Last Night's Snack: Goose Leg Sliders

Turns out, pulled goose leg looks kind of gross in pictures. But it tastes good.

Here at the Pollard manse, we are big fans of the Sunday afternoon snack. If we were in England, I guess we'd call it teatime: somewhere around 3:30 or 4, we gather ourselves up for a few appetizers and some family time.

This weekend was a special one. Saturday was the opening of goose season and Cooper came home with a couple birds.

After doing some research, he found this Field and Stream recipe for goose leg sliders...and got to work. In the past, we've focused mostly on goose breast meat, so he was happy to find a good way to use the leg meat - better to use more of the bird. Plus, it was fairly simple to prep and really very tasty.

The recipe calls it good "football food" and I see that, though its flavor was actually more sophisticated than your average queso dip out of a jar. After his first bite, Cooper compared it to coq au vin - makes sense, since it's a bird slow-cooked in red wine. I realize that coq au vin originated as peasant food and theoretically isn't "sophisticated" at all. But the fact is, we live in America, where even the most rustic French preparation has a glimmer of fancy. And this did.

Each of us accessorized our sliders differently. Dixon went bare bones - just a bit of pan sauce on his. He scarfed down two. Cooper added pepper jack cheese, which he said was a good fit, though I think the goose overpowered the cheese. I slathered on a spoonful of Stonewall Kitchen roasted garlic and onion jam (that I got as a surprise gift, along with some cookies and chocolate, from the people at Eddie's - it was on my doorstep Friday afternoon. Thanks, Eddie's!).

I think mine was best, of course - the touch of sweetness was a good match for the rich bird. But Cooper and Dixon stand by their preparations. In the end, everyone was happiest with their own.

Which is exactly how Sunday snack is supposed to be.