Dove Kabobs
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Dove Kabobs
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| Servings |
| 4people |
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Ingredients
Kabob
- 32 boneless dove breast halves — works out to 4 doves per serving
- 2 very large onions — yeah, size matters.
- 4 bell peppers — Red, green, or a mix. Large well shaped. You may prefer I prefer the flavor of poblano, but rarely find them big enough.
- Other Veggies To Taste — Mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, yellow squash, etc.
Marinade
- 1cup soy sauce — one cup = 8 fl oz
- 1/2cup olive oil
- 1/2cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2cup red wine vinegar
- 1Tbsp Granulated or powdered garlic
- 1/2tsp salt
Instructions
Meat
- Mix the marinade. Set aside about a fourth for basting/mopping. Pour into a large zipper-top bag, toss in the dove breasts, and place in the refrigerator for 2-12 hours.
Cut Onion and Pepper (take care with this step — the shape of the pieces is important)
- Cut off the top and bottom of each onion, then cut it in half across the side (the “equator”). Cut each half into quarters, leaving eight chunks.
Separate the outside layers to gather enough big pieces so you have one for each piece of meat. Each should form a kind of little cup. You need to start with a very large onion to get enough pieces that are big enough. You need one “cup” per breast half (2 per dove – I did that in my head!).
Bag and freeze the leftover onion for your next batch of wild game stock. - Cut the peppers similarly so each piece also forms a sort of a cup. Most folks prefer to remove the pepper seeds. A normally shaped bell pepper should get you about 8 pieces. Like the onions, you need one “cup” per piece of meat.
- Cut any other veggies to the size you prefer for your kabobs, Add all the veggies to the marinating meat. A large zip-closure freezer bag works great because it is so easy to squeeze out the air, and to rotate the bag periodically to keep the contents evenly coated.
- After marinating for at least an hour, discard the used marinade and prepare to assemble the kabobs.
- Sandwich each dove breast between an onion “cup” and a pepper “cup”. These cup-shaped pieces should close down over the dove breast forming a sort-of onion/pepper ‘oven’ that performs wonderful magic on the grill. This is the most important part of the recipe.
Thread any other veggies outside the little onion/dove/pepper ovens, such that your kabob is assembled something like this:
o—(oven)—veggies—(oven)—veggies—(oven)—veggies—(oven)—>
If you’re thinking “Nobody wants to eat that much onion and pepper” you are right. After you “unthread” the cooked kabob you can set half or most of the onion and pepper pieces aside – they’ve already done their job. You could toss them, but they are a wonderful addition to a sandwich the next day. - Place your kabobs on a medium-hot grill, occasionally mopping/basting with the reserved basting liquid and turning. When the edges of the onions and peppers start to turn good and black, they’re ready!
Recipe Notes
The appearance and flavor can be enhanced by temporarily removing the breasts from the marinade after they are nicely chilled, then either grill very fast over a super-hot grill (need a fine grate to avoid losing any through the gaps), or lightly brown them with a quick super-hot broil. The goal is to give the surface a bit of char and flavor without cooking the interior. Put them right back in the marinade bag and into the fridge to be fully chilled again before assembling your kabobs.
If you prefer to broil your kabobs in an oven rather than grilling, consider adding a dash of liquid smoke to the marinade. Do not overdo this though, it is strong stuff. Enjoy!