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.

On Sept. 3, new episodes of Cook’s Country at 3:00 pm

On Sept. 10, Cuisine Culture replaces Primal Grill at 1:30 pm.

On Sept. 17, Lidia’s Italy in America replaces Lidia’s Italy at 2:30 pm.

On Sept. 24, Mexico: One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless replaces Pati’s Mexican Table at 2:00 pm.

Michael Chiarello’s Napa was first featured by KLRU in 2001.  So many of you might remember seeing young Chiarello before he went over to the Food Network.

If you are interested in seeing Hubert Keller cook, you can watch his series, HUBERT KELLER:  SECRETS OF A CHEF on KLRU Create, Digital Channel 18-2 on Sundays at 1 pm and 7 pm.  Chef Keller presents the current culinary rage in France called verrine, or serving foods in different shaped glasses. It’s both practical and beautiful, allowing guests to easily carry their food at a gathering. He’s making everything from salad to dessert and serving them up in some pretty spectacular presentations.

I thought Hubert had a great chance of winning the Top Chef Masters especially after watching him win the first challenge making all of his great food in a college dorm room.  And each week, he did a masterful job of staying in the competition.

And what can I say about the winner, Rick Bayless.  It was great seeing him win the challenge.  In fact, my sister and I were jumping for joy when he was announced the winner of this competition on Top Chef Masters.  And the other great thing that I can tell you is that Rick Bayless will be back with new programs on KLRU at 3 pm starting on September 12th.  MEXICO – ONE PLATE AT A TIME WITH RICK BAYLESS brings to life the foods, flavors, stories, diversity, depth and fun of Mexico. In each episode, beloved chef, restaurateur, author, teacher and culinary adventurer Rick Bayless effortlessly tosses together cooking demonstrations, cultural musings, visits to exotic locations, ideas for home entertaining and a generous helping of off-the-wall surprises.

This season, Rick embarks on his greatest food adventure to date: an insider’s tour of Mexico City, a food metropolis bursting with traditional foods and flavors and cutting-edge eateries. All season long, Rick takes a fresh look at 13 iconic Mexican dishes – from tacos and enchiladas to chiles rellenos and carnitas- by diving into Mexico City’s mouthwatering market stalls, hidden-treasure taco stands and restaurant dining rooms ranging from rustic-elegant to urban hip. Back in his home kitchen, Rick re-creates those classic dishes in everything from easy, casual dinners to full-blown parties. Rick also takes viewers behind the scenes at his world-renowned restaurants in Chicago, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, to show how he and his chefs reinvent classic Mexican dishes in fresh new ways.  Again, this new series will begin on Saturday, September 12th at 3 pm on KLRU.

And there are more Master Chefs coming to KLRU starting this September.  Eric Ripert and Lidia Bastianich bring their style of cooking to your home.

AVEC ERIC provides an insider’s view of the professional life and lifestyle of master chef Eric Ripert. The Michelin three-star chef and co-author of On the Line teaches viewers how to achieve elegant simplicity at home and elevate their food experiences. The 10-part series goes behind-the-scenes at Ripert’s famed New York restaurant Le Bernardin, one of the most heralded kitchens in the United States, to showcase the inner workings of a high-end seafood restaurant. Learn what it takes to deliver fresh fish to a restaurant located in a 60-story Manhattan skyscraper, fillet 15 black bass in a minute, pair olive oils with different kinds of fish and create the perfect sauce. Each episode is a journey from the restaurant to the source of Ripert’s inspiration. Ripert explores the people, places, cultures and ingredients that influence his signature dishes. He visits Hog Island Sustainable Oyster Farm in Sonoma, Calif., Stone Barns along the Hudson in upstate New York, olive groves in Chianti, Italy, and much more.

Join super chef Eric Ripert as he takes us inside his world of big flavors. First, we get an inside look at, and introduction to, the legendary saucier at Le Bernardin, as he goes about developing the subtle flavors necessary for the myriad sauces used in the restaurant every day. Eric then travels to the beautiful Villa Bordoni in the Chianti region of Tuscany. But this is no luxury visit for our chef, as we join him on a wild boar [cinghiale] hunt during a torrential thunder storm. All ends up deliciously safe and sated in the Villa’s kitchen, then dining room, as we savor the delights of pappardelle with cinghiale ragu. Back home in his own kitchen, Eric teaches us how to prepare perfect roasted pork loin with wild mushrooms and garlic and sage pan jus.  AVEC ERIC will air on KLRU on Saturdays at 2 pm starting September 12th.

LIDIA’S ITALY celebrates the land Lidia Bastianich calls home. In her new series, Lidia journeys throughout Italy to sample and prepare local specialties from Rome, Naples, Padua, Sicily, Trieste and Istria. Back in her kitchen in the United States, the warm and engaging host demonstrates two or three recipes she encountered during her travels. Throughout the series, friends and family often join Lidia in the kitchen. Her daughter Tanya introduces some of Lidia’s favorite hidden cultural treasures, while her son Joseph frequently stops by to discuss regional wines. Her new series starts on KLRU on Saturday, September 5th at 2:30 pm.

So look to KLRU and KLRU Create to watch the Master Chefs — Rick Bayless, Eric Ripert, Lidia Bastianich and Hubert Keller.

— Maria Rodriguez, KLRU’s Senior Vice President of Programming