Game recipes: Dove

Right now it's dove season in Tennessee. Dove season opened at noon on September 1, 2008. Doves can be hunted now through September 26, October 11 through October 26 and December 19 through January 15, from half an hour before sunrise to sunset. For Mourning doves, the daily bag limit is 15. There is no bag limit on Eurasian-collared doves. For more information, or to find your nearest state-managed dove field, check with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

I'm not going to get into a lengthy ethics discussion here. I do not believe in killing just for the sake of killing. When it comes to hunting, I believe it should be for consumption only. When my family hunts or fishes, we eat what we kill. And when we hunt, we do it mindfully and ethically. We never resort to savage or unnecessary measures. We never take more than we need or can preserve.

Some friends of ours are going on a dove hunt and we've been promised a big "mess" of doves. So, I've gathered up some recipes to have ready.


When it comes to cooking with wild meat, some people are afraid that it'll taste too "gamey." That's possible, but I've not really experienced it with birds. If you're afraid that your game meat will taste "gamey," then you can soak the meat in milk or a solution of 2 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon of baking soda for an hour. Rinse the meat thoroughly after soaking.

With dove, you can basically substitute it in any chicken recipe that you have. Just keep in mind that doves are a lot smaller than chickens. The average serving is 2-3 doves per person.

DOVE BREASTS AND WILD RICE CASSEROLE
10 Dove breasts
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Salt
Pepper
1 Rib celery
1/2 lb Mushrooms
4 Scallions or green onions, sliced
3 Tbsp. Butter
1/4 tsp. Tarragon
1/2 c White wine
1 1/2 c Chicken stock
2/3 c Wild rice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rinse the wild rice, drain, and set aside. Skin the dove breasts, wipe with lemon juice, and salt and pepper the breasts.

Chop the mushrooms, scallions and celery. Lightly saute in the butter (3-5 minutes).

Put the wild rice in the bottom of a casserole dish. Arrange the dove breasts on top of the wild rice. Pour celery, mushroom, and scallion mixture over doves. Add rest of ingredients (tarragon, white wine, and chicken stock). Cover the casserole with foil and bake at 325 degrees for 90 minutes.

DOVE CACCIATORE
4 Doves
Salt and pepper
1/4 c Olive oil
1/2 c Beer
4 Med. onions sliced
1/4 tsp. Oregano
Garlic salt
Flour
3 Tbsp. Chopped parsley
1 Clove garlic. crushed
1 Green bell pepper, diced
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

Sprinkle doves inside and out with salt, pepper and flour. Heat oil in skillet and brown doves on all sides.

Add tomato sauce, beer and remaining ingredients. Stir to spread seasoning. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over low heat 30 to 45 minutes or until doves are tender.

FRIED DOVES/FRIED QUAIL (Granny always used to fix fried quail at Thanksgiving - it was a Mississippi tradition)
4 Doves or quail
1/2 c Butter
1/2 c Vegetable oil
Flour
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. Onion powder

Clean and split doves or quails. Rinse, dry and roll in seasoned flour.

Melt butter and oil in heavy skillet. Put doves or quails into hot oil; cover skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and cook until tender.

DOVE PIE (an English tradition)
6 doves
1 cup water
2 ribs celery
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 recipe 2-crust pie pastry
1/4 cup butter
Black pepper

Place doves in pot with 1 cup water. Add celery, bell pepper, red pepper and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover pot and cook 45 to 60 minutes until birds are tender. Cool and bone doves. Reserve 1 cup broth.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with 1/2 pastry. Top with meat from doves. Dot with butter. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in reserved broth.

Top with remaining pastry. Brush with melted butter or egg white. Bake at 350 degrees until brown, about 1 hour.

DOVES A L'ORANGE
12 doves, cleaned and rinsed
4 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups orange juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brown doves in butter in heavy skillet.

Place doves in a casserole dish. Add salt and orange juice. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours, or until doves are tender.