Devil Doves

Before I share this recipe, here are all of my dove recipes for you to try!

• How to Clean a Dove on Video!
• Dove Nuggets
• Beer Battered Fried Dove Breasts
• Dove and Fig Kabobs
• Dove Puttach
• 5 Dove Recipes That Will Win Over Picky Eaters

I’m writing to you from an airplane, 30,000 feet in the sky. Isn’t technology amazing?

{{{wave}}}

I’m on my way to Portland, Oregon for a weekend of foraging in the woods, good eating, and general merriment. I’ll be sure to tell you what I uncover.

In the meantime, we need to talk about doves some more, particularly this new dove recipe I conjured up while in Arkansas a few days ago. It is what I fondly call “Devil Doves,” because it is inspired by this favorite recipe I made long ago here called “Devils on Horseback.”

Sweet, salty, bacony, dovey… need I say more?

Let’s get started.

Gather up some dove breasts, soft cheese, thyme, bacon and dates. If you don’t have doves handy, you could make a version of this using chicken breasts, duck breasts or any other kind of meat your heart desires. You’ll just need to up the stuffing quantities.

This is what a skinned dove breast looks like. Isn’t it elegant? It’s dark meat, kind of like duck, but richer in my opinion.

You’ll need to remove it from the breast bone with the help of a sharp knife…

Once you start cutting it, you’ll be able to peel it off with your fingers quite easily.

This is what it will look like in one piece, ready for the stuffing.

Cut a date in half. Now you could use another dried fruit here too… I love prunes and apricots myself, but I was in rural Arkansas and a girl’s gotta use what she can get her hands on.

Place the dates on either side…

Then add a dollop of goat cheese or another soft cheese. I’m partial to gorgonzola and blue cheese as well.

Then add a sprig of thyme or your other favorite herb.

Lay out a strip of bacon, squeeze the breast meat together and lay it on the end of the bacon.

Start rolling!

It’s really quite fun. You roll on a bit of a diagonal until the breasts are covered in a nice bacon cocoon.

Do this as many times as you’d like. I did it 24 times because there were many mouths to feed.

Place them with the bacon seam side down so that the little packages seal while cooking. Bake them for 35-45 minutes at 400 degrees F, or until the bacon crisps up and renders its fat.

You’ll love these. It has that sweet, salty, fatty goodness in bite sized packages. And like I said, you can try this with many other birds.

Here are some other dove recipes to get your juices flowing:

• How to Clean a Dove on Video!
• Dove Nuggets
• Beer Battered Fried Dove Breasts
• Dove and Fig Kabobs
• Dove Puttach
• 5 Dove Recipes That Will Win Over Picky Eaters

Print Recipe

“Devil Doves”

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Servings: 4 -6 as an appetizer

Ingredients

• 24 dove breasts bone removed
• 24 pitted dates cut in half (also try prunes, apricots or other dried fruit)
• 24 teaspoons soft goat cheese also try blue cheese, Gorgonzola, or another soft cheese
• 24 small sprigs of thyme
• 24 strips of bacon

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lay the deboned dove breast skin side down and place two date halves in the center.
• Lay a teaspoon of goat cheese on top, then a sprig of thyme.
• Lay a strip of bacon down, gather the dove breast together and place at one end of the bacon. Roll the bacon around the dove breast until it is fully covered. Set on a sheet tray with the bacon seam side down.
• Repeat until you have all of the doves stuffed and wrapped and lined up on a sheet tray. Place in the oven and cook for 35-45 minutes or until the bacon is crispy and rendered. Serve immediately!