Let Einat Admony teach you how to cook modern, sophisticated, comforting Mediterranean food. Balaboosta (the name of Admony's NYC restaurant) is a Yiddish term for "homemaker" or "perfect housewife" and it's a fitting term for what delicious domestic skills this cookbook will impart. One of our favorite aspects of the book is how it covers everything from kid-friendly, basic meals to elegant dinner party fare.

The book is a contender in Food52's Piglet Tournament, which pits 16 of the year's most notable cookbooks against each other, judged by some top chefs and food writers. Title comes with a signed bookplate.