Epicurious

Shop for smaller parsnips, which are more tender.

The origin of this dish is unknown, but it's a common menu feature of many Italo-American restaurants of the red-sauce variety. In kitchen lingo, a shoemaker is a shortcutting, skillful hack; a shoemaker cobbles things, a meal, together from the meager things on hand. In Italian, scarpa translates as "shoe" and scarpariella is slang for shoemaker. The actual name for one who plies this trade is calzolaio. In Chicken Scarpariella, a spring chicken is "hacked" up in to small pieces and quickly cooked with a few common ingredients.

This old favorite is a delicious way to use up cold turkey.

In my family's house, turkey croquettes were a revered delicacy had only after Thanksgiving and Christmas (it took a lot of work, we were often told). It wasn't until I was in college that I learned "croquette" meant a solution to leftovers. But I still think of this recipe, passed down from my father's mother to my mother to me and my sister, as special. Yes, it is a lot of work. But the soul-warming richness — and guaranteed compliments — make it worth the effort.

Grated black radish salad is exquisite too. Try it with the most common black radish in the U.S. (Raphanus sativus), which is round and has a similar flavor and texture to Raphanus sativus niger.

When sweet, succulent jumbo crabmeat comes into season, this is an incredibly simple, light, and refreshing first course that requires no cooking. It can also be used as a main course for a summer luncheon.