pork spare ribs pressure-cooked and glazed with a stone-fruit BBQ sauce made from peaches and cherries

A rack of ribs used to mean the grill going since noon, a bottled sauce, and the smell drawing everyone into the kitchen before anything was ready. This protocol takes the shortcuts away: no bottled sauce, no smoke, no marinade sitting out overnight. What replaces it here is a pressure cooker and a sauce built from peaches and cherries with nothing borrowed from outside the plan. Pressure-cook the ribs until the meat gives easily at the bone, glaze them, and you have something you could set down at a holiday table with confidence, not an apology.

Before the pot goes on, pause with the ribs themselves for a moment. A pig was raised and lived so that this dinner could exist, and pasture-raised, if you can find it and afford it, tends to mean a better life behind that fact. Pick every bone clean when you eat. Let little of the animal go to waste.

The connective tissue in ribs cooked this long is one of the richer sources of glycine on your plate, an amino acid the liver reaches for when it manufactures glutathione, one of the body's key internal antioxidants. That same tissue breaks down into compounds tied to gut lining repair, invisible work happening underneath the flavor rather than because of it. And it tastes like a party.

Ingredients

• 4 racks pork spare ribs (about 2.5 pounds total)
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 cup bone broth

For the peach cherry BBQ sauce:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cherries, pitted
• 2 cups fresh peaches, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey

Method

Season the ribs generously with salt on all sides. If your racks are too large to fit in the Instant Pot, cut them into sections of two or three ribs each.

Pour the bone broth into the pot. Place the trivet inside and arrange the seasoned ribs on it, curved side up. If you need to stack them, that is fine - they will cook through in the steam. Seal the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. Once the cycle completes, allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then carefully release any remaining pressure.

While the ribs are in the pot, make the BBQ sauce. Warm the coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until they soften and begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the cherries, peaches, salt, apple cider vinegar, and honey. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the fruit has broken down into a thick, jammy mixture. Remove from the heat and blend until smooth with an immersion blender or in a countertop blender. Taste and adjust salt if needed.

Preheat the broiler or heat your grill to high.

When the ribs come out of the pot, brush them generously on all sides with the BBQ sauce. Broil or grill for 3 to 5 minutes per side, brushing with additional sauce as you go, until the glaze is caramelised and beginning to char at the edges. Watch closely - the honey in the sauce means it can go from caramelised to burnt quickly.

Serve with the remaining sauce on the side.

Slow cooker variation

Season the ribs with salt and place them in the slow cooker. Pour in the bone broth. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours, until the ribs are very tender and beginning to pull from the bone. Make the BBQ sauce on the stovetop during the last hour. Transfer the ribs to a baking tray, brush generously with sauce, and finish under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes per side to caramelise the glaze.

*Adapted from gutsybynature.com (Jaime Hartman)*