Bacon wrapped dove poppers a great way to celebrate the hunt! A great balance of grilled fatty bacon, tangy chilies, savory-sweet garlic, and smoky meat.
Roast or char the Hatch chiles and seal them in a bowl with a lid or plastic wrap for 20 minutes. Once cool, peel the skins, remove the stems, veins and seeds. Slice into 2 to 3-inch strips (the same width as the slices of bacon you are using). Soak the strips in the lime juice and apple cider. Pickle them no less than one hour.
Roast the Garlic
Meanwhile, Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice the top of the garlic heads, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, cut-side up. Roast for about one hour. Check for doneness, the garlic cloves should be a light caramel color and soft; about 30 to 40 minutes. Exact roasting time will vary depending on the size of the garlic heads. Keep roasting for ten-minute intervals until done.
Remove from the oven and allow the garlic heads to cool enough to handle. Squeeze out the cloves by pressing up from the root end, left intact. Squeeze out the individual cloves out of each head. They are soft mush and ready to use, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt to taste, to form a paste.
Build the dove poppers:
Lay a strip of bacon on a clean work surface (I love using a large sheet freezer paper for easy clean up). On top of the bacon slice, add a strip of the hatch chili. Dab on some of the garlic paste and spread across the chili. Add as many jalapeno slices as you wish. Top the chiles with a dove breast, then roll up tightly and secure with a toothpick. Repeat for each breast.
Grill the Dove Poppers
Fire up the grill and set up for a two-zone fire. Grill the dove poppers over indirect heat. The trick is not to get the bacon done before the dove breast. Turn the dove poppers often. They are done with the bacon is brown and crispy; about 30 to 45 minutes.
Serve hot!
Notes
We found that using a grilling tray helped to keep them contained while grilling.Learn more about roasting and charing chiles HERE. The same process was done in the example with a poblano chili.Recipe adapted from Honest-Food.Net
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