Sometimes, you just need a nice date night with yourself. A fine meal and a bottle of wine paired with simple cooking that produces an elegant meal.

Tonight, I prepared homemade chimichurri sauce, cooked up a bison steak without a grill, baked a potato, and boiled some corn on the cob. It was all so simple and took just under one hour.

First step — wash and scrub a large potato. Stab it with a fork every inch apart. Brush some olive oil on it and coat it with some kosher salt or sea salt. Then, place it directly on the middle rack of the oven pre-heated to 400 degrees. The important thing here is is to place something directly beneath it to catch any of the drippings. I simply used aluminum foil with the edges rolled up to create a tray of sorts.

Start a pot with boiling water for the corn. Carry on. Season your steak with salt, roasted pepper garlic blend, steak rub, and olive oil on both sides. Let it sit and soak in some of the flavors.

Set your timer for 45 minutes and move on to the chimichurri sauce. For this, you’ll want to wash your herbs. Fresh Italian Parsley, oregano, or cilantro all work well for this. In my case, I used a combination of handpicked herbs parslec and oregano from a garden and store-bought Italian parsley. You’ll want about a cup of herbs. Wash them and toss them in a food processor.

Add some olive oil, 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed red pepper, salt, ginger, cumin, ground mustard, and lemon juice (or red/white wine vinegar). Try about 1/3 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup lemon juice — but as you blend it, do some taste tests and you can adjust as needed.

Set this aside, and toss the corn in the boiling water. Cover the pot — it’ll take a good 5-7 minutes to cook to perfection.

In the meantime, take a greased pan and add your steak. Sear the steak on each side for 2-3 minutes. Then, remove the baked potato from the oven and switch from bake to broil. Stick the pan with the steak in the oven (if oven safe!).

Cast iron pans are great for this. In my case, I use Rachel Ray cookware which is oven safe up to 400 degrees. Good thing I’m now broiling at exactly 400 degrees. No more than 5-7 minutes if cooking medium rare.

At this time, everything for your plate is done. The corn should be finished boiling. The chimichurri sauce is setting nicely. The steak is cooked, and so is the potato. Nothing left to do but plate it up and enjoy a delicious meal.

Total cook time, approximately 50 minutes plus 20 minutes to prep.

5 oz bison ribeye
1 potato
1 corn on the cob
2 tablespoons salt
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 cup parsley
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons olive oil

Makes 1 serving.

Calories: approx 1200 per serving

Hopefully, like me, you’ve enjoyed a couple glasses of wine during the cooking process and have enough to enjoy one more with dinner.