Maria Rodriguez is Senior Vice President for Programming at KLRU. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and gardening.

One thing that I always enjoyed watching on television with my Mom and my sister was the cooking shows on Public Television.  So if you need some new cooking recipes, you might check out the KLRU-TV schedule on Saturdays starting at 1 pm.  There are many new episodes as well as new additions to the cooking block on Saturdays.

Simply Ming at 1 pm.  The James Beard and Emmy-nominated public television series Simply Ming is back for its 10th Anniversary season.  Award-winning host Chef Ming Tsai celebrates the television milestone with 26 all-new episodes in a season full of surprises and new twists and featuring some of his all-time favorite special guest chefs—both in-studio sequences “Cooking on the Fly” and in exotic locales “On the Road.” No matter what the location, Ming brings inspiration and surprise ingredients to create simple, fresh cuisine and delicious dishes on the spot, as well as demonstrate basic culinary techniques that all home chefs should understand. The new season coincides with the October 2012 release of Simply Ming in Your Kitchen, a new book of 80 recipes (published by Kyle Books).

For Season 10, Ming opens each episode revealing fun and user-friendly tips and advice with quick and easy demos. Designed to make cooking fundamentals less daunting for the home cook, these quick and simple demonstrations showcase Ming’s masterful teaching techniques on everything from blanching to caramelizing, thickening to tenderizing, reconstituting to grilling and poaching. Whether it’s creating pan sauces, a reduction or a roux, or making a ganache with panache, Ming and his all-star line-up of guest chefs will serve up a season full of one-of-a-kind recipes that viewers will want to try at home.

Martha Stewart’s Cooking School at 1:30 pm.  In this new series inspired by her best-selling cookbook, Martha Stewart demonstrates classic cooking techniques and basics.  Using her signature, step-by-step how-to teaching process, Martha will illustrate the building blocks of recipes everyone should know — from roasting and poaching to braising and blanching.

Pati’s Mexican Table at 2 pm.  Food writer and chef Pati Jinich guides viewers through the fascinating world of Mexican cuisine.  Pati infuses her recipes with a sprinkling of culture and traditions and demonstrates just how easy it is to make delicious, regional Mexican food at home!

Lidia’s Italy in America at 2:30 pm.  Lidia is returning for an all-new season of exploring America’s Italian heritage through food.  Join celebrity chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich as she embarks on another eye-opening culinary journey. Her series explores the food, artisans and ingredients at the heart of Italian-American cooking. Over the course of 26-half hour episodes, Lidia traces the impact of Italian culture on American food, drink, art, music and fashion. She travels from the East Coast to the South to the Midwest to interview Italian-American families still making wine and vinegar in their garages or curing their own prosciutto, to visit the “Little Italys” keeping old-world traditions alive and to meet third- and fourth-generation Italians putting their twist on authentic recipes.

Cooking Country from America’s Test Kitchen at 3 pm.  This cooking series features new episodes about the best regional home cooking — from potluck dinners and holiday favorites to simple suppers and lost recipes. In season five, the test kitchen chefs Bridget Lancaster, Julia Collin Davison and Erin McMurrer cook a variety of family-friendly recipes with host Christopher Kimball. The Tasting Lab’s Jack Bishop again challenges Kimball to sample supermarket staples, while Adam Ried reveals his top equipment recommendations. Other segments include: “Food History” and “Ask Cook’s Country.”

Simply Ming and Lidia’s Italy in America will start new episodes on October 13th.  So check out these new episodes and new series on Saturday afternoons on KLRU-TV.