What's Cooking: Chimay Braised Baby Back Ribs

My first thought when I unwrapped that Chimay on Christmas morning was that I was one lucky guy to have Mrs. Snob. Who's wife buys them beer for Christmas?!? MINE!!!

Frankly it's been so long since I've had Chimay that I'm a little surprised that it has lasted this long. Today Junior wanted ribs for dinner, so I decided to braise them with Chimay. I know what you're thinking - "How can you waste a perfectly good Chimay on ribs?" (Unless you're thinking "What's Chimay?" in which case you should check here and here before you read any further.) Trust me, though, this was no waste of the beer.

Let's start with the beer. Chimay Red is a Belgian Trappist ale, which, with a mere 7% alcohol, is the weakest of the beers brewed by the Cistercian Trappist monks at the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont. Don't worry, it's plenty strong to knock you on your butt. Especially when bought in the standard 750ml bottle. This is one of the most highly regarded beers that you'll ever come across. Having said that, there are plenty of people who truly hate it.

I started the braising at about 11am with the oven on low heat (about 225 degF) and let it bubble away for about 5 1/2 hours turning them a couple times to be sure that all of the ribs had a chance to bathe in the Chimay. After they were tender almost to the point of falling off the bone, I finished them on the grill with a sauce made of ketchup (I know it's pedestrian, but it works just fine), olive oil, vinegar, brown sugar, chipotle pepper and adobo seasoning. I served the ribs with thick fingerling potato slices cooked in a covered saute pan with olive oil, sea salt, adobo seasoning and paprika.

Mrs. Snob says these are the best ribs she's ever tasted and I have to agree. The sauce is sweet and spicy and underneath the meat is saturated with the Chimay flavors. The meat was so tender we had to eat it with a fork (I wouldn't want to say it was too tender, but it was a challenge to grill without having it just fall to pieces.

Nom Nom Nom