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Alcatra, Part I

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I decided a traditional beef pot roast dish from Terceira, one of the Portuguese-held Azores Islands, would be a great dish for Jake's real birthday dinner.

Alcatra is a Portuguese recipe for a spicy piece of ass, the perfect dish for my spicy...well, you get the idea.

Traditionally the alcatra beef roast is slow-roasted in a clay pot that's shaped like a flower pot with herbs and spices. The closest thing I have is a large stoneware baking bowl.

Tonight was the first part of alcatra preparation: the marination. From all of my research, a few ingredients are key to the alcatra marinade - cinnamon sticks, whole allspice, onions, garlic, wine, bay leaves. So I placed all of that in the stoneware bowl with the rump roast and two nitrite-free Portuguese sausages. That will all soak overnight.


Look for 'Alcatra, Part II' tomorrow night after we celebrate Jake's 36th birthday.
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