INTERMEDIATE Cooking ESL Lesson Plan: Warm-up (Pair Work)

1) What are life’s simple pleasures?

2) How do you feel about cooking?
3) What is your favorite kind of food?

Cooking Recipes: read and discuss the below recipes.

Chicken Tikka Masala (makes 4 servings) Rinse chicken, pat dry with paper towels and cut into
3/4" cubes. Put cubes onto short skewers. Place
 1 1/2 lb boned & skinned chicken breasts skewered chicken into a shallow non-metal dish. In a
 2/3 c plain low fat yogurt small bowl, mix together yogurt, gingerroot, garlic, chili
 Fresh ginger root; grated; powder, coriander, salt, limejuice, and oil. Pour over
 2 cloves of garlic; crushed skewered chicken and turn to cover completely in
 1 ts (teaspoon) Chili powder marinade. Cover and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight to
 1 ts ground coriander seeds allow chicken to absorb flavors.
 Salt; to taste
 2 tb (tablespoon) Lime juice Heat grill. Place skewered chicken on grill rack and cook
 2 tb Oil 5 to 7 minutes, turning skewers occasionally. Serve hot
 Lime slices with lime slices.
Moussaka (makes 6 servings)
Brown the meat & onion in some olive oil. When well-
 1 lb ground beef
browned, add water, tomato paste, parsley, butter, salt,
 1 c chopped onion
and pepper and let it simmer on low for 1 hour or more,
 Olive oil
until sauce has thickened. In the meantime, peel & cut
 1 c water
the eggplants lengthwise in 1/4" thick slices. Sauté in
 1/2 c tomato paste
olive oil to a golden brown. Add 2 tbs bread crumbs to
 2 tb Minced parsley
the meat sauce & mix well. Butter a baking dish well and
 Stick butter
sprinkle with some breadcrumbs. Place 1/2 of eggplant
 Salt & pepper
slices in the dish, & spread 1/2 of the meat sauce on top
 Med. Eggplants
- repeat. Pour eggs on top and spread evenly. Sprinkle
 1/2 c bread crumbs
with cheese & breadcrumbs and bake at 350 for 1/2 hour
 Eggs, well-beaten
or until golden. Serve with cheese sauce, if you want.
 1/2 c grated cheese

Triple-Chocolate Fudge Brownies Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour on an
(makes 1 serving) 8x8” baking pan. In a heavy 1.5 quart (6L) saucepan

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 3 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not melt bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate and butter
unsweetened), chopped over low heat, stirring until smooth. Then remove pan
 1 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped from heat. Cool mixture to lukewarm and whisk in
 3/4 stick unsalted butter, cut into-pieces sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well
 3/4 c sugar until mixture is smooth. Stir in salt and flour and
 1 ts Vanilla chocolate chips. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake
 2 large Eggs in middle of oven 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick
 1/2 ts Salt comes out with crumbs stuck to it. Cool brownies
 1/2 c All-purpose flour completely in pan on a rack before cutting into 16
 1/2 c Semisweet chocolate chips squares.
[Sources: http://recipes.stevex.net/recipe/chicken_tikka_masala, http://recipes.stevex.net/recipe/triple-chocolate_fudge_brownies]

Cooking ESL Lesson Plan: Follow-up & Comprehension Questions

1) Which recipe sounds the most delicious to you?

2) Which recipe requires at least six hours of preparation?
3) How can you know the brownies are ready?
4) Which recipe do you think has the least expensive ingredients?

Match the words with their meaning as used in the article.

1 rinse (verb) a a mixture of oil, wine, spices, etc, used for soaking meat/fish before cooking
2 skewer b fry food quickly in a little hot fat
3 shallow c cut food, esp. meat, into very small pieces using a special machine
4 marinade d take in a liquid (or other substance) from the surface or space around
5 absorb (verb) e not deep
6 mince (verb) f beat or stir a substance (esp. cream or eggs) with light, rapid movement
7 simmer (verb) g slightly warm
8 in the meantime h wash with clean water (not using soap)
9 sauté (verb) i cook sth by keeping it almost at boiling point
10 sprinkle (verb) j a pointed piece of metal/wood that is pushed through meat, vegetables, etc.
11 lukewarm k in the period between two times/events; meanwhile
12 whisk (verb) l throw small pieces of sth or drops of a liquid on sth
13 batter m a mixture of eggs, milk and flour used to cover food such as fish or chicken

Master the language: Connect the below ideas to make a sentence. (good for homework)

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 government / crush / uprising e.g. The government plans to crush the uprising.
in the meantime / rinse
skewer
shallow
marinade
absorb / juice
mince / hamburger
simmer / soup
chef/ sauté
sprinkle
lukewarm / bath
whisk / eggs
fish / batter

Cooking ESL Lesson Plan: Your Best Recipe

Take 5 minutes to prepare a presentation on your best recipe. Include its ingredients and the steps
required for its preparation.

Cooking ESL Lesson Plan: Role-Play #1

Student A: You think your country’s cuisine is the best in the world. Think of reasons to support this
argument. When ready, ask your partner if he/she would like to go out with you tonight to a
restaurant that serves your country’s cuisine.

Student B: You don’t like your country’s cuisine. Think of criticisms of it. Soon, your partner will invite
you to a restaurant that serves your national cuisine. Refuse and try to convince him/her to
go out for another kind of food.

Cooking ESL Lesson Plan: Role-Play #2

Student A: You had a delicious steak at the All American SteakHouse last night. You love meat. Tell
your partner about your dinner and recommend the restaurant to him/her. You can begin the
conversation.

Student B: You have recently become a vegetarian (or vegan if you prefer). Think of reasons why
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 eating meat is wrong or unhealthy. When ready, try to convince your partner to change
his/her diet. The other student will start the conversation.

Cooking ESL Lesson Plan: Discussion Questions

1) What would you like to eliminate from your diet?

2) What are some disgusting things that people eat?
3) Have you ever had food poisoning?
4) Do you buy for organic food? Are you afraid of genetically modified food?
5) How do you think technology will change how we eat in the future?
6) What restaurants in your area would you recommend?
7) Are men better chefs than women?

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Cooking ESL Lesson plan copyright Matthew Barton of Englishcurrent.com

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