Season 2

2013 · 13 episodes

Episodes

1Perfect RoastA beautifully cooked roast makes a grand centerpiece for any dinner. In this episode, Martha shares three recipes — a rib roast, crown roast of pork, and stuffed turkey breast — each a lesson in key roasting techniques. She also offers tips to achieving the perfect roasts, including the best cuts for roasting and ways to ensure they stay juicy after cooking, plus serving suggestions for festive occasions.
2StewingThough they taste robust, hearty stews are generally made with inexpensive cuts of meat and require little hands-on prep time. In this episode, Martha walks the viewer through the basic elements of making a stew and shares recipes for three classics: beef stew, veal stew, and coq au vin, a famously rich bistro favorite.
3SoupsNothing comforts like a bowl of homemade soup, and once you master a few basic techniques, you can make a host of variations. Watch Martha as she makes a nourishing chicken soup, that’s as easy as poaching a chicken. Then learn the “flavor-boosting” techniques that go into making minestrone. Finally, you’ll discover how to make velouté, a classic “mother sauce” that here becomes the basis for a creamy spinach soup.
4VegetablesBlanch, steam, and roast — these three simple methods are the best for highlighting vegetables’ flavors and retaining their nutritional properties. Martha guides you through these techniques and shows you how you can use them to prepare an endless variety of perfect vegetable dishes in your own home.
5PastaExplore the art of making fresh pasta from scratch with Martha and her friend Michael White, chef, restaurateur, and pasta specialist. You’ll learn how to make the dough and then form it into strands by hand or with a pasta machine, as well as hand-shaping dough into shapes such as farfalle and tortelli.
6Pasta SauceHomemade pasta sauces far outshine store-bought jars. In this episode, Martha creates four mouthwatering versions: traditional, slow-cooked Bolognese; a quick-and-easy puttanesca; a rich carbonara and a light but unforgettable sauce made with bottarga, a preserved fish roe that is a specialty of Southern Italy.
7FishmongerIf you love to eat seafood but balk at preparing it at home, you’ll welcome this lesson. Dave Pasternack, a renowned seafood chef based in New York City, joins Martha for a beginner’s class on buying, butchering, and storing fish. They then demystify how to bone a round or flat fish and how to clean a squid. Finally, Dave shares an easy-to-prepare recipe for crudo, his signature dish.
8SauteingSautéing is one of the quickest and most versatile cooking methods. It works well for almost any small cut of meat or fish. Martha demonstrates how to dredge meat or fish in flour and the importance of cooking over high heat to achieve a perfect, golden-brown finish. She’ll use these techniques to cook wiener schnitzel, chicken piccata and sole à la meunière — and also show how to make flavorful pan sauces to serve as accompaniments.
9DumplingsDumplings are a mainstay in nearly every cuisine, all across the world. Watch as Martha makes three kinds of dumplings, shaping each according to tradition. She begins with two well-known Italian dumplings — gnocchi and gnudi — then shares her family recipe for Polish pierogi, which has been passed down through generations.
10GrainsBy now we all know that eating whole grains is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle, and supermarket shelves are stocked with a greater variety than ever before. Martha provides an overview of the most popular grains, including quinoa and bulgur wheat, and teaches the different cooking methods. You’ll be inspired to prepare her recipes — which can be tossed together in no time — for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
11PreservingIn this episode, Martha demonstrates two of the oldest preserving techniques, confit and salting, and shows how viewers can put them to use in the home kitchen. Martha makes an assortment of confits — starting with the most classic: duck, which can be served on its own or as a rich addition to salads, then followed by lemon and tomato confits, both of which make excellent condiments for grilled or roasted meats. She then shows how to make gravlax, a delicious cured salmon appetizer.
12LegumesAvailable varieties of legumes, from chickpeas to calypso beans, and how to cook them on the stovetop, in the oven and in a pressure cooker; chef Cesare Casella.
13ShrimpBuying, storing and cooking shrimp; shrimp cocktail; updated shrimp scampi; traditional shrimp boil; simple grilled shrimp.