Einat Admony's Balaboosta Cookbook

"I can't live without lamb," proclaims Einat Admony.

Kosher Manischewitz wine, on the other hand, is something she usually does without.

Admony, the Israeli chef-owner of New York City's perpetually packed Balaboosta (meaning "perfect housewife" in Yiddish) and the transcendent falafel shop Taïm, generally prefers wine of the French variety–owing to her French husband, Stefan, and common sense.

Admony–whose beautiful book, Balaboosta: Bold Mediterranean Recipes to Feed the People You Love ($30) hit shelves this week–is one for liberating Jewish cooking from any of its preconceived constraints. The book's recipes redefine Jewish cooking thanks to her mixed heritage (her mother is from Iran, her father Yemen) and a Mediterranean palate that she honed while cooking in New York.

Admony as a teen (left) and sharing a holiday meal with family (right)

Admony stopped by our Test Kitchen to share her exclusive recipe for Manischewitz-Braised Lamb Shanks (see the recipe) with us in a video. For Admony, "there is no Rosh Hashanah [the Jewish New Year] without lamb." Because the holiday "is all about packing in sweetness for the coming year," this recipe is just the thing to make.

Manischewitz-Braised Lamb Shanks, just in time for Rosh Hashanah

Made with her "World's Best Harissa" (see the recipe), the flavor of the lamb shanks is concentrated with the infamous Kosher wine as it reduces and is layered with the rich flavors of leeks, honey, cinnamon and Granny Smith apples.

Learn the recipe now and it will carry you through the fall and winter. Make it for a crowd and we guarantee you'll soon be called a Balaboosta by everyone that comes to your table–no matter your gender. Admony is firm in her declaration that "anyone can be a Balaboosta."