Pot Roast, Azorean-Style

(Or as we like to say 'round here, "Portagee roast".) Only two of these ingredients are hard to find. We order our sausages and hot pepper sauces delivered FedEx, because no one around here makes them Portuguese-style. If you can't find the sausage, just leave it out. It's just not the same with *shudder* kielbasa. (Google "Gaspar's Sausage" and buy as much of the linguica and chourico as you can -- it's phenomenally good. Many of the same sites that sell the sausage also sell the pepper paste. It's just hot red finger peppers, kosher salt and olive oil.) The Portuguese wine can be found in the "Portuguese" section at any good wine retailer (again, totally worth it).

One Day Ahead:
1 4-pound chuck roast (you can use bottom round, but chuck is best)
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Portuguese hot pepper paste
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 bay leaf, crushed and crumbled
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 & 1/2 cups good Portuguese red wine

1. Place the meat in an enamel or other nonreactive roasting pan (that has a lid or some way to cover it). Using a mortar and pestle (or a food processor), mash the garlic with the salt to form a rough paste.
2. Transfer the paste to a medium mixing bowl and mix in the rest of ingredients except the wine and the onion. Then whisk in the wine a little at a time. Pour mixture over roast in the pan. Flip roast to coat all sides. Place onion slices on roast.
3. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning meat occasionally.

Next Day:
1 cup water, as needed
8 red bliss or "new" potatoes, peeled and left whole (or halved if larger than fist-sized)
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 tablespoon sugar
Optional (to taste): Bell and red sweet peppers, Savoy cabbage quarters, sliced mushrooms, hot Portuguese linguica and/or chourico sausage sliced in half

1. Adjust rack to the lowest position in your oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. Remove roast from the refrigerator and add as much water as needed to come one third of the way up the side of the roast. Cover the roasting pan and place in the oven. Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes, basting roast frequently.
3. Add the vegetables, placing them around the roast. Mix the 2 tablespoons water, cornstarch and 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Add to pan sauce and re-cover. Continue to cook for 35-45 more minutes until meat is desired doneness and potatoes are fork tender.
4. Remove the meat to a platter and slice. Arrange vegetables (and sausage, if included) around roast and pour pan sauce over the top.
5. Serve with crusty bread and red wine.

No one will speak. They'll just eat and groan. Trust me.

We're serving this tonight for our sponsors. They're coming over for dinner. Should pair well with discussions on politics and purgatory.

And I'm making angel food cake for dessert.

Tah.