Emma's first dove hunt was Sunday morning and I could not be more happy with it She was a non shooter (has not learned how to wing shoot yet, is 11) this time. We have to get her some practice shooting sporting clays before I feel comfortable turning her loose shooting moving targets. She spotted and retrieved birds. The day before some employees hunted and got skunked. We ended up with 13 morning and one collared by 1100.
. I would suspect that 80%+ of the dove consumed in Texas is done so in some form of poppers. Here is one of my recipes for "sweet poppers". Will post some pics later after I'm done with them.
INGREDIENTS:
15 sweet peppers
15 fresh dove breasts
8 strips thin cut bacon
8oz cream cheese softened
4oz shredded Muenster cheese
4oz shredded extra sharp cheddar
2 tablespoons Meathead's Memphis Dust
1 can pineapple juice
1/4 cup Meathead's KC style bbq sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt
30 undyed toothpicks
2 empty coolwhip containers
Cut the peppers in 1/2 and remove septum and seeds; leaving the green tops and stems (themselves great handles for glazing later).
Add the peppers to an empty cool whip container and cover with pineapple juice, reserving some for later. Seal cool whip container and set in icebox. Fillet out the dove breasts so they are little boneless skinless dove nuggets. Add dove meat to the 2nd coolwhip container and add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt mixing it all up for even covering. Lid up and put in icebox too. Let breasts dry brine, and peppers marinate over night. The next day fire up the smoker to 225° (I like pecan wood for this recipe, but any hardwood will work). Mix the softened cream cheese, Muenster, cheddar, and 1 Tablespoon of Meathead's Memphis Dust together in a bowl. Remove the peppers from the marinade and drain. Stuff peppers with the cheese and rub mixture. Add the remaining rub to the container with the now brined dove breasts. Lid up and shake to distribute. Remove each dove nugget and add on top of cheese mixture in each pepper. Cut the bacon strips in 1/2. Stretch each strip and wrap tightly around each pepper and their payload, ensuring coverage on the dove and cheese to prevent premature oozage. Secure each strip of bacon with a toothpick. Smoke at 225° for 15 minutes. Remove the poppers (I leave them on a wire rack for easy removal) Then stoke the fire to 400° and reinsert for about 10 minutes or until bacon is done. While in the 400° pit, thin the KC style BBQ sauce with a couple tablespoons of the reserved pineapple juice. After the 10 minutes are up, dip each popper in the thinned BBQ sauce and put back on rack. Put rack back in 400° pit until glaze is set. Once glaze is set, they are done. The dove should remain medium rare. I DO suggest you let these little nuggets sit for a while. At first removal there is some kind of biochemical change that takes place that turns the filling into flaming napalm, about 10-15 minutes let's it transform back into the oozy goodness it should be. Enjoy.
. I would suspect that 80%+ of the dove consumed in Texas is done so in some form of poppers. Here is one of my recipes for "sweet poppers". Will post some pics later after I'm done with them.
INGREDIENTS:
15 sweet peppers
15 fresh dove breasts
8 strips thin cut bacon
8oz cream cheese softened
4oz shredded Muenster cheese
4oz shredded extra sharp cheddar
2 tablespoons Meathead's Memphis Dust
1 can pineapple juice
1/4 cup Meathead's KC style bbq sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt
30 undyed toothpicks
2 empty coolwhip containers
Cut the peppers in 1/2 and remove septum and seeds; leaving the green tops and stems (themselves great handles for glazing later).
Add the peppers to an empty cool whip container and cover with pineapple juice, reserving some for later. Seal cool whip container and set in icebox. Fillet out the dove breasts so they are little boneless skinless dove nuggets. Add dove meat to the 2nd coolwhip container and add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt mixing it all up for even covering. Lid up and put in icebox too. Let breasts dry brine, and peppers marinate over night. The next day fire up the smoker to 225° (I like pecan wood for this recipe, but any hardwood will work). Mix the softened cream cheese, Muenster, cheddar, and 1 Tablespoon of Meathead's Memphis Dust together in a bowl. Remove the peppers from the marinade and drain. Stuff peppers with the cheese and rub mixture. Add the remaining rub to the container with the now brined dove breasts. Lid up and shake to distribute. Remove each dove nugget and add on top of cheese mixture in each pepper. Cut the bacon strips in 1/2. Stretch each strip and wrap tightly around each pepper and their payload, ensuring coverage on the dove and cheese to prevent premature oozage. Secure each strip of bacon with a toothpick. Smoke at 225° for 15 minutes. Remove the poppers (I leave them on a wire rack for easy removal) Then stoke the fire to 400° and reinsert for about 10 minutes or until bacon is done. While in the 400° pit, thin the KC style BBQ sauce with a couple tablespoons of the reserved pineapple juice. After the 10 minutes are up, dip each popper in the thinned BBQ sauce and put back on rack. Put rack back in 400° pit until glaze is set. Once glaze is set, they are done. The dove should remain medium rare. I DO suggest you let these little nuggets sit for a while. At first removal there is some kind of biochemical change that takes place that turns the filling into flaming napalm, about 10-15 minutes let's it transform back into the oozy goodness it should be. Enjoy.
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