Looking for a new take on ribs? Sour Cherry Glazed Ribs may be just the thing to excite your taste buds.
I seem to be a fan of fruity glazes since I am building up quite a repertoire of them. Be aware that you probably couldn't tell exactly what fruit is in the BBQ sauce here. It just adds a depth of flavour that is different than the typical chili/cumin style of BBQ ribs.
I have included a dry rub in the instructions. Again, the dry rub adds a layer of flavour that adds intrigue to the dish. It is optional but recommended.
Sour cherries are common in Eastern European dishes. I get mine from Food Basics in the International aisle.
The cook time is designed to deliver fall-off-the-bone doneness. A cherry juice mixture is added to the ribs in foil packets during the last half of cooking to imbue flavour in to the meat. The glaze goes on during the last 15 minutes to avoid it burning.
Wine Pairing for Sour Cherry Glazed Ribs
These are fun to pair with. First out of the gate consider a young Pinot Noir where the fruity notes are cherry. Sangiovese also commonly has cherry notes. Having said that the cherry flavour in the glaze is subtle enough that you could also consider other medium bodied reds like a Beaujolais or Rhone blend or any wine with 'medium-bodied and fruity' descriptors.
A fruity Rosé would also work.
In case you are interested in other fruity ribs sauces check out:
- Back Ribs with Bourbon Rhubarb BBQ Sauce
- Ribs With Spicy Blackberry Sauce
- Bar B Barn Copy Cat Ribs (with Apple Sauce.. yum!)
Sour Cherry Glazed Ribs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs baby back ribs
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- 3 Tbsps Legendary Dry Rub optional but recommended
Sour Cherry Glaze
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 small shallots minced
- 4 cloves garlic minced (divided half and half)
- 1 lb sour cherries pitted See Note 1.
- ¼ cup sugar
- 4 ½ tablespoon red wine vinegar divided 2 ½ and 2 Tbsps
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 cup sour cherry juice
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Remove silver membrane from bottom of rack of ribs. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Rub dry rub over ribs and marinate in fridge at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 325°. Set racks of ribs, meaty side up in low sided pan. Roast 1 ½ hours uncovered.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a sauce pan. Add the shallots and half the garlic. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes. Add the cherries, sugar and 2 ½ Tbsps of red wine vinegar. Cook until cherries burst -about 7 minutes.
- Cool a bit then transfer to a blender. Puree sauce. Return to medium heat and cook until reduced to 1 ½ cups. This may take up to 10 minutes. Allow sauce to cool, then add sriracha and salt and pepper.
- In a separate bowl mix the cherry juice and chicken stock, the remaining garlic and remaining red wine vinegar. (Use vegetabels stock if you want to keep it vegetarian).
- Lay out double sheets of aluminum foil long enough to fully wrap and seal each rack of ribs. Set ribs meat side down and turn up the edges of the foil to keep the juice from flowing out. Divide the juice/broth mixture evenly between the racks of ribs. Close up the foil and return the ribs to oven for an hour.
- Remove ribs from the oven, open the foil and allow ribs to stand 5-10 minutes. Discard foil and any remaining liquid. Slather the cherry glaze over both sides of the racks and return ribs to the oven meaty side up.
- Increase the oven temperature to 425°. Cook another 15 minutes basting with the cherry glaze periodically.
- Remove ribs from the oven, allow to stand 5 minutes before transferring to a serving platter. If desired - microwave any remaining sauce and pass separately.
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