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Crock Pot Comeback

During a recent stroll through Williams-Sonoma, I became fixated on a $299 slow cooker. My brain raced to think of my fashionista friends ... who might be willing to spend an Hermes scarf indulgence on an appliance of my mother's generation?  Conducting a thoroughly unscientific poll of my associates and friends, turns out everyone is in love with their crock pot these days.

Now known as a slow cooker (what ad agency made millions coming up with that?), there are models in every size and price range, plus countless cookbooks and e-recipes for a myriad of fabulously lush dishes.

With Sunday night looming and nothing special planned for dinner, I decided to break out my new cooker.  Only five minutes of preparation and five hours of cooking later, my family enjoyed the yummiest, juiciest pulled pork -- thanks to a few spices and a can of beef broth.  I was truly amazed at the ease of use … rub on a little cumin and coriander, place in the cooker, pour the broth around and push one button.

Voila, gourmet dinner.

And what was I doing while the pork cooked?  Shopping on ebay for a recession-friendly gently pre-owned Prada purse.

The Crock Pot

The original slow cooker-- the Crock Pot, now comes in all sorts of colors and sizes. You can get a taste of the original for as little as $15.99 for a 1.5-quart to a $129.99 for a 6.5- quart touch-screen model.

Recipe:

3-4 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast, trimmed

1.5 tsp. cumin

1.5 tsp. coriander

Salt and pepper – generous amounts

1 can beef broth

Combine cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.  Gently rub spices all over pork.  Place roast in pot, pour beef broth around edges.  Place lid on pot and cook for 4.5 hours on high.  When fully cooked, shred the pork with two forks.  Serve with pan juices on the side.