By Colin Kearns

“Great googly, moogly.” That was the subject line of an email that Wild Chef blogger David Draper sent me last week. Inside the email was a link to another food blog, The Cage Free Tomato. And on the other side of that link was this gloriously cured venison leg.

Great googly, moogly, indeed.

Prosciutto is my favorite food. There’s always some in my fridge. Add it to a sandwich, wrap some around apple slices, eat it alone—the stuff makes everything better. While I don’t have any whole whitetail hindquarters available to try and replicate this recipe in all its Meat Week-worthy glory, I do have some big roasts in my freezer that might work. (Of course, I’m not sure how my wife will feel about a cheesecloth-wrapped cut of meat hanging inside our apartment.)

Dan, over at The Cage Free Tomato, was kind enough to share these photos with us. I hope they’re enough to inspire you to give the recipe a try, which you can find here. It doesn’t sound too complicated, just some salt and spices—and some patience. Dan let his deer leg cure for more than a month.

Here are the other posts from Meat Week, in case you missed any:
- How to Cook Whitetail Deer Ribs
- Rules for Grinding Wild Game (And Mom's Meatloaf Recipe)
- How to Smoke a Black Bear Ham
- Meat Week Holiday Party Food Fight

Comments (9)

from VAHunter540 wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

I tried the Duck Prosciutto recipe from sometime back but used a Grouse breast instead, it was melt in the mouth good. This brings it to a whole new level!
Will be giving this recipe a shot also.
Thanks!

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from Greenhead wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

This looks awesome. I can't wait to try it!

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from GuyGene wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

Yep, got to give this a try - first, have to kill me a deer.

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from GuyGene wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

Hold on a minute: I read the "recipe", and not sure I get it. Is this it?

1. cut leg off deer
2. rub salt on leg and store in fridge for a few days
3. take out of fridge, rub salt, rub in coriander, pepper, cedar tree seeds (forgot what they are called)
4. wrap in cheesecloth and hang in 45 degree place for a month or so - until it looks okay

Is that it? Don't to kill meself eating tainted meat.

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from jmrcexplorer wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

I'm usually up for anything, but I'm concerned that the bone was left in there. When curing hams that is usually an area of huge concern. I cure bacon longer than this. It can't be enough time to cure. I don't think that is prosciutto, but salted raw venison leg.

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from Gtbigsky wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

Its sounds great but I am a skeptical about how the fat affects the flavor. In my opinion venison fat is not very palatable.

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from CL3 wrote 26 weeks 2 days ago

Kind of makes me mad I didn't get a deer this year.

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from CL3 wrote 26 weeks 2 days ago

I'd also like to know if the fat tastes OK?

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from ejunk wrote 26 weeks 2 days ago

that thing is beautiful. though I probably would have used pink salt.

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from GuyGene wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

Hold on a minute: I read the "recipe", and not sure I get it. Is this it?

1. cut leg off deer
2. rub salt on leg and store in fridge for a few days
3. take out of fridge, rub salt, rub in coriander, pepper, cedar tree seeds (forgot what they are called)
4. wrap in cheesecloth and hang in 45 degree place for a month or so - until it looks okay

Is that it? Don't to kill meself eating tainted meat.

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from GuyGene wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

Yep, got to give this a try - first, have to kill me a deer.

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from VAHunter540 wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

I tried the Duck Prosciutto recipe from sometime back but used a Grouse breast instead, it was melt in the mouth good. This brings it to a whole new level!
Will be giving this recipe a shot also.
Thanks!

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from Greenhead wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

This looks awesome. I can't wait to try it!

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from jmrcexplorer wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

I'm usually up for anything, but I'm concerned that the bone was left in there. When curing hams that is usually an area of huge concern. I cure bacon longer than this. It can't be enough time to cure. I don't think that is prosciutto, but salted raw venison leg.

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from Gtbigsky wrote 26 weeks 3 days ago

Its sounds great but I am a skeptical about how the fat affects the flavor. In my opinion venison fat is not very palatable.

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from CL3 wrote 26 weeks 2 days ago

Kind of makes me mad I didn't get a deer this year.

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from CL3 wrote 26 weeks 2 days ago

I'd also like to know if the fat tastes OK?

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from ejunk wrote 26 weeks 2 days ago

that thing is beautiful. though I probably would have used pink salt.

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.