CookingSkills Guide.

From basic to boss.

Ever started a meal halfway through and realised you don't know how long it takes to roast a potato? By the time you've Googled it, the chicken's burnt and the salad's gone soggy. We've all been there. This guide fixes it — once.

Master the basics — roasting, boiling, scrambling, steaming — and you can cook anything. The Cooking Skills Guide is the one-stop reference Pete gives clients who want to take back control of what they eat, save money, and stop relying on the deliveroo merry-go-round.

• The five tastes every great meal balances (and how to use bitterness as a flavour, not a problem).
• A pantry-essentials checklist so you've always got something on hand for a healthy meal.
• Exact roasting and grilling times for chicken, beef, lamb, pork, fish and turkey.
• How to cook perfect rice, pasta, quinoa and couscous — every time.
• The mix-and-match dressing table — pick from each column, never buy bottled again.
• Boiled, poached, fried, scrambled — the egg chapter alone is worth the download.
• A vegetable table with roast + steam times for 25+ veggies.
• Written by Pete — a 11× UK award-winning Leeds PT, not an influencer.

What's inside

Nine short chapters that take you from "I can boil water" to "I cook for my family three nights a week and love it."

The book opens with a calorie comparison that says it all — Nando's two drumsticks, rice and Caesar salad: 928 kcal. A homemade roast chicken, brown rice and Caesar side: 466 kcal. Same dish, half the calories. The five key benefits: full control over calories and macros, sustainable (less takeaway packaging), quality time with family and friends, eating out becomes special again, and you save money cooking in bulk.

All great meals balance the same five tastes. Once you know which flavours work together (and which don't), you can freestyle without a recipe. The chapter walks each:

• Salty — essential for balance; sub table salt for Himalayan rock salt, anchovies or olives.
• Sour — citrus, fermented foods, vinegar. Brightens everything.
• Sweet — fresh fruit, honey, sweet vegetables. Not just refined sugar.
• Bitter — dark chocolate, cruciferous veg. Opens a whole new flavour world.
• Umami — soy sauce, cheese, asparagus, meat. The savoury depth most home cooks miss.

The six categories that mean you can always throw together a meal when the train's delayed and the takeaway menu's calling: lentils & pulses, grains, vegetables & fruits, fish (tinned counts), spices, and sauces/oils/vinegars. With specific examples of each and what makes them essential.

Six proteins with both roasting and grill times, plus the technique that matters most for each. Chicken, beef, lamb, pork, fish and turkey — temperatures in °C, °F and gas mark, time per kilo, and the touch test for steak (soft and springy = rare; tough = well-done).

Pasta, rice (white + brown), quinoa, couscous. The chapter teaches the right water-to-grain ratios (rice is 2:1, quinoa and couscous are 1.5:1) and the cooking-time differences for long pasta (8–10 min), short pasta (10–12 min), ravioli (3–5 min) and gnocchi (the moment they float).

The "fluffy inside, crispy outside" roast potato secret (par-boil first, then shake to rough up the edges, then 40–45 min at 180°C). Plus mash with the right milk-and-butter ratio for proper creaminess, and chunky oven chips that don't go soggy.

Two tbsps of store-bought ranch is ~130 calories of salt, sugar and preservatives. The mix-and-match table in this chapter lets you build a fresh dressing from five columns: oils, vinegars, herbs, healthy fats, and extras. Combination ideas included — Honey Mustard, Caesar, Thai Peanut, Vinaigrette.

The full breakdown of boiled (2 min for runny white, 8 for fully set), poached (the seven-step method with the whirlpool trick), fried (lid on, runny yolk in 4 min) and scrambled (medium-high, butter, stop while it still looks underdone). Plus the foolproof way to peel a boiled egg under running water.

Two full pages of roasting and steaming times for: aubergine, beetroot, brussels sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, butternut squash, bell pepper, broccolini, carrot, cauliflower, courgette, mushrooms, celery, green beans, onions, corn, kale, parsnip, peas, sweet potato, potato, spinach, pumpkin, turnip. With notes on prep (cut into florets / wrapped in foil / massaged in olive oil) and exact times per method.

Common questions

© Pete Gawtry Fitness. The Cooking Skills Guide PDF is free to download and share with friends. All cooking times are guidelines based on standard kit — always check your meat is cooked through.