Learn 100 Common Phrases in English (+ Free PDF) - Cooking & Conversation

Hello everyone.

Welcome to English Like a Native.

Today, we're spicing up our language with an English vocabulary feast.

During this lesson, you will be given 100 Commonly used English

Words and Phrases, starting with some useful cooking based idioms.

To help you to remember everything, I've created a huge PDF for you containing

everything we will cover today.

You can download this PDF for free by joining my ESL mailing list.

The link is in the description.

So, we're going to quickly whisk through the first 35 tasty expressions,

uncovering their meanings and cooking up some fun examples.

So, get ready to add some zest to your vocabulary as we jump

right in to our kitchen of words.

Number one is recipe for disaster.

If something is described as being a recipe for disaster, then it's a

combination of things that could lead to a catastrophe, something terrible happening.

So, for example, if I were to leave my toddler and my kitten alone for any length

of time, it is a recipe for disaster.

If they are unattended, something terrible will happen.

Here are some example sentences.

"Oh, mixing those two chemicals is a recipe for disaster."

"Skipping our play rehearsals and not checking the equipment before

the show is a recipe for disaster."

Number two is bigger fish to fry.

Now, if you have bigger fish to fry, then it means that you have

more important things to deal with.

So, if you're coming to me suggesting that I need to come and help you with

your homework, but I'm about to go into a huge meeting that could mean I either

get promoted or fired, so my job is on the line, then I'd say, I really want

to help you with your homework, but at the moment I've got bigger fish to fry.

Here are some example sentences.

"I can't focus on this issue right now.

I've got bigger fish to fry."

"She decided not to attend the meeting, as she had bigger fish to fry."

Next on our list is boil over.

If something boils over in the kitchen, it's usually the pan.

If it's too hot, a pan of water will boil over, which is never a good thing.

But as an idiom, metaphorically, usually we talk about emotions boiling over.

So, if you're having a debate with someone and it becomes very heated, people get

very angry and upset, then you could say, things boiled over in the debate room.

Here are some other examples.

Oh dear, he let his emotions boil over during the argument.

The crowd's tension started to boil over after the delay was announced.

Next, we have another boil idiom and it is boils down to.

When you talk about what something boils down to then you're

summarising it you're talking about.

What is the most important thing?

What is essential about this situation?

So, for example when deciding whether to be a stay at home mum or whether to

put the children into child care it all boils down to what's going to be the

most beneficial thing for the children.

So in that scenario, I'm saying what's most important, what is essential

about this question, what should I do, is what's best for the children.

That's what should be considered.

Here are some other examples.

"The problem boils down to a lack of communication."

"Hello."

"Hello."

"Hello."

"It all boils down to whether you're willing to accept

the responsibility or not."

Next on our list, chew the fat.

To chew the fat is to talk leisurely and in a prolonged way.

So, if you meet up with a friend or a family member and you're

just having a long chat about nice things, then you're chewing the fat.

You're talking for a long time, it looks like you're chewing.

"Oh yeah, really?

Wonderful."

Here are some other examples.

"We sat around the fire, chewing the fat until late into the night."

"Hey, I'll stop by your office later to chew the fat."

Next on our list is cook the books.

This is not a good thing to cook the books.

As you can imagine, cooking the books literally or metaphorically is not good.

Books should be respected after all.

But if you are cooking the books, metaphorically, it means

that you are being dishonest with your financial records.

So, if you are the owner of a business or you're self employed, you should

tell the taxman exactly what you've earned and exactly what you've spent.

So, that they can see your overall profit and tell you how much tax you owe.

But if you change the numbers knowingly, then you are cooking the books.

Here's an example.

"The accountant was fired for cooking the books."

"There was an investigation after they discovered someone

had been cooking the books."

Next, another cook idiom is to cook up a storm.

To cook up a storm means to do lots and lots of cooking with a great

deal of passion and often skill.

So, if I'm in the kitchen and I'm not just doing my usual beans on toast, but

I've got several pans on the hob, the souffle is in the oven; everything is just

busy and I'm, I've got a bowl of flour, I'm gonna bake something for dessert.

You could look at me and say, "Wow!

You are cooking up a storm."

Here's an example.

"She cooked up a storm for the family reunion."

"Every Christmas, my mum cooks up a storm."

Next on our list is cooking with gas.

Now to be cooking with gas means that you're doing something

effectively and successfully.

So, it means that progress is happening.

You're cooking with gas.

It's going.

It's happening.

Here's an example sentence.

"Now that we have all the data, we're really cooking with gas."

"With the new manager, the team is finally cooking with gas."

Next on our list is cut the mustard.

This means to be good enough, basically, to reach the required standard or

to surpass the required standard.

If I need to write a letter, a very important letter, by hand, I need a

very good pen and if my five-year-old hands me his very special fuzzy

monster pen that doesn't have a very good nib on it and the ink slightly

leaks, then I might say, "Sorry Jacob.

This pen doesn't cut the mustard."

It's not good enough.

Here's another example.

"He's a good player, but he just doesn't cut the mustard for professional level."

"The final draft of the report just doesn't cut the mustard."

Next we have to hand someone something on a plate.

If someone gives you something on a plate, then it means they give it to you and

you haven't had to do much work for it.

So, if I have been given a promotion because I'm friends with the boss,

rather than because of any work I've done, then you could say, "Anna was

given that promotion on a plate.

It was so easy for her.

She just had to be friends with the boss while the rest of us.

Had to work really hard and we got nothing."

Okay, here's an example.

"You can't expect success to be handed to you on a plate."

"Life doesn't hand you things on a plate, you have to earn them."

Right, tighten up your apron strings, hit like if you haven't already, and subscribe

to this channel to increase the chances of us bumping into one another again.

So, while you're doing that, let's recap the idioms that we've covered so far.

Now, I will bring those idioms all together in a short monologue.

Keep your ears open for them.

Okay?

Oh, where do I begin?

It's like being in the centre of a whirlwind of emotions, a veritable

recipe for disaster, you see.

When we first met, it was all champagne and fireworks.

But now, it feels like I've got bigger fish to fry than

trying to save a sinking ship.

Our disagreements, they boil over now into full blown arguments,

hotter and more frequent.

Like most couples, we have our fair share of issues to work

through, but the question is, is it worth the effort anymore?

Everything, absolutely everything boils down to this incessant bickering.

We used to sit by the fire, chewing the fat about our dreams and desires.

Those moments, they felt like warm honey, but now it's just cold tea.

And then, there's the money.

Oh, the money!

It's as if he's cooking the books, with his endless shopping sprees and

that secret account I stumbled upon.

Me?

I'm trying to cook up a storm, trying to keep the romance alive with

little surprises, weekend getaways.

But, alas, it's like trying to cook with a broken stove.

Do I cut the mustard?

I often ask myself.

It's like he hands me his disapproving looks on a plate – I'm too cold; I'm

too distant; I'm too wrapped up in work.

And my ideas to fix things?

Half-baked, he calls them.

He has always been a hard nut to crack.

I'm tired, truly.

Tired of trying to piece together the fragments of a love that once

shone brighter than the stars.

It's like holding onto a ghost, an echo of something beautiful

that once was, but now...

It's just a shadow, a whisper of 'what ifs' and 'if onlys'.

But here I am, still standing in the ruins of our love, wondering if

there's a way back to each other, or if this is the end of our story.

Did you hear all the idioms?

Were there any missed?

Were there any extra?

You might have heard our next idiom, which is half-baked.

If something is half-baked, then it's poorly thought out or underdeveloped.

So, it's not fully baked just like a cake that comes out of the oven too soon.

So, we often talk about ideas or plans being half-baked.

Here's an example.

"His plan to start a business seemed half-baked."

"That's a half-baked idea that's a bound to fail."

Next is the phrase, a hard nut to crack.

I described my partner in the monologue as being a hard nut to crack.

This describes a difficult problem or a difficult person to understand.

Here's an example sentence.

"This puzzle is a hard nut to crack."

"He's a hard nut to crack when it comes to personal matters."

Next is in a pickle.

If you describe yourself as being in a pickle then you are in a

difficult or tricky situation.

Here's an example sentence.

"Oh, I'm in a pickle!

I can't find my passport, and my flight is in three hours."

"We were in a pickle when the car broke down in the middle of nowhere."

Next, we have simmer down.

To simmer down is to become calmer or less agitated.

Sometimes I would tell a room full of my students to simmer down.

In that case I'm saying, "Be quiet, calm down, I need to talk to you now."

Okay, here's some other examples.

"The crowd simmered down after the announcement was made."

"Okay, let's just simmer down and talk this through rationally."

Next we have spill the beans.

To spill the beans is to reveal secret.

information.

Here's an example.

"He spilled the beans about their surprise party."

"Oops.

I won't spill the beans about the ending of the movie.

It's really good."

Next we have stir the pot.

To stir the pot is to cause trouble or controversy; to stir things up.

Here's an example.

"Oh, he just loves to stir the pot by bringing up divisive topics."

"Stop stirring the pot; we need to work together harmoniously."

Next we have to sugarcoat something.

To sugarcoat something is to make something seem more pleasant or

acceptable than it actually is.

Just like if you take something that's bitter and yucky and cover it in sugar.

It's going to be a little bit more palatable, easier to eat because you

won't get so much of the bitterness.

Here's an example.

"I won't sugarcoat the news; it's not good."

"She sugarcoated the feedback to avoid upsetting him."

Next we have sweeten the deal.

To sweeten the deal is to make an offer more attractive.

So, for example if you were offered a job but you weren't that keen on the job then

your potential future boss might decide to sweeten the deal by throwing in a

company car or they might throw in private health insurance or a gym membership.

To sweeten the deal.

Make it more attractive.

Here's an example.

"They added a signing bonus to sweeten the deal."

"To sweeten the deal, we've included a two-year warranty."

Next, we have to grill someone.

To grill someone is to question them intensely.

Here's an example.

"The detective grilled the suspect for hours."

"He got grilled by his parents about his whereabouts last night."

Next is flash in the pan.

Something that is a flash in the pan is something that shows potential or success

initially, but then fails to deliver.

So, it's like it's going to be this raging fire.

This inferno, but then it very quickly simmers down and becomes nothing.

So, you could say that a new pop star who initially has huge success

with their first single, but then you never hear from them ever again.

They were a flash in the pan.

"His early success turned out just to be a flash in the pan."

"Many thought she was a star in the making, but her career

was a flash in the pan."

Next we have to leave someone to stew.

To leave someone to stew is to leave them alone to worry or think about something.

So, I might tell you something which I know will concern you.

And as punishment, rather than telling you the good news, I'm going to

leave you to stew for a little while.

I'm going to allow you to think about it and worry about it for a

little while until I go, "Ah, but I didn't tell you the good news."

Here is an example.

"After the argument, she left him to stew for a while."

"He was left to stew over his mistake."

Next on the list is to over egg the pudding.

This is to do more than is needed, to do more than is necessary, or to overdo it.

Here's an example.

"I think you have over egged the pudding with all these decorations."

"Oh, don't over egg the pudding; sometimes simpler It's better."

Next we have out of the frying pan into the fire.

This means to go from a difficult situation into an even worse one.

So, if you go from having one child to two children and three cats, then you are

jumping out of the frying pan into the fire when it comes to a chaotic household.

Here's an example.

"By leaving his job without having another one lined up, he's jumped

out of the frying pan into the fire."

"Escaping the conflict only to be caught in a storm was like jumping

out of the frying pan into the fire."

Okay, I'm going to take a little breather here to recap what we've just covered.

Now let's bring some of those together in a monologue.

Listen out for any of the idioms that we've heard, or maybe some new

idioms that we haven't yet covered.

Here we go.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, gather around as I unveil

the most exhilarating adventure of my life — selling washing machines!

You might think this sounds a bit half-baked, a washing machine salesman?

But oh, my friends, it's It's far more than that.

You see, it's not just selling washing machines; I'm revolutionising

the way we think about laundry!

Finding lasting relief from the constant burden of doing

laundry is a hard nut to crack.

Imagine, if you will, a machine that doesn't just wash your

clothes, but reinvents them.

I found myself in a pickle initially, trying to convince people that

these machines are the future.

But as soon as people see the sparkle, hear the hum, watch the whirl,

they know — they're simmering down into a world of clean and serene.

And spill the beans, I shall!

These aren't just any washing machines; they stir the pot of

innovation with their state-of-the-art technology and eco-friendly prowess.

They don't just sugarcoat the task of laundry; they transform it into

an experience of luxurious ease.

And can I sweeten the deal?

Of course!

Each purchase comes with a year's supply of exclusive eco-friendly detergent.

So, feel free to grill me, because I have all the answers.

Flash in the pan, you say?

Pish posh!

This isn't a fleeting trend; it's a laundry revolution.

No leaving you to stew in regret, my dear customers.

These machines are the real deal.

Am I over egging the pudding?

Never!

Each feature is meticulously crafted to ensure the perfect

balance of efficiency and elegance.

Walking away from this opportunity is as bad as jumping out of the frying

pan into the fire of mundane washing.

Why would you choose that when you can bask in the glory of laundry perfection?

Mark my words, these washing machines are not just appliances.

They are the chariots of your clothing, destined to lead them

into brighter, cleaner futures!

Washing machines, the unsung heroes of households, soon

to be the talk of the town!

Now, who is ready to make laundry day the highlight of their week?

Right, let's move on and finish this list of amazing idioms.

Here we go.

Take it with a pinch of salt.

If you are told to take something with a pinch of salt, then it means

to not completely believe something or to be slightly sceptical.

It doesn't mean that it's completely false.

You're just being told to believe with caution, to hear it, to accept

it but not to fully fall for it.

Here's an example.

"I'd take his promises with a pinch of salt if I were you."

"Take everything you hear in those rumours with a pinch of salt."

Next we have too many cooks.

Now the prolonged saying is too many cooks spoil the broth or the soup.

Generally you'll hear this shortened just to too many cooks.

It means that too many people involved in a task will just spoil it.

There's too many people trying to do it It won't get done.

Here's an example.

"Oh, we have too many cooks in this project and it's leading to chaos."

"This committee is ineffective — too many cooks spoil the broth."

Next, we have too much on your plate.

Now, different to having something handed to you on a plate, if you have

too much on your plate, then you have too many tasks or responsibilities.

Here's an example.

"I can't take on another project.

I've got too much on my plate already."

"She's feeling overwhelmed with too much on her plate."

Next we have icing on the cake.

The icing on the cake refers to something additional, something that turns

something good into something great.

Here's an example sentence.

"Winning the game was great and the crowd's cheer was

like the icing on the cake."

"Getting the promotion was exciting but the bonus was the icing on the cake."

Next we have to bite off more than you can chew.

This is to take on a task that is way too big or too

complicated for you to complete.

Here's an example.

"He bit off more than he could chew by enrolling in too many classes."

"Taking on the entire project alone was biting off more than she could chew."

Next we have full plate.

This is very similar to having too much on your plate.

It's the same sort of thing.

It's about having a lot of tasks or problems to deal with.

So, rather than saying, "I have too much on my plate", you might

simply say, "I have a full plate."

Here's an example.

"I'd love to help, but I've got a full plate this week."

"With the new assignment, he has a full plate at work."

Next is to eat humble pie.

To eat humble pie is to face humiliation and to be apologetic about it.

Okay, so if you make a serious error and you feel sorry about that, and

you feel quite embarrassed about it, you're eating humble pie.

Here's an example.

"After his mistake was exposed, he had to eat humble pie in

front of his colleagues."

"She had to eat humble pie and admit that she was wrong."

Next is cream of the crop.

If you are described as being the cream of the crop, then you are the best of all.

Here's an example.

"These students are the cream of the crop of our school."

"We selected the cream of the crop to interview for this job."

Next is to butter someone up.

If you butter someone up then you flatter them.

In order to gain their favour.

So, if I want something from someone and I know it's not going to be something

they're going to give me easily, like if I want my mum to give me some money or I

want my dad to let me go to a festival.

I'm imagining I'm a young teenager here.

Then I would have to flatter them and be very nice to them to butter

them up so that they're more likely to say yes to my requests.

Here's an example.

"He was just buttering you up with those compliments.

"She butted up her boss in hopes of getting a raise."

Next, we have pie in the sky.

If something is described as pie in the sky, then it's unrealistic

and it cannot be achieved.

Like how often do you actually see pie in the sky?

Here's an example.

"His idea of starting a business with no capital is just pie in the sky."

"They promised us bonuses, but I think it's pie in the sky."

Next, the proof is in the pudding.

This means that the real value of something can only be judged from

practical experience or results and not from appearances or from theory.

You have to see the proof in the end result.

Here's an example.

"They say this new software will transform our work, but the proof is in the pudding.

So let's try it."

"We've been promised improvements with these changes, but the

proof is in the pudding."

Talking about pudding, next we have bread and butter.

The connection there is that in the UK, there's a pudding

called bread and butter pudding.

But anyway, bread and butter is something different.

If you talk about someone's bread and butter, you're talking about a person's

livelihood, their main source of income.

So, your work, what you do to make money, is your bread and butter.

It's how you survive.

So, this is typically earned by doing routine work.

Here's an example.

"Teaching is my bread and butter."

Okay, let's recap those idioms.

Okay, let's bring them all together in a little monologue.

Have you ever dared to venture into the abyss of moving house?

If you have or haven't, lend me your ears!

You see, I recently embarked on a journey, a perilous trek from one abode

to another, and oh, what a circus it was!

First off, taking everything with a pinch of salt is crucial.

When your estate agent promises a smooth transition.

"Smooth," he said.

As smooth as riding a unicycle on a cobbled street, I'll tell you!

The moving day was like having too many cooks in the kitchen, each one with

their own idea of how to pack a teapot.

Chaos!

Too much on your plate, they warned.

They were right, of course.

Boxes stacked to the ceiling, the cat hiding in the most inconvenient

places, and the dog thinking that every box was a new toy.

It was like a game show, but the prize was just finding your socks.

And then, the icing on the cake — the movers!

Big, burly chaps who looked like they could lift a house, yet

faced their greatest challenge: navigating my grandmother's

antique mirror through a doorway.

It was like watching a dance, a delicate, sweat-inducing ballet.

Biting off more than you can chew?

Oh, absolutely!

I decided to repaint the new house before moving in.

Picture it: me, in overalls, a paintbrush in one hand, a takeaway menu in the

other, surrounded by a sea of paint cans.

It was a scene straight out of a sitcom.

A full plate, you ask?

Well, let's just say, my plate was a banquet.

The moving truck broke down halfway, the cat escaped (only to be found lounging

in the neighbour's garden), and the kettle was the last item to be packed.

A day without tea is a day in purgatory!

Eat humble pie, I did.

Had to apologise to the neighbours for the ruckus, the traffic jam caused by the

moving truck, and my less-than-angelic vocabulary during the whole ordeal.

The cream of the crop, this moving experience was not.

But, butter someone up and you'd be amazed at what help you can get.

A few smiles and a promise of pizza, and suddenly neighbours

turned into moving assistants.

Pie in the sky, the idea of a stress-free move.

But who doesn't love a challenge, eh?

And when all was said and done, the proof was in the pudding.

Despite the mishaps, the new home stood there "Awww" welcoming us home.

The removal men were fantastic to be fair.

It's just not an easy job.

Who would want removals to be their bread and butter?

More like bread, butter, and a dollop of unpredictability!

And so, my dear friends, that was the tale of my grand move.

A comedy, a tragedy, and a lesson in the art of keeping your cool amidst

a storm of cardboard and bubble wrap!

So, there we had it, 35 cooking related idioms.

I do hope you enjoyed that, but don't go anywhere because now we're moving

on to 15 useful cooking phrases.

Hello, today I'm going to show you 15 useful phrases for cooking in English.

Cooking is one of my favourite things to do although I don't really always have

time to cook a full meal from scratch when I've got two kids and a business to run.

So, sometimes I batch cook so that I have healthy family favourite

meals on the table in minutes.

Come with me while I make a traditional British shepherd's pie.

But don't worry, this pie doesn't actually contain any shepherds.

Actually, the version I'm going to be making today is completely vegan.

Yeah!

Hello everyone, I'm Anna English and you are in the right place to learn

English in a fun and engaging way.

Now, here is my easy recipe for a nutritious meal that is sure

to please the whole family.

For this recipe you will need two finely diced onions, two crushed cloves

of garlic, two large diced carrots, one stick of celery, also diced,

two and a half cups or five hundred grams of dried lentils, a teaspoon

of Marmite and some dried oregano.

This is going to sub for the meat mixture in our vegan version but traditionally,

shepherd's pie is made with lamb mince.

Which is why we call it shepherd's pie!

Shepherds look after lambs!

Maybe we should change the name, like lentil pie?

Um, get your hands off my lamb pie?

Yeah, okay.

For the topping, you'll need 900 grams of potato, peeled and diced, a

knob of butter and a splash of milk.

You may have noticed I've already used some phrases related to cooking.

So, let's take a moment to inspect the language.

I said I don't really always have time to cook a full meal from scratch.

Cooking from scratch means to use Fresh ingredients to cook

a dish or meal, for example.

"My sister never cooks a meal from scratch.

She's far too busy.

She usually uses pasta sauce from a jar."

I also said I batch cook so I can have healthy family favourite

meals on the table in minutes.

Batch cooking is when you make a large quantity of the same food that

you can then portion up and either refrigerate or freeze to eat later.

For example, since starting to use the fitness app, my friend spends

his Saturday afternoons batch cooking lunches for the week ahead.

Smart.

We also had some useful phrases in our ingredients list.

They were: finely diced, to sub, a knob of butter and a splash of milk.

Finely diced means cut into very small, evenly sized pieces.

You know, like you see the chefs on TV doing.

I like to practice my knife skills by seeing how finely I

can dice onions and carrots.

Just mind your fingers.

To sub is short for substitute.

And now here comes number eight, lentils.

Subbing for the captain lamb mince.

When you sub one ingredient for another we use this instead

of the more usual ingredient.

You can sub lentils for meat or cashew cheese for cream cheese to

make recipes vegan so sub is when we use one thing in place of another.

It's also used as a noun.

You might use breadcrumbs as a sub for Panko if you can't find that.

Now we're going to talk about quantities of things.

A knob of butter is some butter.

Basically, it's shorthand for however much butter you want in your dish.

A knob is a very specific word used for butter.

Okay, make sure you never use this word to describe anything else.

More specifically, never call a person a knob.

They will definitely get annoyed.

Some people like to just add a little bit of butter, but I like to add a lot.

A splash of milk is similar.

It's an indeterminate quantity of liquid.

We can use a splash for any other liquid.

Some people add a splash of Worcestershire sauce to this recipe.

Now, without further ado, let's get cooking.

The first thing we need to do is cook the potatoes.

Make sure to rinse the diced potatoes first, then put them in a saucepan,

cover with water, add a pinch of salt and bring to a gentle boil.

Let the potatoes cook for about 20 minutes or until the inside of each

cube is soft, drain and set aside.

Bring to a gentle boil means to heat a liquid until it is hot enough to

form small bubbles, but not many.

You might see instructions on a soup that say 'bring to a gentle

boil and serve', which means to heat the soup up before you eat it.

Set aside means to reserve for later use.

I made a salad to go with the shepherd's pie and set it aside for later.

You can also use this expression for time.

"I set aside some time in my schedule to brain dump all my ideas for videos."

Now, we need to get the lentil mixture ready.

Cook your lentils as per the packet instructions.

Add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery to a frying pan and

sauté on a low heat until almost cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Sauté is an interesting word.

It's one of the only words in English that has an accent.

That's because it's actually borrowed from French.

It's use in English is only for cooking.

It means to fry food in a small amount of cooking oil and usually means on

a low heat, which is the expression for when we turn the burner or the

hob on just a little bit, not too hot.

Now once the veggies are softened, add your cooked lentils,

Marmite and season to taste.

This means put as much salt and pepper in as you like.

It's about adding enough to suit your taste.

In this recipe we also add oregano to taste.

Some people prefer a lot, some people prefer a bit more or less.

For other recipes, you might add sugar or garlic to taste.

How much you put in is really up to you and your preference.

At this point, you want to add some water to the lentil mixture

to make it just a bit wetter.

then you'd like to serve it.

We're going to put it into the oven so it will end up absorbing a bit more moisture.

Okay, now here's where we put it all together.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Take the potatoes you set aside, add a knob of butter, a splash of milk and mash.

Pour the lentil mixture into an oven proof dish.

We're nearly there!

Oh, I hope it turns out well.

Let's pause for a moment and take a look at those useful phrases.

Preheat your oven means turn the oven on in advance so when you're

ready to put the food in, it'll be at the correct temperature.

An oven proof dish means a container that won't break when it gets hot.

You can also say 'microwave proof' and 'dishwasher proof' to mean the item is

safe for the microwave and or dishwasher.

And finally, we had turn out well, which means to make something and the finished

product be what you wanted and expected.

I really hope the finished dish is really tasty and I don't burn it or undercook it.

Fingers crossed!

Next, layer the mashed potato on top of the lentil mixture.

If you want, you can use a fork to make a design on the top of the

mash so when it cooks That part gets nicely browned and crispy.

Bake for about half an hour.

Now be careful.

When it comes out, it's going to be piping hot!

So, you might burn your mouth if you eat it straight away.

Piping hot is extremely hot.

We can use it to refer to food, a radiator, or anything else

that has a very high temperature.

So, how have I done?

I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself!

I'm serving this family fave with a crisp side salad, and I've got enough leftovers,

which means we can eat it again later in the week for another family meal.

Yes!

Batch cooking for the win.

Bon appetit.

Don't follow me for cooking tips.

I'm not a good cooking teacher, but I am a great English teacher.

I do hope you enjoyed cooking with me today and that I've encouraged you

to try it out for yourself at home with these wonderful new phrases.

So today you saw 15 useful phrases for cooking.

Cook from scratch, batch cook, finally dice, to sub, or a sub, a knob of

butter, a splash of milk, bring to a gentle boil, set aside, saute on

a low heat, season to taste, preheat your oven, an ovenproof dish, turn

out well, piping hot, and leftovers.

Can you remember what they meant?

Be sure to watch the video again in a few days to review.

After all, practice makes perfect!

Hello everyone, it's Anna here from englishlikeanative.co.uk Now

whether you're in the can't cook, won't cook or loves to cook category

this video has something for you.

In this video, you're going to learn 50 important words for cooking in English.

Make sure to watch carefully because I'm going to quiz you at the end.

So, pop on an apron and join me in the kitchen.

I really like my apron.

It stops my clothes from getting dirty when I'm cooking.

And it's got an A on it for my name.

Anna.

Now let me introduce you to some of the things in my kitchen.

This is the oven.

I know not everyone around the world has an oven in their home, but in

Britain, ovens are really important because that's how we make the

most important meal of the week.

The Sunday roast.

If you're not sure what a Sunday roast is, don't worry.

I'll explain later.

Then, on the top here, we have the hob.

There are a variety of hobs in the UK, including a gas hob, an

electric hob, and an induction hob.

This is an induction hob.

Let me place the pot on the hob and turn it on.

Now I'm going to put the lid on the pot to cover it.

One more time.

This is my apron.

This is the oven.

This is the hob.

This is a pot and this is a lid.

One more time.

This is my apron.

This is the oven.

This is the hob.

The pot and the lid.

If I want to cook something like an egg or some meat, I use this.

A pan.

After I cook, I can use my trusty spatula to put my food on a plate or

I can use a ladle to put food into a bowl if I'm eating soup or maybe pasta.

And after I cook pasta, I use this.

A colander to save the pasta and get rid of the water.

To prepare my food, I can use my knife and my chopping board to

cut the food before I cook it.

Oh, and I use a sieve to make sure the flour is free from

lumps and unwanted debris.

Oh, what's that?

I use my wooden spoon to stir the mixture, but for some strange

reason, I have more wooden spoons than I could ever possibly use.

So, my wooden spoons tend to be used as drumsticks.

But guess what?

I can use these other tools too.

A peeler to take the skin off my potatoes.

A garlic press to crush the garlic.

A grater is great for grating my cheese or carrots into really small pieces.

A blender turns solid food into a liquid, perfect for making soups and smoothies.

After I make my smoothie, I put it in the fridge freezer.

Either to make it cold, in the fridge part, or to freeze and

store it in the freezer part.

Now, let's take a close look at some of the actions we use in the kitchen.

With my knife and my chopping board, I cut my food into smaller pieces.

To cut means to separate using a slicing motion.

I can also use the verb chop, to chop potatoes.

Chop means to cut something using a vertical motion.

And if I am cutting my vegetables into small cubes then I say dice.

It looks like this.

When I make pancakes, I crack eggs into a bowl, add in the flour, mix them together,

and stir in some chocolate chips.

Chocolate chips!

Mix means to combine all the ingredients together.

And stir is the action my hand is doing now.

When you move a spoon in a circular motion.

Like when you stir sugar into your cup of tea.

Then I add the pancake mixture to the pan.

When it's ready on one side, I flip the pancake.

That just means to turn it over quickly.

And it's not always easy.

Oops!

Now let's take a look at some of our utensils or kitchen tools.

Do you remember what this is?

It's a blender.

The action is to blend.

I blend the fruit to make a smoothie.

This is a colander.

I use it to strain the water after I cook pasta by pouring the contents

of the pot into the colander.

Strain means to keep the food you want and throw out the water.

Pour means to put liquid or small food into a different container.

We also pour milk into our tea.

Okay, I have mentioned tea a few times now, but tea is so important to us Brits.

Moving on.

I can use the colander to put food in to rinse it.

That means pour water on it to clean it before I eat it or cook it.

"Ah, OK, sugar, sugar.

Ah, oh, that looks like it's burning.

Ah, sugar, sugar."

Oh, why did I choose such a complicated recipe?

Right, let's see where I'm up to.

Um, chop the carrots.

Done.

Um, then use a sharp knife to dice the onions.

Ok, that's done.

Now add the onion to the pan and then mix in the fresh herbs, not the

dried herbs, the fresh herbs, ok?

Then the chicken is marinating here.

Oh, oh, the potatoes are cooked, ok.

So, where's the colander?

Where's the colander?

Oh no!

Um, ok.

I will have to use a sieve.

Yeah, I can use a sieve.

But then that's going to be really hard to clean.

Oh no, the potatoes are still cooking, they're going to burn.

Um, oh, what can I do, what can I do?

Quick, I'm going to think, think.

Um, hey, the lid.

Yes, I'll use that to strain them.

Okay, then what's next?

Oh, ah, it's cooking.

I need to check the oven.

Okay, so I am no whiz in the kitchen, but I am a whiz in the

classroom, so let's get back to those 50 important words, shall we?

Look at my chicken!

It's covered in oil, salt, and spices, it's marinating.

To marinate is to cover something, especially meat or chicken, with oil

and garlic, spices and herbs, and sometimes yogurt, before you cook it.

You put the meat and the marinade together and leave it for a few hours.

This adds a lot of flavour and stops it being dry.

Have you ever marinated anything?

Let me know in the comments below.

Next up, we have a few different ways to cook things in this, the oven.

We can bake or roast.

Baking is usually when we cook something in the oven but don't add oil to it.

You can bake a cake or a potato.

Roasting, on the other hand, is when we cook something in

the oven and add oil to it.

Like meat, potatoes and vegetables.

Ah, roast.

I said this word earlier in the video and promised you more of an explanation.

I'm excited to share this with you because it's such an important part

of British culture, the Sunday roast.

The Sunday roast is, well, roast food, roast meat, roast veg, roast potatoes.

And vegetables like carrots and parsnips, but you can make a roast

with any vegetables though, even boiled vegetables if you prefer.

And the meat is usually chicken, lamb or beef.

And in some parts of the UK, a roast dinner will come with these Yorkshire

puddings, which are just delicious.

They are made with flour, eggs, milk, and oil.

And they're fluffy, and crispy, and go so well with everything.

Then, to top off our Sunday roast we pour over a sauce called gravy,

which is usually made from the juices of the meat you've just roasted.

This dish is delicious and comforting and very popular, especially for Sunday lunch.

I hope you'll try it one day.

Cooking something in very hot water is called boiling.

I like boiled new potatoes.

They're scrummy.

I also sometimes boil eggs for breakfast.

Speaking of eggs, one way to cook eggs is to fry them.

That means we put them in a pan or frying pan; add some oil,

crack the egg, and let it cook.

I like my fried eggs sunny side up.

This means I don't flip them over but leave the yolk, which is the yellow part.

Nice and round, but, try not to burn them.

Burn is cooking too much.

Usually food will go dark brown or black when you burn it and you can't eat it.

Well, you can eat it but it doesn't taste very nice.

And it's such a shame.

Some foods you have to soak before you can cook.

That means you leave it in water for anywhere between

a few minutes to 12 hours.

This helps to rehydrate and put water back into the food.

We soak things like dried beans, dried mushrooms, and sometimes rice or oats.

Now, if you have some food you've already made and then stored, or a

ready meal; you heat it up in the oven or microwave before eating it.

That means you get it nice and hot.

For some ready meals, you'll need to pierce the plastic before heating it up.

To pierce the plastic, you take a fork and make tiny holes in it to let

the heat escape when it's heating up.

Now.

Do you know the opposite of heat up?

Cool down.

After you've cooked something and it's too hot to eat right away,

you may want to let it cool down.

If you've cooked for a child, you let the food cool down before giving it

to them so they don't burn themselves.

How are you doing with all these words so far?

Are you just heating up or do you need a minute to cool down?

Remember to pay close attention because I am going to test

you in just a few minutes.

I talked about a microwave just now.

It's the appliance we use to heat up our ready meals.

But did you also know that microwave is a verb?

So, instead of saying, "I'm going to heat up my meal in the microwave."

You can simply say, "I'm going to microwave my meal."

Another popular thing to microwave is popcorn.

Popcorn cooked on the hob just isn't the same.

I've even seen some people microwave cake.

Serious question, have you ever made cake in a microwave?

Another word we can use as a verb and a noun is grill.

The heated element at the top of the oven is the grill.

And I grill my kids cheese on toast.

And I also use the grill to heat up food sometimes when

I don't want to microwave it.

To wrap up, let's take a look at some adjectives.

We've already seen a word that can be used as a verb, noun and adjective.

Can you remember what it was?

That's right, it's roast.

You have a roast, you can roast your dinner and you can

simply call it a roast dinner.

Of course, there are other words that we've seen that we

can use in three different.

categories.

Grill.

We have a grill.

We can grill food and you can then say this is grilled cheese.

Burn is the other one.

I have a burn on my hand.

I am burning my hand in the oven right now.

Give me an oven glove.

And, oh no, burnt toast for breakfast again.

And we can turn many other words into adjectives.

Here are some more adjectives that are strongly connected to food.

First off, this word is the opposite of cooked.

Have you heard it before?

It's raw.

Raw.

Sushi is often made with raw fish.

Some fish we eat, however, comes in tins.

We can call this tinned fish.

And other recipes ask for canned tomatoes.

You can also have tinned sweetcorn or canned soup.

These both just mean that they're put into a tin or a can to preserve the food.

Another way of preserving food is to freeze it.

These foods are called frozen foods.

You can buy frozen peas, frozen pizza, even frozen cake but look here.

These little plum tomatoes are not canned or tinned.

They are fresh.

I got them from my garden just now, and I'm very proud because

they're nice and plump, that means they're big and round and juicy.

You can use the word plump to describe a chicken thigh too.

Okay, were you paying attention?

Let's find out.

I'm going to ask you a question and give you three options.

You'll have five seconds to answer the question and then

I'll show you the answer.

Ready?

Good luck.

Number 1.

What's this called?

Number 2.

What sharp utensil do you use to cut or chop vegetables?

Number 3.

What appliance do you use for baking or roasting?

Number 4.

What is the action you do to chop vegetables into

small pieces, usually cubes?

Number 5.

What is this?

Number 6.

What is the opposite of cooked?

Number 7.

How do you make a smoothie?

Number 8.

What is this?

Number 9.

What's this?

Number 10.

What kind of meat is this?

Number 11.

When you are finished boiling food and you want to remove the

water, what do you do to it?

Number 12.

What's this?

What am I doing?

Number 14.

What's the verb that means to open eggs?

Number 15.

What's the word for when you cook something too much and it

goes black and you can't eat it?

Number 16.

What am I wearing to protect my clothes?

Number 17.

How do you describe something that's big and round and juicy?

Number 18.

What's this?

Number 19.

What am I doing?

Number 20.

How do you describe something that's recently made, grown and bought, is

ready to eat and hasn't been processed?

Well, I hope you enjoyed this video as much as I did.

Remember to like, subscribe and ring that bell so you don't miss any new videos.

And please let me know the answers to these questions in the comments.

Number one.

Have you ever marinated anything?

Number two.

Have you ever made cake in the microwave?

Number three.

How many answers did you get right in the quiz?

I love to read your comments, so please do put them down below.

Oh, and don't forget to download your notes.

See you later.