From seasonal to simple recipes, the gift of a good cook book always goes down a treat with home cooks and food lovers …
Featured Image; Avoca At Home Cookbook
1. The Homemade Year: Things to make, do and eat at home to welcome every season, Lilly Higgins, €19.99, Gill Books. Reflecting the Irish calendar, from St Brigid’s crosses in February to Christmas wreaths in December, The Homemade Year will help you move gently through the months and make everyday moments special. Instagram; @lilly_higgins.
2. Advent: Festive German Bakes To Celebrate The Coming of Christmas, Anja Dunk, €20.98, Quadrille.
“As soon as I opened this, I felt it was Christmas,” said Diana Henry of this seasonal classic. Anja Dunk shares her recipes for lightly spiced Lebkuchen, frosted cinnamon stars, jam-filled ginger hearts, snow-capped coconut macaroons, to marzipan-filled Stollen, edible tree decorations, lucky meringue mushrooms and a gingerbread house.
3. The Daly Dish Bold Food Made Good: Eat the food you love and still stay on track, Gina and Karol Daly, €22.99, Gill Books.
This book is all about creating comforting, homely food that is big on taste but easy on the waist, and wallet.
4. MFK Fisher – An Alphabet for Gourmets, €19.20, Daunt Books.
A selection of highly enjoyable food essays that celebrates cooking, eating and dining with wit and wisdom. WH Auden thought MFK Fisher was one of the greatest American writers – this is a great stocking filler for bibliophiles as well as gourmets.
5. More Midweek Meals, Neven Maguire, €24.99, Gill Books.
This family-friendly cookbook will inspire readers to eat well every day and contains 100 fantastic food ideas.
6. The Irish Cook Book, JP McMahon, €38.50, Phaidon
No, it’s not new but should be on every kitchen shelf. Michelin-starred chef, restaurateur and author JP McMahon has collated 480 recipes celebrating Irish food and ingredients. NB: JP is releasing a companion book, An Alphabet of Aniar: Notes for a New Irish Cuisine, published in spring 2023 and available for pre-order now.
7. One, Jamie Oliver, €24.99, Penguin Michael Joseph.
This is one of Jamie’s inimitable back-to-basics cookbooks with over 120 simple one pan dishes that are affordable and delicious. Great to give a student as a stocking filler perhaps.
8. Slimming Eats Made Simple: 100+ delicious and easy recipes – all under 500 calories, Siobhan Wightman, €18.39, Yellow Kite.
If you know Wightman’s blog, then this is cookbook features 15 blog favourites pus other simple, slimming and satisfying recipes – perfect for getting on track in January.
9. The Great British Bake Off Favourite Flavours, €19, Little Brown.
If you’re looking for a tart blackcurrant millefeuille, a fresh passion fruit trifle or a speculoos cake you’ll find it in this mix of recipes from by Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith and the contestants from the 2022 show.
10. How To Go Plant-based: A Definitive Guide For You and Your Family, Ella Mills, €17.27
This book demystifies going plant-based – perhaps one of your goals for January – with 100 new recipes to get you started on the plant-based journey. It also features 20 questions for eating this way, sourced from Ella’s social media following.
11. One Dish, Simon Rogan, £18; www.simonrogan.co.uk
One for gourmets: this is a celebration of 20 years since Michelin-star chef Simon Rogan first opened the doors at his Lake District restaurant L’Enclume, which earlier this year won its third Michelin star.
12. Avoca at Home, €27.95; www.avoca.com
Includes classic recipes from Avoca’s cafes and food market as well as new dishes that will become firm favourites such as White Onion and Parmesan soup, Smokey Chicken and Chorizo or Clementine Curd Naked Cake. Yum!
