Instructions: In the more flush times of the great bull market, who worried about cheap cuts of meat?

If your family wanted meat, you would serve them steak or roasts or chops, expensive cuts that are easy to prepare. Oh sure, every once in a while you might slip in a pot roast or lamb shank, but more for variety than to shave a few bucks off the grocery bill.

Guess what? The economy isnt so rosy anymore and many of us are on a budget.

That means if you still want to serve red meat to your family, youll need to learn more about budget cuts.

Nowadays, enterprising chefs have made many a cheap cut an endangered species as hard to find as a bull market. Lamb shanks, short ribs, hanger steaks and oxtails used to be cheap before chefs realized how deliciously they could be prepared when slowly braised with various savory sauces.

The rules of supply and demand have pushed the prices up from what used to cost $2 to $3 per pound to $4 to $5 per pound. The clever budget-minded cook needs to stay ahead of the trend and identify underutilized and underappreciated cuts.

In general, cheaper cuts of meat tend to be tougher, fattier and have more bones. But they often produce really delicious dishes when properly cooked.

Pork yields several cuts under-appreciated by a good many people. Fresh pork belly (uncured bacon) is particularly wonderful when cooked in a moist sauce until soft and tender. But for most folks, it is too fatty. It is hard to find unless you shop in a Chinese butcher shop (Chinese cooks cherish this very flavorful cut).

Pork neck is ideal when stewed, but it, too, is difficult to come by. The whole leg or fresh ham is my preferred cut for roasting, although its large size

(15 pounds or more) scares most but the largest families away. It, too, is hard to find, except around Easter or Christmas. Some shops will sell fresh pork legs cut into a shank and a butt-end roast. Each weighs about six to eight pounds, making a nice family roast.

The pork picnic ($1.29 per pound), cut from the arm, is good only for braising and has considerable bone, fat and skin.

Instead, my favorite pork cut is the pork shoulder butt or Boston butt

($2.49). Its tender enough to roast but also suited to moist heat cooking.

Because it is somewhat fatty, it tastes great, does not dry out and get tough.

It goes well with pungent ingredients like ginger and garlic, as well as fruity ingredients like apples or prunes. One of my favorite ways to cook Boston butt is braised with port and prunes (see recipe).

Because lamb is less popular in general, it has more bargain cuts than other meat types. You will pay dearly for the rack and the loin - the leg of lamb can be pricey, too - but the breast, shoulder and neck are still bargains. For most folks, lamb breast is too fatty. And the neck, which makes a great lamb stew, is too bony for most diners.

The shoulder ($2.89 per pound), however, is very versatile. It can be sliced into shoulder lamb chops. It can be left whole for roasting or it can be boned and cut into chunks for stews and kebabs. One of my favorite dishes to make with lamb shoulder is a Basque-style stew that is simple to prepare (see recipe).

Beef is still king of red meats, but pauper beef cuts are scarce. Still, the chuck ($2.79 per pound), which makes up the whole shoulder and neck, offers ideal cuts for pot roasts and stews. Its flavor is superb and some areas of the chuck, such as the top blade area (also called the flatiron) and the rib-eye area, are tender enough to cut into steaks for grilling. The brisket can be a good buy and makes for great pot roast or barbecued brisket.

One of my favorite, relatively undiscovered beef cuts is the beef shank

($2.79 per pound). Shank has a round leg bone and is cut into one- to two inch thick sections. Shank meat is quite lean but quite tough, containing much connective tissue, which when slowly cooked in moist heat softens to yield meat with a tender and silky texture.

Try one of my favorite ways to cook beef shanks - Asian-style, in a broth flavored with lemongrass, coconut milk and ginger (see recipe). It wont break the bank, and the taste will leave you feeling richly rewarded.

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