What is a Balaboosta?
Balaboosta (n.)(bah-lah-b00-sta) A Yiddish term meaning the perfect housewife, homemaker, wonderful mother, cook, and gracious hostess. She does it all and does it well.
I make simple food with easy recipes and I like to try new things. My family and friends love my cooking and always ask me to share, with them, what I know about food, flavor, and technique.
I'm not a professional chef and I've had no formal culinary training. What I know and do in the kitchen comes from three women...Nana, Grandma Della, and Rose, my mom. Each one of them knew more about putting a meal on the table than any fancy chef in a white hat. They were the ultimate
Balaboostas.
What I offer you is a lifetime of experience in the kitchen with my compliments and theirs. I hope they'd be proud. I will bring you my recipes as I make them with photos of the actual food I'm preparing. I'm no professional photographer either but I promise, my food will speak for itself in every picture.
The food on my table isn't stacked in a trendy tower.
Instead, my food is stacked with flavor and full of my passion for cooking. So please come in, make yourself comfortable, and enjoy.
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Disclaimer: While most of my recipes are "Jewish Style", I do sometimes cook with pork. This might have been a great disappointment to some but my grandmothers knew that I live in modern world. I light Shabbos candles religiously but I have to admit...I do not keep a Kosher home.
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RETURN TO MY MOST RECENT RECIPES
There are so many familiar flavors that come to mind when you think "Oriental". Asian cuisine varies from sweet to savory to spicy. All are delicious and combine a variety of ingredients that layer flavors. There are endless combinations and I urge you to be creative and throw in some ideas of your own.
Roasting chicken on a bed of onions always results in juicier chicken. When you roast potatoes under your chicken then soak up the delicious flavors and save you from preparing a separate side dish.
Ingredients...
- 3-3.5 pounds of chicken parts (I use thighs)
- 1 onion sliced
- 4 tablespoons Oyster Sauce
- 2 tablespoons lite Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Sugar (I use Splenda sugar substitute)
- 1 tablespoon Sesame Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 3-4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- Optional: 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
Here's how you do it...- Rinse and dry the chicken parts. Trim off any unnecessary fat.
- Prepare the sauce: In a large bowl blend the Oyster Sauce, Sugar (or Splenda), Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce, Salt, Pepper, Thyme, and minced Garlic.
- Add the dried chicken parts and toss to coat.
- Cover and put in fridge for 30 minutes or up to six hours.
- When ready to cook...Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Optional: Line your baking pan with parchment or foil.
- Distribute sliced onions and optional mushrooms in the pan.
- Place the coated chicken parts on the bed of onions (and optional mushrooms)
- Scrape the bowl with a spatula to put any excess sauce on top of the chicken.
- Bake in preheated 350F oven for one hour 15 minutes.
BE CREATIVE: - If you like it hot add a 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or hot sauce.
- Add cut up white or sweet potatoes to the bed of onions under the chicken.
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2 comments:
I just discovered your site and am excited about trying several dishes. I love the fact that you have included Splenda in many dishes. Two questions: In dishes like the Asian Chicken, you state 1 T sugar (or Splenda) Does this mean the Splenda equivalent of 1 T regular sugar? Also, are you using regular Splenda or Splenda For Baking in baked goods recipes? Thank you! phelixdacat@comcast.net
Thank you so much for writing. I use regular granulated Splenda which measures spoon for spoon. In baked goods I sometimes use Splenda Brown Sugar Blend and I always specify that. I hope you have success with my recipes. Please write again.
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