WoW Food: Kate’s top cookery book picks for Christmas..plus 3 recipes
It’s been another great year for food and cookery writing in Ireland, says Kate.
It’s been another great year for food and cookery writing in Ireland with titles from new and established writers, but all embracing the fun and deliciousness of cooking at home.
The first cookbook from Eunice Power is a celebration of the kitchen table – a place where we gather in good times and bad, to find comfort, nourishment and good conversation. The recipes are a collection of easy-to-make dishes that cover relaxed midweek meals, family feasts, and easy fruit crumbles to match the rhythm of family life.
Jess Murphy is chef-proprietress of Kai restaurant in Galway’s West End. Kai, the Māori word for food, opened with a simple formula: high-quality food, sourced locally and cooked intelligently, and over the years has evolved to be a champion of the region’s wonderful food producers. This cookbook is the long-awaited collection of the restaurant’s best-loved dishes. From legendary Kai fish fingers to showstopper cakes, Jess’s recipes and recollections will capture readers’ hearts, just like the restaurant has done to all who have eaten there.
Following the success of the award-winning The Irish Bakery, Cherie Denham and Andrew Montgomery once more travelled the island for their new book that celebrates Ireland’s food history. With 90+ recipes, each beautifully illustrated with full-page photography, they chronicle time-honoured family preparations like Irish stew and treacle farls and more contemporary interpretations that make the most of Ireland’s bounteous fields, woods, seas and hedgerows and reflect how Irish cooking has evolved.
This is a cookbook with kids at its centre. Featuring all the clever tips and tricks learned over the years, award-winning food writer Jolene Cox and her daughter Lily Mae speak directly to kids, sharing tried-and-tested recipes that will provide the skills and confidence to cook real food they’ll love to eat. The cookbook features 70 recipes appropriate for kids aged 5 to 12, introduces kids to the basics and when to level up without the adults needing to take over. Interspersed throughout are helpful notes from Lily on how to nurture a child in the kitchen and instill in them the confidence to cook for themselves – and others, too.
In her ninth cookbook, Clodagh McKenna has packed in 100 recipes to bring pure happiness to your table every day from breakfast to dinner. By consciously prioritising cooking healthy food and sharing meals with family and friends, boost wellness, reduce anxiety and nourish body and soul. Every recipe has been designed to fit into daily life, no matter how busy you are! Simple to prepare and based on easy-to-find, healthy and flavourful ingredients.
100 delicious, nutritious, convenient recipes that are only ever a freezer away. Chef and busy mum of two kids, Lou Robbie (aka @LittleLouCooks) takes the fear out of meal prep by making it easy and manageable for everyone with homemade recipes that can be prepared in advance and frozen so that wholesome tasty meals and snacks are ready and waiting for you when life has other plans for you. Featuring clever ideas for breakfast, lunchbox fillers, family dinners, and recipes to make use of your air fryer or slow cooker. Includes expert tips on freezing, storing and reheating so you can master the art of meal prep and transform your kitchen routine.
Scéal Bakery is run by husband-and-wife team, Charlotte Leonard-Kane and Shane Palmer, in the seaside town of Greystones in Co Wicklow. Together, their bakery has become a beacon for mastery of sourdough bread and the delicate artistry of pastry. Charlotte describes the book as being structured around “six chapters that follow the rhythm of the seasons”. Featuring stunning location photography and breakout stories on local food suppliers, Scéal pays homage to the tapestry of Irish produce and the community of farmers, producers and customers who have come together over a shared passion for exceptional ingredients and great bakes.
The 2026 season of Blasta Books has been announced, back with a bold new design – and this time with photography! Cork’s own Bean Queen, Ali Honour, kicks off the year with BEANS: Recipes for a Pulse Powered Future out in January.
- 500ml whole milk
- 110g butter
- 75g caster sugar
- 800g strong bread flour
- 12g fine sea salt
- 2 x 7g sachets of instant yeast
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 egg, beaten
- 4 tbsp of pearl sugar (or demerara sugar)
For the filling:
- 125g soft butter
- 90g soft light brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 40g pecans, quite finely chopped
- For the syrup:
- 45g caster sugar
- 45ml water
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- Warm the milk, butter and sugar together in a pan over a medium heat until the butter and sugar are melted.
- Mix the flour, salt, yeast and cardamom in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour the wet ingredients in. Using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix until you have a rough dough. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic (or alternatively, knead in an electric stand mixer). The dough will start off shaggy and sticky, but will come together as you knead, and you shouldn’t need to add any more flour.
- Transfer the dough to a floured bowl, cover with a towel and let it rise for 1 hour in a warm dark place.
- Meanwhile, make the filling. Beat the butter, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl until light and fluffy.
- 5When the dough has risen, punch it down in the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll the dough into a large rectangle about 5mm thick, spreading the filling all over and scattering with the pecans.
- Then, from the long side, roll the dough so you end up with a long cylinder. Cut the cylinder into 2 pieces and roll each one out lightly to form 2 long rectangles about 10cm wide.
- Use a sharp knife to cut each rectangle into 3 long strips (leaving about 2 cm at the top uncut to keep them together). Plait the strips and seal together at the ends.
- Transfer to two 900g loaf tins. Leave to rise again, covered, for 45 minutes-1 hour in a warm place.
- Preheat the oven to 190˚C/170˚C fan/350˚F/Gas Mark 5.
- Brush the plaits with beaten egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until it turns golden brown and is nicely risen.
- To make the syrup, melt the sugar in the water over a low heat then add the cardamom and bubble until you have a light but sticky syrup.
- Remove the loaves from the oven, brush all over with the syrup, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving.
- 50g salted butter
- 3 shallots, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 600g cavolo nero, stalks removed
- 3 tbsp white wine
- 150g pine nuts, toasted
- ½ bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- ½ bunch of fresh lovage, chopped
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the PX raisins
- Put the raisins and sherry in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat and set aside to let them soak.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan on a medium heat. When the butter starts to foam, add the shallots and garlic and cook for 90 seconds, just until fragrant. Add the cavolo nero and white wine and season with salt and pepper. Cook down the cavolo nero for about 5 minutes, then stir in the raisins, pine nuts and fresh herbs.
- Transfer to a serving dish and serve hot.
- 215g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 215g butter, at room temperature
- 215g dark brown sugar
- 4 free-range eggs
- 215g sultanas, soaked in 100ml of whiskey or brandy overnight
- 100g glacé cherries, halved
- icing sugar, for dusting
- Preheat the oven to 170°C fan. Line a 12-hole bun tin with baking cases.
- Sieve the flour and mixed spice together.
- Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer. Then add the eggs, one at a time, and a tablespoon of ffiour after each egg. Add the remaining ffiour and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add the fruit. Mix well. Divide the mixture between the bun cases and bake for 20 minutes.
- Sieve some icing sugar over the warm buns and serve.
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