Recipes – lesson plan for using YouTube recipe clips
by Natalie Greenly
This lesson uses two video clips of recipes, from YouTube. These have been chosen because the commentary is
quite simple and there is not too much extra chat.
Banana Bread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMwlE_lrkEQ&feature=relmfu
Beef Osso bucco: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JK8mfi_Hxk&feature=plcp (Osso Bucco means “bone
with a hole” in Italian.)
(The ingredients list and quantities can be found under each video. Click on “Show more”)
Warm-up
Introduce the subject by asking learners to discuss some of the following:
 a dish your mother cooked when you were a child
 a recipe you like cooking and which is easy for you
 a new recipe you tried recently
 a dish you like eating but can’t make yourself
 a typical dish from your country
Before watching
Food Vocabulary:

Show learners the pictures of the ingredients for the two recipes. Learners write
the name of each ingredient under the picture.
(I got the pictures by using Google images Search)

Check pronunciation of the ingredients.

Highlight the difference between:
o Stick of cinnamon and ground cinnamon
o Plain flour and self raising flour (you can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 ½ tsp of
baking powder to every cup of flour.)
o Stick of celery and head of celery
o Clove of garlic and head of garlic

Learners discuss: which of these do they use in their own cooking? What for?

Show learners the finished pictures of the two recipes.

Ask the learners to speculate which ingredients will be used in which recipes.
I took screen shots from the recipe videos using the Window 7 Snipping tool.
Start →All programs →Accessories →Snipping Tool

Hand out the list of ingredients.
Abbreviations and quantities:

Check that learners know: tsp , tbsp, g, L

Check that learners can say the quantities and fractions e.g. 1/2, 1/4,
2/3, 2 ½
Cooking verbs

Hand out the pictures of the cooking verbs

Learners match the verbs with the pictures.

Answers: whisk, pour dip and coat, grease, dice, cut up, soften, crack,
melt, mash, slice, stir, brown, season, add, chop, deglaze, crush, mix,
scrape, simmer, sprinkle, boil
Check pronunciation of the verbs.

Practice the verbs: put the learners into small groups. One learner
mimes one of the verbs. The other learners guess: “You’re chopping
something”

Ask learners to predict how the two dishes will be cooked, using some of the cooking vocabulary.
Watching the video clips

Learners watch the video clips to check how accurate their predictions were.

Hand out the gapfill worksheet to the learners. Ask them to work together to guess what verbs will go
into the gaps.
Answers: Banana cake
Cut up bananas, and with a fork, mash them in a mixing bowl.
Add flour, sugar, cinnamon to the bananas.
Crack eggs into a separate jug. Whisk the eggs.
Melt the butter, let it cool, and add it to the eggs. Mix the eggs and butter together.
Pour the egg and butter mixture into the mixing bowl
Add the crushed walnuts. Mix thoroughly.
Grease a loaf tin. Pour in the mixture.
Put into a preheated oven at 180oC and cook for 40-45 minutes.
Allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then take out and leave on a cooling rack for about 10
minutes.
Cut up and serve with butter.
Answers: Beef Osso bucco:
Sprinkle some flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper.
Dip the meat in the flour and coat each side
Put a large saucepan over medium heat and add in some olive oil.
Brown the meat in the hot oil for one minute each side. Remove the meat from the pan.
Put some more olive in in the pan and then add the onion, celery and carrot.
Allow to soften for about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further 30 seconds.
Deglaze the pan with some beef stock. At this point you can also add the red wine.
Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the little bits of meat and flour off.
Add in a can of crushed tomatoes. Put the meat back in the sauce.
Season well with salt and pepper.
Bring to the boil, then drop the heat to a simmer, and leave to cook for 1 ½ hours.
Add some fresh parsley before serving and stir through the osso bucco. Finish with some more sprigs of
parsley.
Follow up:

Watch one more time without the sound, asking the learners to describe what the chef is doing.

Learners could try and make one of these at home and report back (or even bring it in)

Learners can watch another clip and write a recipe or write out one of their own similar recipes from
their country.
Worksheet: Ingredients
Banana Cake
2 & ½ cups self-raising flour
70g walnut pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
125g butter (melted)
2 eggs
3 bananas
Beef Osso Bucco
4 pieces Beef osso bucco
2 tbsp plain flour
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stick celery
2 cloves garlic
1L Beef stock
400g can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup plain four
salt & pepper to season
1/3 cup red wine (optional)
olive oil
Worksheet: which recipe do these ingredients belong to?
Worksheet: Pictures of the finished recipes
Beef Osso Bucco
Banana cake
Worksheet: match the cooking verbs with the pictures
brown stir dice crush boil dip & coat crack cut up mash scrape add whisk
pour grease sprinkle soften simmer melt chop slice mix season deglaze
Worksheet: Fill in the gaps.
Banana Cake
__________ bananas, and with a fork, _____________ them in a mixing bowl.
__________ flour, sugar, cinnamon to the bananas.
___________ eggs into a separate jug. ____________ the eggs.
____________ the butter, let it ______________, and _____________ it to the eggs. _____________ the eggs
and butter together.
_____________ the egg and butter mixture into the mixing bowl
Add the ______________ walnuts. _____________ thoroughly.
_______________________ a loaf tin. ________________ in the mixture.
Put into a preheated oven at 180oC and cook for 40-45 minutes.
Allow to ________________ in the pan for 20 minutes and then take out and leave on a cooling rack for about
10 minutes.
______________ and serve with butter.
Beef Osso Bucco:
_____________ some flour onto a plate and _____________ with salt and pepper.
_____________ the meat in the flour and _____________ each side well.
Put a large saucepan over medium heat and _____________ in some olive oil.
_____________ the meat in the hot oil for one minute each side. Remove the meat from the pan.
Put some more olive in in the pan and then _____________ the onion, celery and carrot.
Allow to _____________ for about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further 30 seconds.
_____________ the pan with some beef stock. At this point you can also add the red wine.
Make sure you _____________ the bottom of the pan to get all the little bits of meat and flour off.
_____________ in a can of crushed tomatoes. Put the meat back in the sauce.
_____________ well with salt and pepper.
Bring to the _____________ , then drop the heat to a _____________ , and leave to cook for 1 ½ hours.
Add some fresh parsley before serving and _____________ it through the osso bucco. Finish with some more
sprigs of parsley.
Recipes
Banana Cake
2 & ½ cups self-raising flour
70g walnut pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
125g butter (melted)
2 eggs
3 bananas
Cut up bananas, and with a fork, mash them in a mixing bowl.
Add flour, sugar, cinnamon to the bananas.
Crack eggs into a separate jug. Whisk the eggs.
Melt the butter, let it cool, and add it to the eggs. Mix the eggs and butter together.
Pour the egg and butter mixture into the mixing bowl
Add the crushed walnuts. Mix thoroughly.
Grease a loaf tin. Pour in the mixture.
Put into a preheated oven at 180oC and cook for 40-45 minutes.
Allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then take out and leave on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes.
Cut up and serve with butter.
Beef Osso Bucco
4 pieces Beef osso bucco
2 tbsp plain flour
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stick celery
2 cloves garlic
1L Beef stock
400g can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup plain four
salt & pepper to season
1/3 cup red wine (optional)
olive oil
Sprinkle some flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper.
Dip the meat in the flour and coat each side
Put a large saucepan over medium heat and add in some olive oil.
Brown the meat in the hot oil for one minute each side. Remove the meat from the pan.
Put some more olive in in the pan and then add the onion, celery and carrot.
Allow to soften for about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further 30 seconds.
Deglaze the pan with some beef stock. At this point you can also add the red wine.
Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the little bits of meat and flour off.
Add in a can of crushed tomatoes. Put the meat back in the sauce.
Season well with salt and pepper.
Bring to the boil, then drop the heat to a simmer, and leave to cook for 1 ½ hours.
Add some fresh parsley before serving and stir through the osso bucco. Finish with some more sprigs of
parsley.