Dove camp food.

This is quintessential camp food, especially on night #2. If you've convinced a few people-maybe even everyone-to pluck their doves, you can now throw all the shot-up ones into a slow cooker and yield a good deal of delicious, shreddy dove meat. 

This can now be crisped in a pan with some chorizo, the fattier the better. I'd tend towards a wild bar chorizo (traditional or "red"/rojo) over chorizo verde (The Hog Book, page 318), but not by a huge margin. This is similar to the Dove Discada, but much, much simpler. There's literally just two components to the protein portion of the recipe: chorizo and dove. Campechano means "mixed", and usually applies to similar mixed-meat tacos, often beef and chorizo or chorizo's amazing cousin, longanisa sausage.

The beans here are a bit of a cheat code, in that they're very delicious and absolutely loaded with creamy queso Oaxaca. It's a 2:1 ratio. Do try to get good Oaxaca cheese from a Mexican or Central American market, or a quality grocery store.

Traditional garnishes of cilantro and onion are great here, but I like the added acidity and complexity of some pico de gallo, or the hotter, jalapeño-free pico de pavo with turkey or chiltepin peppers (The Turkey Book, page 107). For the best pico, use small, sweet cherry tomatoes like Sweet 100s, Sungolds or Yellow Pears, or a mix of ripe tomatoes. Onions, garlic, dried oregano, fresh cilantro and lime juice are added to taste, with a few drops of olive oil.

Whether you serve these as tacos, tostadas or rolled into burritos, a fresh, lively and bright salsa is best, so veer towards green salsas over dried chile salsas for this rich preparation.

Serves 4

8 ounces Mexican chorizo or wild boar chorizo

1-2 tbsp lard or duck fat, if needed

2 cups cooked dove

salt and pepper

2 cups refried beans (preferably pureed until smooth)

1 cup queso Oaxaca, torn into shards

8 tostadas or freshly fried corn tortillas (or fresh corn tortillas if making tacos; large flour tortillas for burritos)

pico de pavo or pico de gallo

salsa verde or other preferred salsa

Mexican crema or sour cream 

Sliced avocados or guacamole

In a medium pan over medium heat, cook the chorizo until browned and the fat has rendered out. Move the chorizo to the edges of the pan and allow the fat to pool in the center. Add the shredded dove to the center of the pan and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom with a wooden spatula until the dove is crispy in parts. Stir everything together and continue to cook until there’s a lot of crisp bits. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

While the chorizo and dove are cooking, heat the refried beans over medium-low heat. Add the Oaxaca cheese and stir vigorously until melted and very creamy. Set aside and keep warm.

For tacos, simply fill toasted corn tortillas with the Campechana mixture and add some pico de gallo/pavo and salsa.

To assemble tostadas, spread each crisp tostada with the bean and cheese mixture, then top with the Campechana and pico de gallo/pavo. Serve with salsa, crema and avocado on the side. 

For a burrito, layer the beans and campechano mixture, topped with sliced avocado, crema and pico de gallo/pavo. Roll it up, tucking the ends in. I prefer to toast burritos on four sides in a thin layer of lard in a hot pan. Cut in half and serve with salsa.