Free Range Friday ~ Chicken! Surprise! *Edited!

The other day I was in Costa del Sol, where I go to buy one thing and end up with things I never planned on buying. All right, I do that whenever I'm in any store here. Because it is there and I know it might very well not be there the next time. That's how things are here and unless I'm writing about it I don't really think about it much, I just do it. As does everyone I know here. Wait, where was I?

There in the frozen food meat area was a chicken. A whole chicken. A whole not frozen chicken. I am not a fool, I am sure at some point this chicken was frozen but right then, right there, it wasn't and suddenly, full bloom, the vision of a whole chicken on the grill gripped me. Plus, it was about half the price of what I usually pay for a whole chicken. Yes, I'm delusional with grill visions but practical is always a good impetus to giving in to sudden desire. So I did.

I'd never heard of Santa Rita's 120 merlot wine before but hey, the price was good and the label was interesting ('Honoring 120 Patriots Who Helped Lead Chile to Independence'). My theory on buying unknown wine is that I can always cook with it if I can't drink it. But it was drinkable. Later I looked it up and I promise you I will never, ever describe a wine this way, but here's what I got for my gamble. 

"Vivid red color, brilliant, with violet hints, of medium intensity. Ripe red fruits combine with fine herbs in a young and fruity aroma. To the palate it is a medium lightly bodied wine showing fruity and pasty, round, soft and ripe tannins.Vivid red color, brilliant, with violet hints, of medium intensity. Ripe red fruits combine with fine herbs in a young and fruity aroma. To the palate it is a medium lightly bodied wine showing fruity and pasty, round, soft and ripe tannins."

Are you sure you got the part about ripe red fruity pasty round soft fruits? Sheesh. Maybe I can write wine labels for a new career.

Onward.

I split open the chicken and stuffed it full of minced onion and garlic, under the skin of the breasts and legs and throughout the cavity. I used the foil to pull it all together, leaving the ends open for the fat to drain out, and put it on the grill for about  an hour. As you can see, I couldn't wait to tear off one of the legs immediately. Uh, just to be sure it was done. It was.

There could be all sorts of things to stuff it with but that was what I had and that was what I used. Get creative!

After the dark meat was gone, there was plenty left the next day to make chicken salad. But I also happened to have a can of black beans and being bored with regular chicken salad, I thought they'd open the flavor door a little wider.

You can see the knife I had to cut the meat from the bones but the messy truth is, I usually just use my hands for that step. Yes, it's messy, but it's also more fun. And I like to play with my food.

This is before I thought about putting in the black beans.

Mayo, of course. All the onions and garlic, of course. Some salt and pepper. Yawn.

Who knew black beans could bring excitement to my life? I need to get out more.

Some capers! Woohoo!

And there endeth that. Because I was in Genesis and found some just brought in avocados and tomatoes, neither of which were ready for eating. But oh, wouldn't they be good in that chicken salad? Yes they would! I figure by later today they will be perfect, by using the brown bag method. The brown bag that I left on the table outside that disintegrated in the rain this morning. That brown bag.

The brown bag has done its work. Only a few more hours and yum!

So this is my world, where it takes three days to complete a chicken salad. I could have made 1000 year eggs in the same time, or kim chee or something amazingly elaborate that I'll never make. But this salad is going to be amazing. It's the little things.

*Here is the finished mixup. It was worth the wait.

Have a (insert unprintable word for general consumption) YEAH Friday! Do something farfetchedly feastible.