Martha Stewart's Cooking School Season 1 Episode 2 Sauces

In the second episode of Martha Stewart's Cooking School, Martha provides viewers with a comprehensive guide to making sauces. Martha begins by discussing primary sauces, including béchamel, veloute, and tomato, among others. For those who are unfamiliar with the terms, she explains what each sauce is made of, what it can be used for, and how best to store it.

Martha provides step-by-step instructions on how to prepare hollandaise sauce, which is an emulsion of egg yolks, clarified butter, lemon juice, and a bit of water. She explains that it is essential to keep the egg yolks moving slowly and steadily as they are heated to ensure that the yolks don't curdle. To do this, Martha uses a stainless steel bowl set over a pot of simmering water, a technique known as a double boiler.

Next, Martha moves onto the French classic, béarnaise sauce. Similar to hollandaise, it is made with egg yolks and butter, but with the addition of shallots, tarragon, chervil, and white wine vinegar. Martha advises viewers to be careful when adding the clarified butter to the egg yolk mixture as it can cause the sauce to break if added too quickly.

Viewers will also learn how to whip up a marinara sauce from scratch. Martha shows how to prepare it using fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. She recommends cooking the tomatoes quickly over high heat to preserve their bright flavor and avoid overcooking them.

Martha then moves onto another tomato-based sauce, the flavorful puttanesca. She explains that its ingredients are essential to the recipe's success, including fresh garlic, anchovy fillets, capers, and kalamata olives.

Martha's final sauce is an aioli, a creamy sauce with a garlicky kick. Made up of garlic, egg yolks, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and salt, it can be used as a condiment on seafood, vegetables, or as a spread on sandwiches. Martha advises viewers to add the oil slowly, one drop at a time, while whisking constantly to emulsify the mixture completely.

Throughout the episode, Martha provides viewers with valuable tips and tricks for making the perfect sauce. She notes that making a great sauce requires patience and attention to detail. Martha teaches viewers that knowing how to make a variety of sauces is an essential component of being a good cook. It's not just about following a recipe, but an understanding of the ingredients that make up the sauce and how to use them.

Martha's classic approach to cooking is comforting yet informative, making this episode an excellent resource for both experienced and novice cooks. She is an expert at guiding viewers through the techniques and ingredients, making sure each viewer can understand and incorporate it into their cooking habits. The show serves as a reminder that mastering the art of sauce making is just as fundamental as learning to roast a chicken or bake a cake.