I don’t know what it is but barbeque ribs just taste better after mountain biking in summer or skiing in winter. Maybe it helps justify eating decadent foods, but the vigor of the high mountain outdoors draws out the carnivore side of this omnivore.
In Vermont, we love to eat at the Back Behind Saloon, a smoke house just south of Killington (peak elevation 4,215 ft.) that serves the most awesome smoked beef short ribs I have ever had. When living in Ft. Collins, Colorado (elevation 5,003 ft. and BTW full of Mexican – not BBQ – restaurants) my grad school buddies and I would sometimes spend a week hiking the Collegiate range (elvation14,000+ ft.) near Crested Butte. To get closer and even a bit more altitude-acclimated, we’d spend the night before at just under 10,000 ft. at an old inn at Fairplay (elevation 9,953 ft.) – and eat BBQ pulled pork.
Here in Whistler, British Columbia (village elevation 2,295ft; summit elevation 7,087 ft.) they were just finishing the Canadian BBQ Championship as we arrived, full-face biking helmets and body armor in tow.
It seems they too understand this liaison between mountains and BBQ.
So when we hit the local IGA to outfit our kitchen for the week, ribs were on the list. Though fairly well outfitted, our condo kitchen didn’t have all the gadgets (or pantry supplies!) I’ve collected at home, so I had to keep it simple. While sipping some Sleeman’s Cream Ale – an old Canadian favorite of mine when we lived in Toronto (city centre elevation 253 ft; CN Tower, another 1,815 ft.) – I knew just what to do to make great, simple ribs to end a day of extreme downhill-mountain biking.
Whistler Sleeman’s Spare Ribs
2 meaty racks pork spare ribs, cut into 3-4 rib portions1 onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1 bottle Canadian Sleeman’s Cream Ale
2 cups barbeque sauce
Hit a large pot on high heat with some canola oil. Sear the ribs in batches to brown each side very well. Set ribs side.
Fry onions in the same pot for about 10 minutes, or until they soften and begin to brown. Return ribs to pot and add the beer and vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pot and cook the ribs for about half an hour, turning two to three times.
Remove ribs to a wide baking pan, spreading them in a single layer. Bake for about 20 minutes in the oven dialed in at 350F. Meanwhile, reduce the remaining liquid in the pot to about a cup, so it is thick and bubbly, and mix with the barbeque sauce.
Pour sauce over ribs and continue cooking another 20 minutes. Flip ribs, baste and finish for another 20 minutes in the oven.
