We’re playing a bit of catch-up at the moment having not posted for a while  – this one goes back to summer.  The next book on our shelf is a cracking cookbook from Marcus Wearing – How to Cook the Perfect… This was a book that we’ve had for years, and it’s got lots of great recipes in; the one we use the most is Mashed Potatoes. The book is a combination of recipes and techniques for securing perfection. The tips for mash potatoes help make great mash – let the potatoes dry once boiled, using a food mill to get smooth mashing, lots of butter (of course) and warm milk. This method has become the way we make mash every time. The recipe we chose, though, was one we’ve not attempted from the book before – risotto. We’ve been making risotto for years, ever since the first Jamie Oliver Naked Chef cookbook got us to try it. Marcus’ approach follows a pretty classic approach taking the process slowly and carefully stirring regularly. The only real difference to how we’ve made it before was the addition of Mascarpone at the end to make the risotto even richer. Another nice little touch was garnishing it with shavings of parmesan – which looked nice when we served it. The risotto was delicious and reminded us why we used to make it quite regularly – perhaps something we’ll start doing again, though our daughter wasn’t a huge fan.