KUED Programs

Though they taste robust, hearty stews are generally made with inexpensive cuts of meat and require little hands-on prep time. 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.

A beautifully cooked roast makes a grand centerpiece for any dinner. Martha shares three recipes - a rib roast, crown roast of pork, and stuffed turkey breast - each a lesson in key roasting techniques. Learn how to achieve perfect roasts, including the best cuts for roasting, ways to ensure they stay juicy after cooking and serving suggestions for festive occasions.

In this episode, Martha demonstrates how to pan sear, a technique that produces consistently satisfying - and quick - meats and fish. Pan searing involves browning food quickly over high heat so it develops a nice crust and locks in the flavor and juiciness. Martha shares her technique for pan-seared scallops with lemon-caper sauce and offers recipes for crisp-skinned salmon filet, pan-seared steak with mustard-cream sauce and Muscovy duck breasts with port-wine reduction.

The best fried foods are golden brown on the outside and deliciously tender within - never greasy or soggy. Yet frying is a technique that can elude even the most ambitious home cook. In this episode, Martha offers lessons in how to deep-fry and pan-fry to perfection in your own kitchen. Recipes and step-by-step techniques include French fries, pan-fried chicken (a Southern favorite marinated in buttermilk before coating) and Japanese tempura vegetables with dipping sauces. She shares lots of tips for keeping foods crisp without allowing them to absorb excess oil.

Because poached meats are moist and tender yet still mild in flavor, they work well as the basis for numerous salads, soups and light suppers. They're also famously low in fat. Martha begins this lesson by showing how one of the most healthful and versatile preparations - simply poached chicken breast - can be incorporated into all-American chicken salad sandwiches as well as a Cobb salad. Martha also shares recipes and techniques for poached salmon steaks, and reveals the secret to poaching eggs.

Braising is a busy cook's best friend, and here's why: with little hands-on time and no special equipment, this "low-and-slow" method produces hearty, consistently flavorful main courses and side dishes that belie their ease. It's also a great way to cook lean, inexpensive cuts of meat. Martha shows you which cuts are ideal for braising and the best ways to cook them, sharing recipes for classic pot roast, braised cabbage with apples and pulled pork sandwiches.

This episode is devoted to roasting, a straightforward and adaptable technique that also works well for meat, fish and chicken. Martha's roast chicken showcases the benefits of this method, with a crisp exterior and moist interior. Because roasting so beautifully concentrates the flavors of the ingredients, it's also well suited to vegetables, and Martha includes a recipe for a delicious roasted root vegetable salad. Finally, she prepares a show-stopping dish fit for any holiday table: a green peppercorn-crusted roast tenderloin of beef.