ROMANIAN RED WINE DRIED VENISON LOIN
Venison loin is soaked in red wine with garlic, rosemary, bay, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt. It's then wrapped and hung until firm enough to slice thin.
Equipment
- cheese cloth (as needed)
- butchers twine (as needed)
Ingredients
- 1 lb venison loin, silver-skin removed
- 2 cups dry red wine, (or as needed)
- 23 grams kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 grams curing salt (instacure #2)
Instructions
- Trim the venison loin of all silver-skin and place in a deep container.
- In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients and stir until the salt has dissolved.
- Pour the mixture over the loin. Add more wine if needed to cover the meat entirely. Place a plate or another food safe non-porous item on top of the meat to keep it submerged. Cover the container with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 to 8 days as stated in the notes.
- Turn the loin over once per day during the marinating process.
- Remove the meat from the marinade and dry off with paper towels. Wrap the loin tightly with cheese cloth and secure each end with butchers twine. The tighter you can get the cheese cloth around the meat, the more uniform the shape will be after the hanging process.
- Hang in your refrigerator for 5 days with plenty of space around it to allow for air flow. If you have a cold basement that you don't have heat pumping into, you can hang it there as well. I would place a fan on low speed in front of it to ensure thorough drying. Placing a fan in your refrigerator will aid in drying as well.
- For serving, slice as thinly as possible. Store the meat in the refrigerator until needed.
NOTES
- Soak by loin size. A whitetail loin usually needs 3 to 5 days in the wine cure, while a larger elk loin can run closer to 8 days.
- Keep it fully submerged. Add more wine if needed, and use a plate or other weight so the loin stays under the curing liquid the whole time. Turn it once a day for a more even cure.
- Trim it down clean. Remove all silver skin before curing so it slices cleaner and dries more evenly.
- Wrap it tight to hang. After curing, dry it well, wrap it tightly in cheesecloth, and tie the ends securely. A tighter wrap gives you a more even final shape.
- Give it good airflow. Hang it in the refrigerator for 5 days with space around it, and use a fan on low if you can to help it dry more evenly.
- Slice it as thin as possible. Thin slices eat best and work well with mustard, toasted bread, goat cheese, nuts, figs, or blueberries. A little cracked black pepper and flaky sea salt on top help, too.
- Use it within a week. Keep it refrigerated and plan to eat it within about 1 week after it is finished.
Nutrition
Calories: 1091kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 138g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 358mg | Sodium: 11120mg | Potassium: 1849mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 161IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 19mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutrition is per serving.
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