Llama on the Half Shell

I picked up a venison ham the other day. I got it from my brother in law, who seems to have gotten it off the back of a truck somewhere. It had been treated none to gently, and the steaks I had gotten with it were too gamey to be trusted to anything less then medium well, which is a crime unto itself. So I figured I'd smoke the ham.

I cured it in a sugar brine and, in celebration of the season, I added a package of cranberries. Loaded the hotbox of the Grillmaster 5000 with hickory chips, smoked it at 200 degrees for about two and a half hours, and then finished it up, covered, in a 325 degree oven.

Mmmmmmm... Smoky Goodness.

Today, however, I discovered the motherload: Exoticmeats.com. Sure, we have all enjoyed the occasional buffalo burger, or sampled ostrich while on honeymoon in Aruba, but when is the last time you grilled up a 2" yak steak, or had Outback Jambalaya with kangaroo and alligator? Not recently enough, that's for damn sure.

Some of the meats are a little pricey; rattlesnake goes for $39.95 a pound, and a 5 lb. rack of elk will set you back $126.15. Others are pretty reasonable, however, and where else are you going to find wild boar bacon or llama top sirloin? They require a $95 minimum order, so it's not something I'm going to be doing just because I've got a taste for reindeer steak. Understandably, considering dry ice, refrigeration, and specialty insulation packs, shipping is a bit pricey, too. The shipping for my wish-list order of 5 lbs of boar bacon, jerky snack pack, whole pheasant, and kangaroo sausage came to $67.50, bringing my total up to $173.87. The wish-list of exotic meat is going to have to wait, I suppose. At least until next paycheck. For now, anyway, I'll just have to substitute regular pork for my Wild Boar Korean Meatballs.

Until then... Smoked venison anyone?