Recipes (even simple ones) above your level have a high burn chance. As you get more levels in cooking, your high burn chances will disappear and you will cook most foods successfully. There is always a non-zero chance of burning food, but once you get out of high burn chance territory it gets a LOT easier.
Here is a guide of all the cooking recipes and their levels. Scroll down for an easier formatted list.
No worries! You can't unequip or swap companions out while they're on playing cooldown. Once you can play with them again, you can unequip the second one.
