Cooking is an everyday skill that anyone can master with a little time and patience. Knowing what you like to eat is the first step in deciding what to learn to cook, and the 140 recipes include delicious and tasty dishes for your basic repertoire. Each recipe contains minimal ingredients, and all the techniques are clearly explained and shown in step-by-step photographs. A useful introduction details the essential cooking kit required and lists the best ingredients to keep in your store cupboard. It shows how to plan a menu, whether you are cooking for one, or feeding a family or friends. Budgetary and time restraints are taken into consideration, and there is plenty of advice on planning ahead. Food hygiene and basic health and safety in the kitchen are also covered. The recipe section is usefully organized according to the main food types - eggs, vegetables, pasta, rice, grains, peas and beans, fish and shellfish, poultry, meat, and pastry - and there are also chapters on desserts and making sauces.

Every chapter includes key information about choosing, buying and the different ways of preparing each food type. Recipes have been selected to teach a wide range of skills, such as marinating, poaching, frying, grilling, roasting and casseroling. There are plenty of cook's tips throughout, along with ideas for varying the ingredients to suit individual tastes, and serving suggestions that help the reader make sensible choices about which foods to put together. Easy-to-follow and concise techniques are illustrated with clear step-by-step photographs. Understand kitchen basics such as stocking the store cupboard, choosing essential equipment, menu planning, budgeting and hygiene. Includes a guide to all the different food types, as well as how to store, prepare and cook them. There are plenty of familiar and filling recipes for everyday and easy entertaining, such as macaroni with four cheeses, seafood gumbo, chicken fajitas, chilli con carne, and lemon surprise pudding.