Denny (not Denny's) cooks the Grey Cup roast

As Grey Cup day approaches, we turn for guidance to Denny Boyd's "Man On the Range," published in 1973 and improving, like cellared Bordeaux, every year. Here's what he writes:

"Having been a jock writer for some twenty years, I have had my allotment of Grey Cup weeks. Been to some parties we could have been sent up for. Played all the popular Grey Cup week games, like Naked in the Elevator, Mattress Out the Window, and Chug-a-Lug-a-Jug.

"Having paid my dues in the Grey Cup Club, I have become a member-at-large. You could almost make that an out-patient. So, I stay at home, by the TV.

"I keep something on the stove, as all Grey Cup revelers are in heavy need of strong stimulants, like black coffee, and nourishing food. For Grey Cup day, I most heartily endorse pot roast cooked in--wait for it--coffee.

"Yes. Pot roast in coffee. Would I lie? It can be carved easily with the wrong side of a knife, it is that tender. And the gravy is almost black and hisses with vigor, thick, fragrant, oozing thickly over mashed potatoes.

"It's pretty easy, as long as you start Saturday. You take a four- or five-pound pot roast--bottom round, boned, rolled rib or rump--and you put it in a deep casserole dish, then marinate it for twenty-four hours in vinegar and a sprinkle of peppercorns.

"On game day, sometime before noon, drain off the marinade, pat the roast dry with paper towels, and sear it in the same casserole dish until it is dark, dark brown.

"Then add two cups of double-strength coffee, bring the liquid to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer very gently for five or six hours while you watch the game.

"All very easy. All very splendid. And, you may save a Grey Cup life."

Stolen, with thanks, from Denny Boyd's "Man On the Range." If you can find a copy somewhere you will learn also how to make Kiniski's Hammerlock Onions and Mrs. Stoochnoff's Mother-in-Law's Borscht.