The doves in question can be substituted with squab or quail as the paprika, garlic, bay leaf, and white wine marinade is what makes this dish. This recipe for grilled doves calls for Portuguese-style ingredients including garlic, bay leaves, chile pepper, and paprika.
I have never been to Portugal, so I don’t know if they hunt doves there, but I do know that the flavors in this recipe for grilled doves are purely Portuguese: garlic, chile peppers, bay leaves, paprika, sweet wine, and olive oil. Everything is buzzed in a food processor until smooth and used as a marinade on the doves (or squab).
Harold McGee, a food scientist, claims that marinades only penetrate meat to a depth of about 1/4 inch during an overnight soak, which is more than enough to get to the center of a whole dove. If you’re not a hunter, use domestic squab for this recipe; just make sure to lower the number of birds per person to one or two as squab is a lot larger than dove.
Doves cannot be purchased because they must be hunted, but you can get a flavor that is very similar by purchasing farm-raised squab, which is young pigeon, which is sold in some gourmet markets and online from the California Squab Producers.-Hank Shaw
Best Dove Recipe Ever (MUST WATCH)
Grilled Dove Poppers đź”—
For a lot of us, early September means dove hunting. There’s no better way to get our entire family afield in a social hunting situation. Good-natured ribbing over missed shots, and the occasional “well done” on a made one, keeps everyone involved.
For us, dove hunting always means poppers on the grill. Sure, you can use dove in other recipes, but there is a reason the classic popper is so popular. It’s just plain good.
If you’ve never made a dove popper, the process is pretty simple. You take one side of a breasted-out dove breast, smear it with a bit of cream cheese, top it with a slice of jalapeño pepper and onion, then you wrap the whole thing up with a half slice of bacon, secure it with a toothpick, and toss it on the grill.
Dove breast is a lot like duck. It just tastes better when cooked to about medium or even slightly under. To prevent the dove meat from overcooking, I prefer to use relatively thin bacon for the recipe. Thin bacon does two things. First, it gets nice and crisp in a short enough time to prevent the dove breast from overcooking. Second, a single layer of thin bacon complements the flavor without overpowering the dove meat. There is nothing wrong with the taste of grilled bacon, I cook it that way all the time, but when I eat dove, I want to taste the dove.
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Prep: 45min
Ingredients:
15 doves, breasted out into two pieces of meat for each dove
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound of bacon
One 8-ounce block of cream cheese
1 jar of sliced jalapeño peppers
1/2 white onion, cut into bite-sized pieces
Toothpicks
Instruction:
Start by seasoning the dove breast well with salt and pepper. Use the thinnest bacon you can find. Cut the bacon down the center to make half slices.
To assemble the poppers, lay out a half strip of bacon (stretch it a little if you need extra length). Lay one side of a boneless dove breast on the bacon. Top the dove with a dollop of cream cheese. I use about a teaspoon per popper. Place a slice of jalapeño pepper atop the cream cheese, then top that with a slice of onion. Rolling up a bunch of poppers can get tedious, but we try to get everyone involved in an assembly line to speed the process.
Roll the popper tightly with bacon and secure with a toothpick. Repeat until all poppers are assembled.
Grill over a hot charcoal fire, monitoring closely to move the poppers out of the inevitable flare-ups, until the bacon is cooked through and crisp. Most of our poppers cook in 7 to 10 minutes.
FAQ
How should dove be cooked?
Dove breasts should be cooked for two to three minutes on each side in a skillet with butter and olive oil over medium heat. When the meat is done and the batter is a light brown color, remove the breasts and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
Should you soak dove meat?
Another method to combat the dryness is to marinate the dove breasts overnight, or to soak them for a few hours in a brine solution (1 cup of salt to 1 gallon of water), which helps to seal the pores and preserve the dove breast’s natural moisture.
What do you soak dove meat in?
Place your dove breasts in a bowl of milk and refrigerate for at least two hours to remove the gamey taste. In another bowl, combine flour with garlic powder, salt, and pepper (add as much as your taste buds allow). In a skillet or fryer, add vegetable oil and allow it to get hot.
How do you tenderize doves?
Remove the dove breasts from the brine and pat them dry. With a sharp knife, separate the two breast lobes from the breastbone. Place each lobe between two sheets of plastic wrap. Gently pound each lobe with a meat tenderizer (mallet), ideally overnight.