Steve Rinella's Fried Mourning Doves
Ingredients
Serves 4 as an appetizer
- 8 whole mourning doves
- 1 cup fine or medium ground cornmeal
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons Creole seasoning (I prefer Tony Chachere’s, which is widely available. To make your own blend, see below.)
- Kosher salt
- 1 bunch fresh curly parsley
- Peanut or vegetable oil
- Preheat the oil to 375°F in an electric deep-fryer or over a stovetop in a Dutch oven. You need enough oil to submerge the doves; a depth of 3 inches will work.
Creole Seasoning Blend:
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon cayenne
- 1 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- Mix the paprika, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, black pepper, and thyme in a small bowl.
Directions
Fried Whole Mourning Doves
A lot of hunters will breast out a dove. That gets 90% of the usable meat on a Mourning dove. However, the thighs and drumsticks are fantastic too. Steven Rinella shows you a simple and fast way to use your whole dove. Take a look at the video here.
How To
- Combine the cornmeal, flour, and 2 tablespoons of the Creole seasoning in a large bowl and mix to combine.
- Sprinkle each dove with a small pinch of the remaining Creole seasoning and rub it into the breast and legs.
- Working with one or two at time, toss the doves into the cornmeal mixture and coat thoroughly on all surfaces.
- Working in two batches, fry the doves in the oil for 4 minutes.
- Roll them around a few times as they cook so that all sides are brown and crispy. Remove from the oil and place them on a platter lined with paper towels to cool.
- After the last batch of doves is cooked, drop several bundles of parsley containing a few sprigs each into the hot oil and fry for 1 minute.
- Garnish the platter with the crispy parsley sprigs and serve as soon as the doves are cool enough to handle.
