Today's Headlines: "Praise the Braise"

Slow cookers are becoming all the rage. I've made my share of meals in my "slow cooker"; favorites are a Beef Bourguignon recipe, and a Beef Stroganoff recipe. I suppose the cheaper cuts of meat (chuck roast and the like) are popular to use in slow cooker recipes, as the slow cooking time allows these otherwise tougher cuts of meat to become nice and tender.

But it is interesting to watch the trends in the food industry. Just like clothing fashions, one method or another takes center stage, and everyone's encouraged to get the latest gadgets, to keep up with the trends. But good, basic cooking never goes out of style! So what gadgets are worthy of our investment?

I actually, technically, never owned a "slow cooker". I had a crock pot, given as a wedding gift over 30 years ago. But the term "crock pot" hasn't been so popular, having become associated with something outdated mothers used for a time, only to stuff away in a back cupboard as newer, cooler gadgets came along.

Ah, and now a new generation is investing in their slow cookers (aka crock pots), tackling "new" recipes with enthusiastic fervor. Regardless of what you call it, the slow cooker/crock pot truly is a handy tool. Given the hectic schedules of the many working mothers out there, it makes sense to throw a few ingredients together in the morning, to have a finished meal when everyone makes it back home.

Also, those tougher cuts of meats are actually loaded with flavor. Tender, pricier cuts may cut through like butter, and can be prepared more quickly, given that they can be served more rare. But it's the less fatty meats (containing more muscle) that have the best beef flavor. At our deli, we cook a huge Rump Roast; it may not be the most tender cut, but it's tender enough once we've sliced it paper-thin. It's the best of both worlds! Plenty of flavor, and tender even when medium rare. For the rest of you folk, without a Hobart meat slicer, a slow cooker will do just fine.