family dinner (feast) in piedmont-beef, cabbage and potato casserole

for me there aren't many things more satisfying than spending time with my family in the kitchen preparing for a feast (which is what i was lucky to do in this case). i'm visiting with my aunt and uncle in the bay area, and on sunday we spent most of our day in the kitchen preparing for a lovely meal. thankfully, we started the morning with a beautiful two hour walk in piedmont because by the end of the day we had done a lot of  (really good) eating! the main recipe for the beef, cabbage & potato casserole from the valle d'aosta region of italy came from the cook book Lidia cooks from the heart of Italy - here is the RECIPE from her site--i recommend this dish for large gatherings because beyond being very delicious, it's a one pot (baking dish) dish, is easy to prepare ahead of time,  and really satisfies. it's not really a "light" or diet meal, but you can adjust the butter and fontina cheese for a lighter version. here's what we did in pictures:

casserole hot out of the oven

dessert & cheese course on the side board

antipasto beginnings

aunt maureen's mozarella stuffed peppers for appetizers

savoy cabbages about to be shredded

sliced baby red potatoes

sage, rosemary, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and kosher salt ready to be pulsed

sliced beef topped with herb garlic mixture

potatoes dressed with herb garlic mixture

the layering begins

really yummy fontina being grated

kitchen fun

(white) wine bath!