We love doves. We love hunting and eating them, but maybe more than anything else, they mean that hunting season is finally here.

In Virginia, September doesn’t feel like fall- it's 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit midday, but we know autumn is coming. Soon the leaves will turn, it’ll get cold, and the days will be short. We can't wait for all the other hunts we have planned this season, but first we’ll get after some doves.

Doves are just about perfect table fare, so they don't need a lot of help in the kitchen. This dove recipe only has two ingredients- butter and canned chipotle peppers. Slather the sauce on while they grill and eat them with your bare hands. No utensils required, but you might need a shower afterwards. It’s worth it. 

We pluck our doves whole, you can breast them out if you're feeling lazy, but you’ll be missing out on all the crispy bits. A whole plucked dove is like a giant chicken wing, but better.

Chipotle Butter Grilled Doves

Servings: varies

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter, room temperature

4 tbsp canned chipotle peppers with sauce

Method:

Blend the butter and the peppers until mostly smooth. 

Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Season the doves with salt and pepper. Place the doves on the grill breast side up, and cook, covered, for around 4 minutes. Brush on the sauce and rotate the doves breast side down. Brush sauce on back side of doves. Cook for 2-3 minutes uncovered. If using a grill with a diffuser, open it up and cook directly over the flames. 

Flip doves back over and brush the breast side again with sauce. Cook for about another minute or until the thickest part of the breast is ~135F.

Grill some corn while you cook the doves, use the chipotle butter on the corn.