cooking with anna: modern home cooking with irish heart

85 simple, homey, accessible, and delicious recipes from a modern Irish kitchen, by standout young chef Anna Haugh.

For Anna Haugh cooking is in her bones and sharing in her nature. A born and bred Dubliner, Anna was raised on her mom’s Irish home cooking. In this, her debut cookbook, she shares 85 recipes that are as straightforward as they are delicious, such as Braised beef cheeks with sweet potato and basil crush, Dad’s fish pie from Howth, Vegan pulled pork, and Guinness chocolate cake.

Knowing full well the reality of juggling busy family life with work, Anna includes mouthwatering recipes that are easy to prepare for weeknight dinner without using every pot and pan in the house, such as Mammy’s shepherd’s pie with forked spuds, baby gem lettuce and chicken taco night, lentil bolognaise, coconut cod curry, and Anna’s Tuesday night stir-fry. And for when you have some time and want to push the boat out, there’s a celebration roast, or the duck breast and potato waffle with a mushroom and black garlic puree, or even Aunty Ann’s show-stopping carrot cake.

For all their heartiness, the recipes in this book taste incredible and look stunning all because Anna shares her tricks of the trade to level up flavor and bring casual elegance to simple home cooking.

Anna Haugh was born in Dublin in the 1980s, and has trained and worked as a professional chef for 20 years. She became a commis chef almost by accident while working a summer job in Jersey, but when she walked into the kitchen, something just clicked. She enrolled in a professional cookery course at Dublin Food school Cathal Brugha Street and her professional chef career began. Anna has cooked professionally in many cities around the world, working with Derry Clarke, Philip Howard, Shane Osborn, and Gordon Ramsay, among others. In May 2019, she opened Myrtle to introduce the people of London to a sophisticated taste of Ireland. The restaurant uses Irish produce, which is the heartbeat of the menu. Anna’s broadcasting career to date includes three series of Royal Recipes; one of the main chefs on BBC’s Ready Steady Cook, and she is a regular on Saturday Kitchen and Sunday Brunch. She is also a regular chef on Morning Live and Saturday Kitchen for the BBC and has appeared on If These Meals Could Talk. In late 2022, Anna was announced as the new Masterchef: The Professionals judge alongside Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace.