Pork Ribs in Sticky Chinese Barbecue Sauce

What a week for skiing this has been! All of the snow in Ontario has made for some of the best cross-country skiing ever!!

There is also some pretty awesome skiing on the West Coast - we have been enjoying some wonderful time in Revelstoke, B.C. But skiing isn't the only way to enjoy the snow and the mountains. We had such a super afternoon in the back-country on snow-shoes today, the views were fabulous! Thanks so much to Peter Dixon at the Revelstoke Snowshoe Company.

Despite the fact that we have been sampling a lot of great B.C. food, wines and beers, the best meals are always those that we prepare for ourselves with friends. Tim spent some time in the condo this afternoon turning some leftover Rib-eye steaks into this fabulous chili. The secret ingredient?? Beer - he braised the beef in beer for hours(literally).

It truly is a secret recipe, but for this week, we will provide another great recipe that we developed for grilled pork ribs that have been braised in beer.

We love this recipe for the rich flavours that are infused into the meat during the initial stage of cooking. We feature Mill Street Coffee Porter in this recipe-the rich and robust flavour really shines through....We braise the ribs, immersed in the marinade, in the oven for an hour. This can be done well ahead of your party-  set them aside, reduce the marinade into a glaze and grill the ribs with your vegetables when you and your guests are ready to eat.

Grilled Pork Ribs in Sticky Chinese Barbecue Sauce

Marinade:

1 bottle Mill Street Coffee Porter

½ can cola

½  cup soy sauce

½ cup rice wine vinegar

½ cup honey or maple syrup

½ cup char siu(Chinese barbecue sauce)

1 tbsp sriracha sauce

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3-4 racks pork back ribs

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Prepare ribs by removing the thin membrane from the back of each rack of ribs. Place ribs in a single layer in a large flat baking dish or roasting pan and pour marinade over top.  Cover  with foil and place in the oven, which has been preheated to 350°F for 45 minutes.  Turn the ribs, place them back in the oven for another 20-30 minutes with the lid off. Remove the ribs from the oven and set them aside.

To make the glaze, pour half of the marinade into a large saucepan and boil gently over medium heat until reduced by half.

When ready to grill, preheat the barbecue on MEDIUM for 10 minutes and brush the grids with oil. Reduce to LOW (275-300°F). Set the ribs on the grids and cook carefully for 20 minutes, then brush them with glaze and cook another  15 minutes, turning to prevent the glaze from scorching.

Serve with rice or smashed potatoes, with the remaining glaze in a jug on the side