prop three scallops against the risotto, arranged in the shape of a three-pointed star a triangle. Place a sprig of fresh basil at the center.

Serves six.

Princess Diana was "not a huge dessert eater," McGrady writes in his book, but she was a big fan of this dish, which he describes as having a texture that is "a cross between a bread pudding and a crème brûlée. Vanilla paste, a concentrated extract that contains vanilla-bean seeds, can often be found in the baking-goods aisle at Trader Joe's.

BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

3 ounces raisins

1/4 cup Amaretto

12 slices white bread, crusts removed

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

9 egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla paste

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons granulated sugar, to dust top

3 ounces sliced almonds, lightly toasted

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Assorted fresh berries

Cream for serving, optional

Soak the raisins in the Amaretto and leave covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut four slices of the bread into 1/2-inch dice, and spread the diced bread on the bottom of a casserole dish. Sprinkle the raisins on top of the bread cubes and pour any remaining liquid over the bread. Cut the remaining eight slices of bread in half diagonally, and then cut each half slice diagonally to create four even triangles per slice. Dip the triangles into the butter, and arrange on top of the raisins, overlapping them slightly. Pour any remaining butter over the top of the bread.

Whisk the yolks, vanilla paste and 3/4 cup sugar in a large bowl until combined. Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a heavy saucepan over high heat, and pour the hot mix onto the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour the warm egg-milk mixture over the bread, making sure all of the bread is coated, and set the casserole dish aside for 20 minutes to allow the egg mixture to soak into the bread.

Place the casserole dish in a roasting tray filled with water halfway up the casserole dish, and bake on the middle rack in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top with the filling just set.

Carefully remove the dish from the oven and the roasting tray (water will be hot), and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Place in the broiler or use a crème brûlée or kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar. Sprinkle with the toasted sliced almonds and dust with the powdered sugar pushed through a sieve or sifter. Cool slightly and serve warm with fresh berries. McGrady also suggests serving it "with a jug of cream."

Princes William and Harry sometimes "helped" make this dish for Diana, who often requested that a serving be set aside in the refrigerator for reheating as a weekend meal enjoyed with a green salad. "That was all right; this is one of those dishes that seems to improve with age," McGrady writes.

STUFFED AUBERGINE (EGGPLANT)

2 small eggplants, each 6 inches long

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 large zucchini

1 large orange bell pepper

2 ribs celery

1/2 cup roughly chopped red onion

11/2 cups sliced button mushrooms

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 large tomato, finely chopped

2 slices bacon, cooked until crisp

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cut each eggplant in half into two equal cylinders. Cut a circle in the white flesh of the eggplants about inch from the skin all the way round, and about 1 inch deep. Score the inside of the circle by making tiny, cross cuts into the flesh, about 1/2-inch deep. (This will make it easier to scoop out the flesh once the eggplant is cooked.)

Brush the eggplants with 2 tablespoons olive oil, especially the cut top and bottom, and bake on a tray in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn each eggplant over midway through cooking so the bottoms don't get too brown. When the flesh feels soft, remove the eggplants from the oven and allow them to cool.

Coarsely chop the zucchini, bell pepper and celery into 3/4-inch cubes. In a skillet, put the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat. Add the zucchini, bell pepper, celery, red onion and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables start to soften. Stir in the tomato, taste, adjust seasoning, and allow the mixture to cool.

Finely chop the bacon and cut the grated mozzarella into small cubes, and add these to the cooled vegetables along with the chopped basil.

Gently remove the flesh from the insides of the eggplants, taking care to leave about 1/4 inch on the bottom to create a shell. Then chop the flesh and add it to the vegetables. Spoon the mix into the eggplant shells, dividing it among the four. Sprinkle the tops with the Parmesan cheese.

The stuffed eggplants can be placed in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the filling is hot. Or, they can be refrigerated and reheated later. Serve with a salad as a main dish, or as a vegetable side dish with grilled steaks. Makes four servings.