Back

Dove and Dates

Here’s a new take on an old classic: bacon-wrapped dove poppers with sweet dates and crunchy cashews. You’ll appreciate the contrast of sweet and salty, and soft and crunchy.

Ingredients

Instructions

Step #1 In a small bowl, whisk balsamic vinegar, olive oil and rosemary to emulsify. Add dove breasts and marinate for 1 to 2 hours. Keep chilled until ready to cook. Thirty minutes before assembling the poppers, take out bacon and cut each strip in half. Allow to rest on the counter to come to room temperature.

Step #2 Prepare grill for medium-high heat cooking.

Step #3 Split open each date and fill with goat cheese and one cashew. To assemble the poppers, take half a piece of bacon and completely wrap it around one piece of filled date and a piece of marinated dove. Secure with a toothpick. Grill poppers until bacon is rendered. Serve immediately.

Recipe Card

Dove and Dates

Written by Jenny and Rick Wheatley Visit : Visit authors website

View Printable Page

Prep Time: 1.5 hours - Cook Time: 15-20 min

Ingredients

5 Dove Breast

1 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 tsp Dried Crushed Rosemary, or fresh equivalent

2 oz Goat Cheese

5 slices Bacon ( not thick cut )

10 Pitted Dates

10 whole Cashews

Toothpicks

Instructions

Step #1 - In a small bowl, whisk balsamic vinegar, olive oil and rosemary to emulsify. Add dove breasts and marinate for 1 to 2 hours. Keep chilled until ready to cook. Thirty minutes before assembling the poppers, take out bacon and cut each strip in half. Allow to rest on the counter to come to room temperature.

Step #2 - Prepare grill for medium-high heat cooking.

Step #3 - Split open each date and fill with goat cheese and one cashew. To assemble the poppers, take half a piece of bacon and completely wrap it around one piece of filled date and a piece of marinated dove. Secure with a toothpick. Grill poppers until bacon is rendered. Serve immediately.

About the Author

Jenny and Rick Wheatley

Jenny and Rick Wheatley both grew up in Southern California and connected over a shared love of the outdoors. They started their wild game cooking blog Food for Hunters in 2011, where they share recipes, photos and thoughts on wild food. Today, Jenny and Rick continue to hunt, fish, forage and cook in the Cornhusker State of Nebraska. Their recipes have appeared in numerous publications, including Petersens Hunting, Game and Fish, Nebraskaland and North American Whitetail magazines.

The Nebraska Center for the Book awarded their book Hunting for Food: Guide to Harvesting, Field Dressing and Cooking Wild Game the Wildlife Honor Award in 2016.