Cooking for beginners

There are those who can cook and then there are those for whom boiling water is a bit of a challenge.

These are the people that top chefs John Burton Race and Angela Hartnett taught to cook like Michelin star chefs in their BBC2 series "Kitchen Criminals".

Unlike any other television cookery show, this was about people who couldn't cook and viewers watched how these culinary no-hopers were transformed into chefs good enough to pull the wool over the eyes of five of Britain's toughest critics.

This accompanying book is ideal for anyone who knows nothing about cooking but would like to learn.

Every step is simply explained with step-by-step photography.

At the end of each section the reader will be able to cook the dish from scratch, whether it's a delicious roast chicken, pie with a perfect pastry top or a succulent risotto.

Recipes range from classic French and English dishes to exotic Thai and Indian meals and from everyday meals to dishes for entertaining.