Open a cheap merlot
and fill an expensive glass
but only partway
if you just let it breathe
it will come into its own.

Put the ten inch sauté on
medium high and add
a pat of butter
in three minutes it foams
a little, but just enough.

Enough time to spread kosher salt
and  a generous grinding
of mixed peppercorns
over the  twelve ounce prime rib
three quarters of an inch thick
and gently marbled.

Five minutes on the first side
No, it’s not too long
the pan is still coming up to heat.
And you can make the salad;
shake out a bag of mixed greens
into the shallow bowl
you already rubbed down
with a sliced clove of garlic.

Slice  a mushroom
with the santoku
but add it to the sauté
at the last minute.

Add the olives
green cracked nafplion
soft pitted calamatas
a drizzle of olive oil and
a miserly application of
balsamic vinegar.

Flip the steak now
it only needs three minutes more
while you season the salad
with a pinch of salt
a grind of pepper.

Take the steak off
when the timer goes
and cut into it
to appraise the
hot red perfection
between seared borders.

Tragic really
that my wife
is away
and I have to fend
for myself.