Easy, Delicious Ponzu Sauce

3 T Mirin
2 T Rice Vinegar
1 T Soy Sauce
2 T Bonito Flakes
4 T Lemon Juice

Bring all ingredients to a boil, then turn off heat and cool. Lasts several weeks in refrigerator.

More cooking in the pressure cooker

braised korean short ribs - short ribs marinated with a little sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and mirin (and some water) cooked in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes. yum.

ox tail soup - just ox tail and water cooked in the pressure cooker for 60 minutes naturally released. add green onions, salt and pepper to taste. i also added glass noodles. i had recently started purchasing oxtail from costco (in the refrigerated section) - i don't know if it's new or if i've never noticed it before. sold there for about $3.99 per pound for 4 pounds in a double pack.

both oxtail soup and short ribs came out so tender and last for a couple of days.

Best BBQ Pork Ribs Ever

we had a bbq over the weekend (9/20) and the food was a success. I made the best bbq pork ribs ever which started off in my cuisinart pressure cooker. it is now at costco for only $69.99. they were so tender. i used lorna sass' pressure cookbook recipe, but adjusted it a little by using less beer and more water. the first time i followed her recipe with mostly all beer was not quite as good only because the beer flavor was overwhelming. i cooked the bbq ribs in the pressure cooker with 1/4 cup beer and 3/4 cup water for 30 minutes. i let the pressure cooker naturally release (meaning don't touch the knob and force the pressure to release on the pressure cooker) for 15 minutes more. while waiting for the natural release, i set up the bbq with coals in the weber starter. after the natural release of the ribs were done, i brushed the ribs with bulls eye bbq sauce and a little ketchup, then cooked the ribs on the bbq grill for 5 minutes on each side. if you don't have a grill, you can bake the ribs at 400 degrees in your oven on each side instead. one of our guest said that 'it was the best ribs she ever tasted'. it was one of the best ribs i ever tasted myself. so easy and so tasty.

we also bbq some new york steak (also perfectly cooked on the grill)which were marinated in bbq sauce, sweet white corn and rustic la brea bakery bread brushed with extra virgin olive oil and some garlic. i had boiled the corn for 15 minutes and brushed it with butter prior to placing it on the grill for a minute on each side. i had also made easy side dishes - classic coleslaw (using betty crocker's recipe), classic potato salad and pesto potato salad (by just adding pesto i made earlier to the classic potato salad) as side dishes. for dessert - i made moist carrot-pineapple cake mini muffins with cream cheese frosting.

i purchased most of the food (ribs, steak, corn and bread) from costco. the only thing i had to purchase at the grocery was the bulls eye bbq sauce. btw- i'll be making pork ribs again today for dinner.