Eating Milk And Meat

The Rambam in two places (מאכלות האסורות ט:ב וטומאת מת א:ב) explains we know there is a prohibition to eat basar b’chalav as aקל וחומר  from the prohibition of cooking.  There are two basic problems here.  One is a problem מסברה, what does the prohibition of cooking have to do with eating, maybe the Torah just doesn’t want you to cook meat and milk together? Number two, the Rambam seems to contradict what he himself writes in ספר המצות ל"ת קפד that the prohibition of eating is learnt from the repition of the issur of cooking three times, so we assume it refers to an issur of cooking, eating and any benefit?  Is the issur of eating learnt from the extra verse or from the ק"ו?

The כ"מ  in טומאת מת explains that the Rambam holds that the reason why cooking is assur is because it is part of the process of eating; one must cook in order to eat.  Based upon this both Rav Moshe Solevetchik (Penini Harav pg. 195) and the Dovev Measharim (siman 31) want to say that if one is cooking in a manner where it is not to create an edible food that there is no issur of בישול בו"ח.  The Dovev Measharim challenges this assumption from a Gemorah Chullin (113b) if one cooks milk in fat there is a punishment of lashes for cooking, but not for eating because of the principle of אין איסור חל על איסור.  We see here that the issur of cooking exists even without an issur of eating?  However, we can defend the Rambam that even with the principle of אאחע"א, there still is some form of minute issur (whatever language you want to express this idea.)  In practice however, the Dovev Measharim and Minchas Asher (#43) don’t allow cooking even if it won’t lead to eating because לא דרשינן טעמא דקרא.

The Rambam in theמשנה תורה  is discussing a different issue than in ספר המצות.  In ספר המצות the Rambam is counting the mitzvot, he is explaining why all the prohibitions of basar b’chalav are counted as one prohibition, so he explains all of the prohibitions are learnt out from one verse.  However, this leads to a problem for the Rambam himself rules his second shoresh that one doesn’t get lashes for prohibitions learnt from principles of derush.  Asks the Ramban, if so, how can there be lashes for eating basar b’chalav?  Therefore, the Rambam in משנה תורה explains that the issur of eating is a ק"ו  from cooking.  The intent of the Rambam is that the issur of eating is part of the issur of cooking (the issur of cooking is aגילוי מילתא שלוקין על אכילה ולכן ל"ק מאין עונשין מן הדין ואכ"מ להאריך .) 

The Rambam in Morah says the reason for the issur of cooking milk and meat is because that was done for avodah zarah.  It that is the reason I don’t understand the ק"ו  of the Rambam from cooking to eating; maybe only cooking was done for the avodah zarah?