Janine Booth's recipes for Southern comfort

Australian chef Janine Booth was born into a family of restaurant owners. Inspired by the food of her country's many cultures, she decided to become a chef and started her career in Miami. Eventually, she took her love of southern cuisine north to New York City and in 2014, she and partner Jeff McInnis opened Root and Bone celebrating Southern fare and country comforts. They followed up with a second branch in Miami Beach and last year added Stiltsville Fish Bar offering locally-sourced seafood in Miami's Sunset Harbor neighborhood.

Here are a few of Booth's signature recipes: 

Drunken deviled eggs with pickled beets & root chips

1 medium beet
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 small (about 4 ounces) sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
Canola oil as needed for frying
Salt to taste
Reserved beet pickle juice (see recipe above)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch black pepper
Dash tabasco
1 tablespoon lightly chopped capers
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped dill
Fleur de sel or maldon sea salt for garnish 

Directions

1.Make the pickled beets: preheat the oven to 350°f. Place the beet on a small sheet pan and roast for 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the beet is tender when pierced with a pairing knife. Allow the beet to cool to room temperature and peel off the skin. Place the peeled beet in a large bowl. Set aside. 

2. In a saucepan, add the red wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. Place over a medium flame and heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Pour this liquid over the cooked beet. Allow this to cool to room temperature, then cover, and place in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. The next day, remove the beet, reserving the pickling liquid. Cut the pickled beet into a small dice and set aside.

3. Make the root chips: in a large pot, heat the canola oil to 300°f, measuring the heat with a candy or deep-fry thermometer. Rinse the slices of sweet potato under cold water for 2 minutes to release excess starch. Dry very, very thoroughly and fry the slices in batches for 2 to 5 minutes, or until the chips are just beginning to brown and curl at the edges. Remove the chips and check for crispiness. If the chips are not crisp, return to the oil for another 20 to 30 seconds. Remove and season with salt. Set aside.

4. Make the deviled eggs: fill a pot or a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, add the eggs and boil for 10 minutes. Drain the eggs and immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water. Allow the eggs to sit in the cold water for 5 to 10 minutes to allow for easy peeling. Peel the eggs over lightly running water from the faucet (this will also help in peeling). 

5. Place the eggs in the reserved beet pickling liquid and let them sit for 15 minutes. Remove the eggs, rinse under cold water, and dry very thoroughly. On the long side of each egg, shave off a piece of the egg, about 1/8-inch thick, so that the egg will lay flat when served. Cut each egg in half lengthwise and remove the yolks to the bowl of a stand mixer. Set the hollowed out whites aside while you make the filling.

6. In the bowl with the yolks, add the mayonnaise, mustard, rice vinegar, turmeric, salt, pepper, and tabasco. Mix on low until well combined. Add the capers and chives and fold gently until incorporated. Spoon this mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe into the hollowed out egg white shells. Garnish each egg with the diced pickled beets, sweet potato chip, dill, and sea salt.

Crispy coconut wrapper Kataifi shrimp 

Ingredients

3 pc kataifi wrapped shrimp fried in pan in coconut oil
3 oz key lime aioli, (2oz in a ramiken + 1 oz on plate)
1 tbs toasted coconut
Dusting bay leaf and citrus powder 
Pinch cilantro, picked
2 key lime, cut half or one lime wedge
16/20 royal red shrimp 
Kataifi phyllo dough angel hair phyllo dough
Coconut oil

Key lime aioli ingredients

2 cups mayo 
3 oz cilantro sauce (1 cup cilantro, basil, salt and 1.5 oz rice vinegar and agave in blender)
1.5 oz key lime juice
1 tsp lime zest
2 tsp garlic confit, clove
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 oz rice wine vinegar
1 oz blended oil
1 oz agave  

Directions

1. Thaw out pastry enough to work with. Take large long strand (about 12 " and wrap shrimp from tail to head until completely covered.) Fry in pan in coconut oil until golden brown.  

2.  For aioli place all ingredients and blend with immersion blender

Flourless lemon cake

Ingredients

1lb butter
1lb sugar
8 eggs
4 lemons worth of lemon zest
1lb almond flour, blanched
4 lemons worth of lemon juice

Whipped cream ingredients

3 cups heavy cream
2 tbs powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract 

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time with zest. Add almond flour. Pour into 2 x 9" round cake pan and bake 300 F for 40-45 minutes. Poke a lot of holes in the cake while warm. Mix lemon juice and 1 tbs sugar together and pour over cake. Layer whipped cream over cake, top with strawberries and second layer of cake. Top with another layer of whipped cream and strawberries and sifted powdered sugar.

2. For whipped cream, whip in Kitchen Aid-style mixer until medium to firm peak