Chicken Fried Dove Over Biscuits and Gravy

For many parts of the country, doves usher in the beginning of hunting season. While everyone enjoys traditional grilled dove recipes for dinner and appetizers, they make a pretty good breakfast, too.

Don’t overlook dove for breakfast! Images by author

This recipe combines a pair of favorites: sausage gravy over biscuits and crispy fried dove breasts. Since it only takes a couple of doves per person to make a large breakfast, this is a great way to use up a few breasts or to feed a large crowd.

Start with the biscuits. You can make your favorite homemade version if you have the time, but my go-to, especially in camp when time is short, is Mary B’s frozen biscuits. Take them out of the freezer, put them on a baking sheet or iron skillet and pop them into a hot oven. They rise and turn golden and taste just as good, sometimes better, than homemade. Light and fluffy, most people would have a hard time telling them from a southern grandma’s hand mixed version.

Frozen biscuits are nearly as good as homemade without all the work.

For the dove part of the recipe, bone out the breast meat into two fillets, one from either side of the keel bone.

Bone out the dove breasts.

Soak the dove in buttermilk for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.

Marinate the dove in buttermilk.

Remove the dove from the buttermilk and dredge in seasoned flour.

Use your favorite seasoned flour or make your own.

My favorite brand is Kentucky Kernel. I use it for just about all of my fried meats.

Dredge the dove breasts in seasoned flour.

Once you have the breast fillets well dredged in flour, transfer them to the egg wash, then back into the flour for a second layer. This builds a nice, thick crispy crust when fried.

Heat a quarter inch of beef tallow, lard, or vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet. When the grease is hot, fry the dove for 4-5 minutes per side or until they are golden brown and just cooked through.

Fry the dove until crispy and just cooked through.

Like duck, dove tastes best when cooked to around medium. Don’t overdo it. And don’t overcrowd the skillet, fry in small batches for the best crust. Move the fried dove to a warm platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Drain most of the oil from the pan, but leave as many of the golden brown fried bits in the skillet as possible.

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Next comes the gravy. I make mine with a pound of ground pork sausage, either homemade or your favorite store brand. Brown and crumble the sausage in the same skillet over medium heat. When the sausage is cooked, move it to the edge of the skillet and add the flour to the center.

Add flour to the pan once the sausage has browned.

Blend everything well and cook until the flour turns a light tan and evenly coats the sausage bits. Pour in the milk and stir, bringing the gravy to a simmer to thicken.

Pour in the milk and stir until the gravy starts to simmer and thicken.

Just before the gravy reaches your desired thickness, season well with salt and lots of black pepper.

Season with salt and black pepper.

To plate, split a biscuit or two and ladle over plenty of sausage gravy. Place 2-4 fried dove breasts atop the gravy and serve immediately.

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