Halt the return of cooking utensils (4)
I believe the answer is:
stop
'halt' is the definition.
(I know that halt can be written as stop)
'return of cooking utensils' is the wordplay.
'return of' says the letters should be written backwards.
'cooking utensils' becomes 'pots' (pot is a kind of cooking utensil).
'pots' reversed gives 'STOP'.
'the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for stop that I've seen before include "Pack it in - bar" , "Go no further" , "high card in bridge" , "Withhold payment" , "Part of organ" .)