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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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Braised Short Ribs (Flanken) To Die For


Succulent, soft, and out of this world delicious are all good descriptions of these braised short ribs. Some of you might be familiar with the word "Flanken" (a Yiddish word), a cut of short ribs from the beef chuck. If you had a grandma that cooked then you may have memories of 'fall off the bone' meat that she cooked for hours on the stove and that filled the house with that amazing aroma.

There are many variations on sauces and broths for preparing this cut of meat and you can certainly add anything you like to make it your own. However, even if you only follow these simple instructions you will end up with a meal fit for a king!

Ingredients...

  • 1 1/2 pounds beef short ribs (flanken)
  • 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 large onion
  • 4-5 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon parsley
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (or brown sugar)
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
  • olive oil for browning the onion and garlic
Here's how you do it...
  1. Preheat your oven to 450F.
  2. Line a baking pan with foil.
  3. Sprinkle your short ribs with salt & pepper and roast, bone side down, for 45 minutes.
  4. While the ribs are roasting...
  5. Brown the onion in a small amount of olive oil for 4-5 min.
  6. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
  7. Add the parsley, thyme, and pepper flakes, stir.
  8. Add the can of crushed tomatoes (with juice), the lemon juice and the Worcestershire Sauce.
  9. Sprinkle on and stir in the Brown Sugar.
  10. Bring to a slow simmer.
  11. When the short ribs have finished 45 minutes of roasting, remove the pan from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 325F.
  12. Using tongs, transfer the ribs into your simmering sauce.
  13. Drain the fat from the roasting pan.
  14. Replace the ribs into the roasting pan.
  15. Pour the sauce on top.
  16. Toss on the bay leaf.
  17. Cover tightly with foil and return to the now 325F oven for 2-3 hours.
Serve with my Israeli Couscous , Bulgar Wheat Pilaf, or Garlic Mashed Potatoes (sinful).

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