Help! Dove Season

ritaanz

Ok Don, dove hunting season opened yesterday, September 1st. Where are your recipes for dove meat? My husband and 4 of his buddies were there at dawn and caught their limit of 10 each. You guessed it, we got all 50 of em in the fridge. Now what????

Parabeagle

Well, I'm not Don (but I play one on TV), but I'll wager any recipe of his involves something called butterflying and stuffing them with things/substances. x;-)

ritaanz

Hey Puss! I expect a long winded description of field dressing the tiny thing, leaving you with an ounce or two of (ahem) breast. Then he'll probably come up with a marinade that has 12 exotic herbs and spices. He will tell you to keep it marinading until Thanksgiving. At that time, prepare your turkey for frying. Once the big bird is in the fryer, you turn your attention to the doves. In Don's style, he would remove the cover from the marinade with a flourish, raise the dish of doves and chuck it in the garbage. Agree?

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-03-03 AT 11:12AM (CST)[/font][p]I love it when a gentlewoman tries to describe something she has no familiarity with. As in "He caught the limit". What sort of net did he use. Or did he use a treble hook to catch the birds. Did he use a turkey call or duck call? The limit here is 15 with a posession limit of 30 after the first day, which means you could have 15 in your truck or vest and another 15 in your freezer at home, as if the game warden is going to search your house! Your other mistake is in putting them in the refrigerator unless you are eating them within two days. Freeze them. Now I will give you recipes. BTW, they are entirely too small to butterfly.

GRILLED DOVE
Wrap one slice bacon around dove breast and toothpick. Place as many doves as you have on grill not over direct flame. Leave on grill as long as it takes bacon to sizzle and turn dark. Baste periodically with Italian dressing, turning frequently. Move over fire only while watching to be sure there is no blaze. Turn frequently over fire till bacon is fairly crisped, being careful not to overcook meat. Remove to tray and serve with wild rice, biscuits and gravy, squash or eggplant caserole and red wine.

FRIED DOVE
Using non-self-rising flour, appropriately peppered and salted, dredge dove breast well in flour. In high walled skillet or iron dutch oven without lid, place floured breasts in 350 degree grease, turning twice, for4-5 minutes, until browned well. Remove to paper towelled dish. Serve as above

Other hints: Dove meat contains no fat. So, it takes almost no time to cook them in grease or over coals. It is easy to overcook dove, sort of like pork chops that contain no fat. The dove breast contains a deep layer of dark meat on the outside and inside that is hidden a wonderful little layer of white succulent meat. The proper way to eat dove is with the fingers, like chicken. There is an art to using the teeth to scrape the meat away from the thin shell-like, fragile bone cage.

To field dress a dove; pull of the birds head. Pluck away the feathers from the breast. Using wire pliers, clip away and discard the entire wings. Press your thumb firmly into what might appear to be the adam's apple of the neck. Press firmly downward and pull the breast away with your other hand, rolling the clean meat out into a ball with your inserted thumb. There's an art to it but it is absolutely unnecessary to pluck the bird clean. The clean breast will magically roll out of the feathered carcass. With the breast-meat bundle in your hand and the rest discarded to a trash bucket, roll the breast under a faucet outside until remaining few feathers are washed away. Under the water, peel away any residue or threads of fat. A good meal per person consists of between four and seven birds with side dishes. If you bite down on a 'shot', hopefully that tooth will not have an amalgum filling in it.

ritaanz

I knew you would not disappoint me. Right up to the dreadful "pull off its head". I did freeze them.

I seriously doubt that he would use a net or a hook. When he was packing the jeep, I saw, what to this gentleperson looked like a really, really big bada** shotgun. He left the turkey caller home. I know, beacuse I was messin with it. Alas! No turkeys for miles.

Appreciate the tips. I owe you one.

Parabeagle

>To field dress a dove; pull of the birds head. Pluck away the feathers
>from the breast. Using wire pliers, clip away and discard the entire
>wings. Press your thumb firmly into what might appear to be the adam's
>apple of the neck. Press firmly downward and pull the breast away with
>your other hand, rolling the clean meat out into a ball with your
>inserted thumb. There's an art to it but it is absolutely unnecessary
>to pluck the bird clean. The clean breast will magically roll out of
>the feathered carcass. With the breast-meat bundle in your hand and
>the rest discarded to a trash bucket, roll the breast under a faucet
>outside until remaining few feathers are washed away. Under the water,
>peel away any residue or threads of fat. A good meal per person
>consists of between four and seven birds with side dishes. If you bite
>down on a 'shot', hopefully that tooth will not have an amalgum
>filling in it.

That's it! I'm calling PETA!!!! x:P