Twelve Hats and Dinner Guests

"I myself have twelve hats, and each one represents a different personality.  Why just be yourself?"

This quote is from the writer Margaret Atwood.  She is right, every different hat you wear represents a different personality.  As simple as a fireman's hat to that flirty little number that you wear to a cocktail party.  Or the hat with the big brim that you can wear as a disguise with sunglasses.  Think Audrey in "Breakfast at Tiffany's".  There was the time I was on vacation with my kids at the beach and my favorite hat was my son's baseball cap with Sylvester on the front.  It was also the last time I could beat him in a foot race.  The cap helped.

Last night we had dinner guests.  I felt I wore many different hats during the day.  It started with my milliner hat while I filled an order for a customer, my writing hat (this blog), then I was a prep cook, cleaning lady, the cook and finally hostess.

By the time I put on my hostess hat I was happy.  We sat down to a delicious meal, skirt steak with tomatillo sauce, baked black beans, fingerling potatoes, green salad and for dessert, Teff pudding.

Tomatillo Sauce

You have to start here because it is an ingredient in the baked black beans.

2 tbs.olive oil
1 1b. tomatillos, diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. sugar
zest and juice of 1 lime

Cook the tomatillos with a little salt in the olive oil for about 10 minutes until they change color and look like pulp.  The color will go from vivid green to olive green.  Process in a blender or small processor until the skins are chopped up, don't overdo it, you want to see the seeds.  Return to the pan on a low heat and add the rest of the ingredients.  Cook the sauce for a few minutes until it thickens a little, taste for seasoning.  If too tart add a little more sugar, it might need more salt and you should taste just a hint of the cumin.  Done, set aside.

Baked Black Beans


Serves 2-4 people depending on your portion size, this was perfect for the 4 of us.

1 cup dried black beans
2 tbs. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 tbs. brown sugar
4 tbs. tomatillo sauce


Cover the beans with 2 cups water, boil for 1 minute, turn off the heat and let soak for 1 hour.  Drain, add fresh water to cover by about 2".  Add the rest of the ingredients and bake in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours, stirring every 1/2 hour, and adding more water if needed.  Season with salt to taste at the end of the cooking time.  Turn off the heat and keep in the warm oven.

Fingerling Potatoes for four

15-20 small fingerling potatoes
2 bs. butter
2 tbs. chopped parsley
good sprinkle of Maldon sea salt

Cook the whole potatoes in boiling salted water until easily pierced with a knife.  Drain.  Put the 2 tbs. of butter in a warmed bowl.  When just cool enough to handle peel the potatoes and drop them into the bowl.  Mix in the parsley and salt and keep warm in the oven with the baked beans.  If you want to visit with your guests for more than a few minutes, turn the oven on to 200 degrees.

Skirt Steak for four


2 lbs. skirt steak, cut in sections to fit the pan.  I used 2 big cast iron skillets so I could cook it all at once.  Heat the pans for 4 minutes until they are HOT. Drizzle the steak with a little olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and place in the hot pans.  Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until browned, but still a little rare.  Remove to a board to rest, one that can catch the juices.  For the sauce, deglaze the pans with 1/4 cup red wine in each pan, combine sauce in one pan.  Add 3 tbs. of the tomatillo sauce and swirl in 1 tbs. butter.  Slice the steak against the grain and return the steak and its juices to the pan with the sauce.  You can do all this with the heat off, the pan will still be hot enough.  Toss the steak in the delicious sauce and turn out onto a warmed platter.


Serve this meal to your dinner guests buffet style with more tomatillo sauce on the side, followed by a butter lettuce salad with creme fraiche dressing. 


Teff Pudding for dessert, or since our friend is English, teff pudding for pudding.  (Recipe for Teff Pudding is in blog archive from March 1st))


To see the latest collection of Zazu & Violets' hats, please visit our on-line Etsy shop.