Eggs Mini frittatas. Mini Chefs lesson plan. Aims of the session. Introduction. Children will. Skills years

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1 Eggs Mini frittatas Mini Chefs lesson plan 7-11 years Introduction The main focus of this lesson is eggs, to teach children how they can be used to cook easy, cheap, delicious and nutritious dishes. The recipe also showcases a useful characteristic of eggs - that they can make a mixture set and hold together into a neat frittata! Eggs are fascinating for children - the magic of cracking open an egg, cooking a boiled or fried egg so that the white is solid and the yolk is runny, the ability to whisk egg into meringue and how they help cakes rise are all things that a child may have experienced. Eggs are very nutritious. They contain lots of essential vitamins like Vitamin D and B12 and minerals such as selenium and phosphorus. They are also a good source of protein that supports the growth and maintenance of healthy muscles and helps to maintain healthy bones. It s important to eat a varied and balanced diet as part of a healthy lifestyle. Most of the eggs we eat come from hens, but we can also buy duck, goose, quail and even ostrich eggs. Farmers produce eggs by keeping hens on farms. Some hens are kept in barns, while other free range and organic hens roam freely in and out of the barn into a field. Chocolate eggs are a popular treat at Easter, and this lesson could be timed to coincide with an Easter egg hunt or other activities in the school. Aims of the session To introduce children to eggs and teach them how to store, handle and crack eggs safely. To cook a frittata, safely and hygienically. To teach children that eggs are laid by hens each day, that there are three main parts of an egg (yolk, white and shell), and introduce their nutritional properties. To identify that a working characteristic of an egg is to set or bind a mixture when it is heated. To name several ways of cooking eggs, and dishes that contain egg to show their versatility. To enable children to name and use a range of basic cooking equipment (knife, grater) and demonstrate basic food preparation skills (e.g. mixing with a fork, snipping with scissors, de-seeding a pepper) to make a frittata. Children will recall and carry out the personal hygiene drill, with support learn how to make mini frittatas and demonstrate a range of food preparation skills safely and hygienically (grate, snip, de-seed, crack and beat egg) evaluate their dish, e.g. appearance, smell, taste be encouraged to build their skills and confidence by making the dish again at home as part of a family meal Skills Greasing, cracking an egg, beating, grating, cutting, dividing a mixture and baking. 1

2 Outline of activity 1. Introduce the activity, talk about where eggs come from and describe what the word frittata means. (Frittata means egg cake in Italian, and is similar to an omelette with extra ingredients such as meat, cheese and vegetables.) 2. Show the children how to make a frittata step-by-step, with children following each stage. 3. Show the children the whole pepper (theirs will be cut into quarters). 4. Allow the children to eat the frittata while warm or chill and serve cold (you could allow them to eat some chilled and some warm so that they can see/ taste the difference). 5. Make the recipe in groups of four children. What you will need Ingredients For 1 group (4 children) For 2 groups (8 children) For 3 groups (12 children) For 4 groups (16 children) Butter 10g 20g 30g 40g Spring onion Red pepper 1/4 1/2 3/4 1 Mature cheddar cheese 40g 80g 120g 160g Canned sweetcorn 75g 150g 225g 300g Large eggs Milk 2 tablespoons 4 tablespoons 6 tablespoons 8 tablespoons Black pepper Equipment For 1 group (4 children) For 2 groups (8 children) For 3 groups (12 children) For 4 groups (16 children) Box grater Chopping board Tablespoon Teaspoon Muffin tin (at least 4 holes) Measuring jug Fork Small kitchen scissors Mixing bowl Table knife Sieve Oven gloves (1 pair per oven) 2

3 How to run the session Before the children arrive Collect images of hens, and dishes made with eggs (e.g. fried, boiled and scrambled egg, quiche, custard, meringue). You may also like to collect pictures of other birds and the eggs they lay (such as quail, duck, goose, ostrich). Have an egg box to show labelling. et out the demonstration area with all ingredients and equipment listed. et out the ingredients and equipment needed for each group. Prepare the room and tables. Display the pdf recipe on the whiteboard and/or provide copies of the recipe on the table for children to follow. Get the recipes and aprons ready. Place the eggs in a measuring jug or egg box so that they do not roll around or fall on the floor. Cut the pepper into quarters so that children are able to cut them safely, but leave the seeds and stalk in place, to be removed by children with a spoon/their fingers. Measure 40g blocks of cheese, cut so that it is easy for the children to grate (a square lump rather than thin wedge will be easier to handle). Frozen sweetcorn does not need to be defrosted; canned sweetcorn will need to be drained. Leave the root and top on the spring onions, these can be removed by the children with scissors. This is a teaching point. Preheat the oven. If it is not in the same room, ensure that others in the school know that it is being used. Introduction Explain to the children that they will be making a frittata. Get ready to cook Ensure that all the children are ready to cook. Children should follow the personal hygiene drill: tie up long hair remove jewellery roll up long sleeves wear an apron wash their hands Curriculum links England - D&T: Cooking and nutrition, Science, PSHE Northern Ireland - The world around us Recipe on the whiteboard/ copies of recipes for the children to read through Aprons, sink, soap and hand towels Scotland - Health and wellbeing, Technologies Wales - D&T: Food, Science, PSE 3

4 Inspire the children Show the children an egg in a box. Question the children: Where do eggs come from? (Hens, ducks, quail, ostrich, on farms.) How often do hens lay an egg? (A hen lays 300 eggs a year.) Talk about how some eggs hatch into chicks (but not the ones we eat!). What can we make with eggs? H ow are they used for cooking? Eggs are used in many recipes; show them recipes or images of egg dishes, e.g. quiche, custard, boiled and scrambled eggs, mayonnaise. Images Demonstration ingredients and equipment Who has eaten eggs? How do eggs taste? Why are eggs packed in boxes? Where should eggs be stored? (Fridge.) How long do they keep? Note the date mark on the shell. Ask children to recall the eatwell plate: I n which food group do eggs belong? (Meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein.) What main nutrient is provided by foods from this food group? (Protein.) Show the children how to crack an egg: Hold the egg in one hand over a jug or bowl. Tap the middle of the egg firmly with a table knife to crack the shell. I nsert the tips of your thumbs into the crack, draw the two halves apart, allowing the egg to drop into the bowl. U se a spoon to get out any fragments of shell that may fall into the bowl. xplain to the children that after they have cracked an egg they should wash their hands and ensure they do not put their fingers in their mouth. An egg Table knife Measuring jug (saucer/small plate) Question the children: What are the names of the parts of an egg? (Yolk, white and shell.) sk children to describe what they see colour and texture. Show them the thin clear white at the edge, the thick white near the yolk and the shell. Which parts of the egg do we eat? o the white and the yolk taste different? xplain that the yolk and the white can be beaten together, but can also be used on their own yolks for mayonnaise, whites for meringues. W hat happens when we cook/heat an egg? The egg sets the mixture, i.e. it goes firm/hard. Why do we cook eggs? To make them safe to eat. 4

5 Demonstration G o through the recipe so that children understand your expectations. emonstrate the skills in the recipe. Show them how to make the recipe step-by-step: mphasise controlled light greasing of muffin tins. (You may wish to allow children to grease the muffin tins using oil and a pastry brush, therefore removing an additional hand washing stage. Alternatively, use non-stick silicon muffin tins.) istinguish between edible and non-edible parts of the spring onion and pepper (e.g. seed, root, stalk). Talk about the plant and how it would grow. how how to top and tail onions using scissors. how de-seeding pepper, pulling away the pith with a teaspoon or fingers. mphasise the evenness of snipping, making sure all pieces are a similar small size so that they cook evenly (very large pieces will be crunchy and very small pieces may disintegrate on cooking). how how to grate the cheese safely (repositioning the cheese as it gets smaller in order to keep fingers away from the grater blades). xplain why it s important to beat the whites and yolks evenly so it becomes a yellow mixture. R emind children to pour the egg mixture carefully into the muffin cases. Get cooking! ivide the children into groups of four. sk them to check that their group has the correct equipment, according to the recipe. sk them to measure and weigh the ingredients required and set out for them. Check their measurements are accurate and ask them to work together to check each other s measurements. upervise the children setting the oven to the correct temperature, if the oven is in the same room. nsure that the muffin tins are lightly greased. C heck that children are using the scissors carefully to prepare the spring onion and pepper. upervise the use of the graters, reminding children to watch their fingers as the cheese is grated. Remind them to concentrate during such tasks. 5

6 Keep cooking! ncourage them to be brave when cracking eggs, but to hold them correctly and tap with a knife. nsure they hold them over the bowl/jug to catch the white and yolk. o not allow them to tap on the side of the bowl. Children should wash their hands after handling raw eggs. C heck that children have mixed the eggs evenly (so that white and yolk are blended). R emind children to evenly share the vegetables, cheese and beaten eggs equally between the muffin tins. how the children a cooked frittata - the egg must be thoroughly cooked (it should be firm). You can do this at the end of the cooking activity if you are not able to cook a portion of frittatas in advance. How to finish this activity iscuss the state of eggs before (runny egg and mixed vegetables) and after (neatly set round, holding the vegetables) cooking. Explain how the eggs hold the shape. A sk them to describe the differences in texture, taste and colour between raw and cooked frittata. iscuss other vegetables that could be added, such as frozen peas instead of sweetcorn, or leftover cooked vegetables, green beans or cooked butternut squash cut into small pieces. sk them to make suggestions of ingredients for a frittata on a theme, such as summer or winter frittata, or a frittata for a family picnic. Copies of the recipe for the children to take home sk children if they like the frittata. Talk about when they might eat the frittata and what they might serve with it to make a meal (hot breakfast at the weekend, for lunch or as part of an evening meal with chicken or ham, or cold as part of a picnic). T his dish can be served hot and eaten straight away, or covered and stored in the fridge and eaten cold. Ask the children why the frittata should be stored in the fridge. P rovide the children with a copy of the recipe to take home encourage them to make this with their parents/carers. Useful links For basic food skills in primary schools, including videos demonstrating cutting, peeling and grating and support around where food comes from, visit 6