HELOISE Peking Roast recipe returns

Dear Heloise: I lost your pot roast recipe, the one made with strong coffee. It was sooooo good -- please reprint it. Theda Lamont, via e-mail
Heloise's Peking Roast is a reader favorite. My mother, the original Heloise, brought it from China more than 54 years ago. I'd be glad to reprint it for you and all of the readers who keep asking for it.
Take a 3- to 5-pound beef roast (cheap cuts work great!) and, using a sharp knife, cut slits into the roast and push in slivers of fresh garlic and onion. Place the roast in a bowl and pour 1 cup of vinegar (apple cider, white or other) slowly over the meat so that it has a chance to go down into the slits. The vinegar helps to tenderize, which is especially helpful when using a cheap cut of meat. Add enough water to just cover the roast, and use plastic wrap or the like to cover the bowl. Refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours. During this marinating process, baste the roast a few times.
Next, remove the roast from the marinade, pat dry and place in a Dutch oven or similar heavy pot (be sure to discard the vinegar). Now brown the roast in some oil on the stove until it's dark on all sides. Leave in the pot and add 2 cups of very strong, brewed black coffee and 2 cups of water. Cover and cook slowly for six hours on the stove. Check every so often, and add small amounts of water as needed.
About 20 minutes before it is done, you can add salt and pepper to taste if you wish. Hint: Here's a little tidbit I learned from a fabulous chef: Let most cooked meats sit for a few minutes before cutting. This causes the juices to gel and soak into the meat! Enjoy. Heloise
Dear Heloise: In our family, we always cut a piece of wax paper to fit the bottom of a cake pan, then pour the batter over the wax paper. When the cake is baked and cooled, we remove the cake to a wire rack, peel off the paper and toss it in the wastebasket -- the bottom of the cake is clean. Of course, this does not work for a cake that is to be left in the pan and not cooled on a rack, like a pineapple upside-down cake. Anne Radojcsics, Tupelo, Miss.
Anne, this is a good baking hint, especially if baking a dark cake and you don't want white flour all over the bottom. I'm going to the kitchen to make a cake! Heloise
Dear Heloise: I found a way to make candied sweet potatoes that I really enjoy. Instead of sugar, I picked up pancake syrup! It worked great -- just add butter! Nadine Bullard, Jasper, Ala.
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