The Country Housewife, Richard Bradley and Crisp Fried Quail

While noodling around on the Thomas Gloning antique cookbook site looking for a recipe,  I discovered Richard Bradley and his book, The Country Housewife and Lady´s Director (1728 -32).  It had many invaluable tips on food, housekeeping, health and gardening –– I loved it.

A Gentleman of the 1720’s – there is no image of Bradley I could find

But once I started reading about Bradley, I couldn’t stop – such a fascinating man. My first stop was a piece on a wonderful site called British Food in America. It began as an article about Bradley’s unorthodox red bean ketchup but flowered into a lengthy tale about Mr. Bradley. The author must have been caught unawares as I was and just had to do more than the required cursory mention of the recipe’s author. After reading the article, I too wanted more. I read contemporary letters, articles and academic papers about him and was intrigued. The recipes are a blast too.

From the History of the Royal Society w. Francis Bacon and King Charles, 1660

What sets him apart from the cookbook authors of the day is that he wasn’t a cook at all. No, he was a botanist! In the first years of the 18th century, botany was a favorite hobby of the upper classes with money enough for the education, travel and experimentation necessary to indulge their botanical pursuits. Poor Mr. Bradley was not rich but he was an inspired observer. He couldn’t afford a university education and found himself rather unfairly pilloried –– his fine accomplishments mocked by his lofty peers who thought it gauche that he had to make a living. It was thought a man without a proper education couldn’t best one that did – period. The Sloane Letters quoted the Royal Society about Bradley, complaining that, “… his ignorance of Latin and Greek and his failure to perform his duties caused great scandal”

Fortunately, Bradley had a few esteemed patrons who admired his natural gifts and gave him helping hands that went so far as to arrange his acceptance into the Royal Society at 24 (extremely rare for an uneducated man). Men like collector James Petiver helped him to travel to the Netherlands with an introduction to a pioneer in the field of microbiology, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek  (a trip Bradley helped pay for by drawing bugs and pretending to be a physician), and the royal physician and owner of the vast collection that began the British Museum, Hans Sloane. Sloane got him a prestigious if unpaid posting to Cambridge University as the first professor of botany at the age of 36. Poor Bradley had to publish or perish and was, at the best of times, just a short scratch ahead of penury (he was forever borrowing money from his patrons and publishers - one of his letters began, “Since the Unfortunate Affair in Kensington whereby I lost all my Substance, My Expectations and my friends”).

Frontispiece for his book New Improvements of Planting and Gardening, Both Philosophical and Practical

Publish he did, and Bradley came up with some fine work – most especially the theory that tiny “microscopic agents” transmitted disease in man, beast and plant. In 1721, Bradley wrote, “we may learn, that all Pestilential Distempers, whether in animals or plants, are occasion’d by poisonous insects.” It was revolutionary to postulate that the afflictions of all living things in the natural world were caused by microbes. The author of the British Food in America piece concluded, “In the estimation of the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, “he was an enterprising, open-minded naturalist who succeeded in disseminating his many and diverse thoughts on how plants and animals live and interact.”

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It’s sad that John Martyn, a distinctly Salieri-like successor to Bradley's Botany chair at Cambridge, successfully destroyed Bradley’s reputation (this information comes from Raymond Williamson’s, “John Martyn’) The slander was published in the infamous Grub-Street Journal - written mostly by hack writers of low character – like Martyn). Less talented but full of envy and vitriol, John Martyn penned numerous scurrilous tracts for the "Grub Street Journal" and took every opportunity to condemn Bradley’s work. Martyn accused Bradley of not teaching his classes, being too modern and not respecting the classics and especially not getting a botanic garden planted at Cambridge – making it hard for Martyn to teach botany properly. No mind that Bradley died young (only teaching for 6 years), or that during that time, Bradley diligently but unsuccessfully tried to secure private funds when the money for the garden he had been promised by Cambridge was not forthcoming. Martyn had money and taught for 29 years and didn’t get a garden built either – it was still all Bradley’s fault as far as he was concerned!

Illustration of Bradley’s Kaleidoscope at work 

Bradley accomplished much in his short life.  He was an inventor  (he came up with a simple kaleidoscope that was like a book that could be placed on a drawing and create marvelous designs – perfect for the baroque garden),  he founded the first British horticultural periodical,  "The General Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening" (1721-23), he was a pioneering epidemiologist and was one of  the earliest subscribers to the concept of connectedness of nature, revealing “ all Bodies have some Dependence upon one another; and that every distinct Part of Nature’s Works is necessary for the support of the Rest; and that if any one was wanting, all the Rest must be out of Order.” For instance, he realized birds were friends to farmers, not pests as they ate the insects that ate the crops. He realized that that cover crops like clover can restore soil fertility.  He thought about managing forests and believed in the concept of ecological diversity before there was a name for it. His way of thinking paved the way for the field of ecology.

Country Housewife Frontispiece 

This holistic approach came across in The Country Housewife. Part I is devoted to seasonal foods and recipes but also had observations on farming and animals –– the book was addressed to the women of the house: 

"The Reason which induces me to address the falling Piece to the Fair Sex, is, because the principal Matters contained in it are within the Liberty of the Province, The Art of Oeconomy is divided as Xenophon tells us, between the Men and the Women; the Men have the most dangerous and laborious Share of it in the Fields, and without doors, and the Women have the Care and Management of every Business within doors, and to see after the good ordering of whatever is belonging to the house."

Part II had more new reader’s suggestions for more recipes. He gives advice on planting and even bees but his recipes for “flesh, fish, fowl, fruit and Herbs, which are the Productions of a Farm, or from any Foreign Parts” are quite something. He also explains “the other Reason which as induced me to publish this Piece is, the Difficulties I have undergone in my Travels, when I have met with good provisions, in many Places in England, which have been murder’d in the dressing”. He hoped that it would “improve the Ignorant, and remind the Learned how and when to make the best of every thing: which may be a means of providing every one with a tolerable Entertainment founded upon practice and Fashion; which can never fail of Followers, and of making us fare much better upon the Roads in the Country than we were used to do.” See, he was also quite modern in his belief that you should not adulterate a quality ingredient and that foods had optimal seasons that varied from place to place.

The book begins with January and a treatise on the physical characteristics of all varieties of pigeons from Barbary to Carrier to Turbit and concludes with some fine recipes for the little birds. February is about the fowl and bird eggs and what to do with them but then gives soup recipes and even one for orange wine.  March is fish but also includes a long piece on brewing. You get the idea. Bradley was a polymath with varied interests that he felt would instruct and inform a susceptible lady of the house (and the man of the house as well). The book is 428 pages long and I recommend it for things like marigold or sage cheese, gooseberry wine, Usquebaugh, spirit of lily of the valley, beet-green tart and dozens of recipes for game birds.

Although I don’t have a pigeon today, I do have D’Artagnan’s French Quails and I wanted to make one of Bradley's many bird recipes –– one stuck out particularly. 

After poaching in aromatic stock, the bird is breaded and fried -- it's a great dish. The meat is tender and juicy and so flavorful and that poaching stock is just heaven. Do yourself a favor and look through his book -- you will be surprised by how many fine recipes reside there. For you gardeners, his other books are available online and are interesting reading. 

Another Way of Dressing Quail, serves 2

2  French quail
1 piece bacon, chopped
a sprig of parsley
a sprig of basil
3 sprigs marjoram
a few slices of onion about the size of your thumb
4 cloves
S&P
4 c stock (I saved up my game bird carcasses and made a small batch of stock -- it is superb)
1 T verjuice or 1 t of vinegar or more to taste – it’s just a suggestion not sour.
Egg, beaten
Bread crumbs (about 1 c)
Lard or duck fat  (you can deep-fry if you have enough fat, otherwise, a 6 tablespoons should do it.
Parsley for frying

Take the quail, stuff them with the bacon and herbs and the onion stuck with cloves and salt and pepper the bird inside and out Truss the legs to keep them together. Add the verjuice to the stock and heat to a low boil. Put the quail in and cover. Cook at a medium low heat for about 20 minutes covered (internal temperature around 150º or so.

Remove when done and allow to cool somewhat. Strain the stock and while the birds fry, reduce it somewhat to use for dipping – it is excellent. Heat the oil till hot – around 350º. Roll in the birds in the egg and then bread crumbs (I would roll in flour first, then egg then crumbs to make it adhere better). 

 Place the birds in the fat. Cook, turning till brown (if deep-frying, make sure the top is covered or turn in the fat. Remove from the fat and drain on paper towels. Serve the birds with fried parsley and the reserved and reduced cooking stock for dipping.

Lady Clark's Cookbook, Game Custards and Indian Tarts

Tillipronie House (probably early 20th c photo)

How many of you are recipe addicts? Join the club. For me, it started innocently enough, just clipping out a few recipes here and there from magazines. Next came cookbooks –– one here, one there, a gift or two. The next thing I knew I had giant bookcases filled with cookbooks and later more cases, positively crammed with books about food and cooking and history. I began transferring favorite recipes to notebooks, written in longhand so I could take them with me when I did dinners with friends. I asked for recipes at dinner parties, made notes about interesting combinations at restaurants all over the world and then tried to make the dishes at home. I’ve now been doing this most of my life – I still collect recipes. Once you start it’s hard to stop. Now I can collect digitally and not take up any more shelf space (unless it is absolutely necessary to buy an out-of-print delight).

The cover color was chosen to match the fall leaves of a favorite tree outside Tillypronie

One of the great English cookbooks you’ve probably never heard of comes from a kindred magpie spirit – a fellow collector of recipes. Elizabeth David thought The Cookery Book of Lady Clark of Tillypronie (available HERE) was divine and Virginia Wolfe reviewed it warmly when it debuted in 1909 (“Independently of the knowledge they convey, cookery books such as [Lady Clark’s] are delightful to read... A charming directness stamps them, with their imperative 'Take an uncooked fowl and split its skin from end to end' and their massive commonsense which stares frivolity out of countenance"”). Lady Clark collected her treasures between 1841 and her death in 1897. I can’ t help but think I would have liked her.

1840 London

Lady Clark, née Charlotte Coltman, was born in 1824 although the date of her birth is incorrectly given as 1851 in most internet sources. 1851 was in fact the date of her marriage to John Clark. It was an auspicious time to be born in just the right family for an English woman who loved food and collected recipes with a passion.

Paris, 1846

Her husband explained, “How she originally came to be so interested in them was that her father, Mr. Justice Coltman, had been in early life intimately acquainted with some of the leading émigrés of the First –– great –– French Revolution, and acquired from living a good deal with them, a considerable knowledge and appreciation of the French cuisine, them as now, –– even perhaps more than now –– so superior to our own…”

Paris 1843 (Fox Talbot)

Much traveling to the Continent with her parents awakened her interest in European cuisine and her marriage in 1851 to Sir John Clark further increased the breadth of her knowledge and experience with fine food (he was in the diplomatic service in Paris, Brussels and Turin). Her husband also credited two of their talented cooks (one French and the other Italian) for generously sharing their recipes to further expand his wife’s culinary horizons -- “when any dish interested her…” she would “cross-examine the artist the next day, who, perceiving the intelligent appreciation she evinced in this art, rarely failed to give her the best of his knowledge and experience. In the forty years of our subsequent home life in London, Birk Hall, Bagshot Park and here, she pursued, when opportunity offered, the same system; and what constitutes the value of these recipes is that by far the greater number of them were taken down directly from the lips of the artists themselves under her own acute cross-examination.”

Palais Royale, 1839

Her nephew said, “She remembered every book she ever read and every person she ever met” and her husband recalled “…her mastery of her two departments, housekeeping and the library –– the latter of which was always kept abreast of the time with the newest foreign as well as English books; her brilliant and lively wit; the truth and power of her friendship; her entertaining letters and throughout her exceptionally quiet and undemonstrative life even her best friends did not know the whole of her, nor the half.” After reading this, my regret about the book was that it didn't share the letters or journals of this extraordinary woman who was, it seems, loved and respected by all. I would have liked to know more about her.

None of her delightful work would have ever come to light had it not been for her loving husband who just couldn’t let all her recipes, and the memories of a lifetime together enjoying them, dissolve into the mist. After her death, Sir John asked a writer named Catharine Frances Frere to be Charlotte’s amanuensis and wrangle 16 books covering 50 years and nearly 3000 pages into a manageable form:

Fox-Talbot Paris 1843

“ I have asked you to stand sponsor for the publication of a selection from a number of cookery and household recipes, collected by my late wife – this for two reasons, firstly because I know you to be yourself not a little interested and versed in the science of Brillat-Savarin and secondly, and mainly, because, from your intimate acquaintance with her for many years you can bear testimony to her having been, not the mere "housewife" on culinary things intent, but an exceptionally widely-read woman, gifted with fine literary taste and judgment, a singularly retentive and accurate memory, and great conversational powers, never degraded to mere culinary talk – which she particularly disliked! In fact, a cultivated and accomplished woman with many other and larger interests than such as are indicated by the collection of these recipes.... In this confidence, and in the hope and belief that they may prove of service to many a young matron of like mind with her who made it, I confide the collection to you for your supervision and for publication."

Yours sincerely,

John F. Clark.”

It was no small task. Frere writes of the manuscripts she was handed that, “some of the pages [were] not only written over every available margin, but often crossed like a shepherd’s plaid – added to which were recipes written on loose sheets pinned in, or on the backs of envelopes or of paid bills, or apparently on any half sheets of paper snatched up as the opportunity occurred to get a valuable hint recorded; all bearing witness to the interest and care with which Lady Clark had studied this branch of her responsibilities as hostess.” She continued, “Their practical pages are interspersed with anecdotes, with quaint little rhymes; here is one with reference to local names:

“Tillyorne grows the corn, Westercorse the straw
Meadow Lea the blewits blue, Cald Hame naething ava!”

Frere chose an extract from Voltaire copied into Lady Clark’s manuscript recipe books for the opening of the cookbook:

“Madame, songez à la santé surtout, c'est là ce qu'il faut vous souhaiter -- la beauté, la grandeur, l'espirit, le don de plaire, tout est perdu quand on digère mal, c'est l'estomac qui fait les heureux.”

translated:

“Madame, think of health, above all, that is what you must wish for - beauty, grandeur, hope, the gift of pleasing, everything is lost when you digest badly, it is the stomach which makes happiness.”

Tillypronie today, for sale for £10 million.

The word Tillypronie comes from the name of their estate. It means 'top of the hill', and the house looks out across the Vale of Cromar to the Grampian Mountains. Romantic, isn’t it? Also, from all accounts, it was as cold as cold could be even with its barrier of trees to break the wind gusts that assailed its stony walls in the winter –– not the most felicitous environment for an elderly couple.

Although there had been a house there for centuries, the Clark’s house was built in 1867. John’s father, James, was a physician to Queen Victoria and the Queen laid the foundation stone for the house and was a frequent guest (with Mr. Brown).

Tillypronie was famous for its hospitality. Aside from the Queen, the American author, Henry James, came for a visit and fell in love in 1879 when he first visited Tillypronie, “The supremely comfortable house lying deep among the brown and purple moors.”... “The great thing is the color... & the wonderful velvety bloom of the hills, which are powdered over with all kinds of broken & filtered lights.” Of the couple that hosted him he said they “could not be a more tenderly hospitable couple. Sir John caresses me like a brother, and her ladyship supervises me like a mother.” He continued, at the Clarks’, “you get the conveniences of Mayfair dove-tailed into the last romanticism of nature.”

The couple hosted many dinners with menus that read like popular minimalist fare today:

The recipes come from cooks like their own Taton and Cataldi, neighbors like the Emslie sisters, and nobility like the Prince de Polignac and the Duc de Coigny, Doctors Wolff and Liebig, Florence Nightingale’s father and Mrs. Adams of the USA and many of England’s titled class. The names of the dishes can be amusing too. Ritualistic Haddock, Mismash, Wet Devil, Boiled Angels, Grandpapa’s Snuff and Feather Fowlie.

The recipes are organized on nearly 600 pages with dishes listed alphabetically after the chapter headings. The range is quite spectacular.

“So great is the variety of locality from which the recipes were drawn, that Lady Clark may be said to have focused much of the best cookery of Europe in her collection, for the recipes came from France, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Holland, Austria, as well ask England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, with some Turkish and Indian dishes thrown in, which give an Oriental flavor.” There were nearly eighteen hundred recipes in the book -- half of the whole of the collection.”

I was fascinated by the multiple recipes for yeast in the book. They would mostly have been made with hops and flour and jumpstarted with brewer’s yeast and then bottled. One that particularly caught my eye and was much lauded was “Ginger Yeast”

 

PS, they admonish when using hops, use the yellow old ones – fresh green hops are ‘incurably’ bitter. I simply must try this sometimes to see how it tastes and works.

What drew me to the book was its game section. I figured any great Scottish kitchen would be full of game recipes. I was not disappointed. One of the dishes I’ve been wanting to make for years was a game soufflé or custard. It sounds so bizarre I figured it just might be wonderful. While I was at it, I couldn’t resist the little Indian Tartlets. I had some pastry rounds in the freezer and I thought this would be a great appetizer for the holidays.

Game custards are a bit like turning wonderful gravy into a custard.  I think it would be excellent with a simple roast bird and potatoes.  It is intensely flavorful and quite good.

Game Custards, makes 6

6 egg Yolks

6 T of cream

2 c strong stock (I took my game stock and reduced a quart to a few cups)

S&P to taste

pinch of nutmeg

fresh bay or herb for garnish

Blend the yolks and cream then add the stock and the flavoring to taste.  Put through a sieve.  Put into small, heatproof custard cups or cocottes if you have them.  I put a round rack in a large pot and poured a few inches of water in it to come just over the rack.  Then I put in the pots and added more  hot water to come just about 1/3 way up the custard cups.  Bring to a low boil. Cook for about 10 -15 minutes.  You can check to see if they are done by sticking a knife in and seeing how they look. To keep the moisture out you might want to put a bit of parchment over the top -- I didn't but gently took a piece of paper towel and wicked up the bit of water on the top when cooking was done.

Serve hot.

Game soufflé is an interesting idea for big dinner leftovers. Perfect for a Sunday supper after a fancy Saturday dinner party.  It reminds me of a savory frittata -- the mushrooms are perfect with it.

Game Soufflé, makes 4 small or 2 large

1 oz. D'Artagnan black truffle butter

2 t flour

1 c rich stock

S&P to taste

nutmeg

pinch cayenne

1 T cream

1/4 lb minced, cooked game bird (like D'Artagnan's wonderful French Quail) or chicken (the recipe called for 1/2 lb but I thought that was too much)

yolks of 2 eggs

whites of 3 eggs, whipped to good peaks.

8 mushrooms, sliced

2 T D'Artagnan Black truffle butter

1 T madeira

2 splashes Worcestershire sauce

S&P

Melt the butter and add the flour.  Cook for a few moments, stirring.  Add the stock slowly and then cook for about 15 minutes -- it will thicken and reduce.  Stir so it doesn't stick.  Remove from heat and cool. 

Heat the oven to 400º. 

When it is cool,  Add the meat and the egg yolks and combine well.  Add a good spoon of the beaten egg whites and mix thoroughly.  Then add the rest of the whites, folding them in gently.

Butter 2-1 c molds or 4-1/2 c molds ( used the truffle butter for this too.)

Gently pour the mixture into the molds.  Place on a tray and put into the oven.  Immediately turn the oven down to 375º.  Cook for 15-20 minutes.  Keep an eye on them.  Remove when puffed and golden and serve immediately.Serve with the mushrooms scattered on top.

If you are doing this for a dinner party, you can have everything ready to go but the egg whites and put them together in a flash.

This recipe is perfect for leftovers too.  It can be made just for a single serving or scaled up for a dinner party.  It is a brilliant and eccentric combination that shouldn't work (mango and parmesan?) but it does.  

Indian Tartlets, makes 4-6

1 cooked, diced chicken breast or 2 D'Artagnan French Quail breasts

1 slice ham, diced

chopped truffle (optional - D'Artagnan has them if you would like to be extravagant)

1 T chutney

1/4 mango

2T Parmesan cheese, grated

S&P to taste

pinch cayenne

pinch curry

3 -4 T velouté *

4-6 pastry rounds or tartlet cases

Combine the fowl, ham, truffle, chutney, mango and Parmesan cheese.  Add the velouté.

Put the pastry on a baking sheet and put dollops of the mixture on top. You can add a bit more parmesan on top if you would like.  Then broil for a few minutes until hot and bubbling.  Serve hot or warm.

* to make the velouté, put 2 t truffle butter and 2 t flour in a sauce pan.  stir till blended and bubbling. add 1/3 c stock slowly -- stirring all the while.  Remove from heat when thick.  Taste for seasoning.

**Tis the season to give… to  WIKIPEDIA!!  It’s a great service that most everyone uses and it is done out of the goodness of many hearts.  Fill their holiday coffers, won’t you??

Donate a few bucks to keep them going.  

Thanks!

Quail, Lavender & Longleat House

Longleat House, 1675, by Jan Siberechts 1627-1703)

A highlight of the England trip was a visit to one of the premier examples of Elizabethan architecture in Britain. Designed by Robert Smythson it took 12 years to build and was mostly completed by 1580 for Sir John Thynn (1515-1580). He was also the builder of the house and the ancestor of the current owner of the house, Alexander Thynn, 7^th Marquess of Bath (1932-). John Thynn began life as a clerk in the kitchen of Henry VIII and quickly accrued great wealth and power (and 2 turns in the Tower for sketchy financing). He bought the property for £53 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536-39.

Photography is not allowed in the house but from their literature …

Red Library (one of 7 in the house with 40,000 books dispersed among them!)

Great hall

State Dining Room

and Saloon (28 meters long)

are really something to see. It is vast and positively oozing history from every artwork and stick of furniture in a style that is hard to grasp these days.

Have you ever seen Bill Gate’s house?? It is devoid of any level of art or craftsmanship and aside from an ridiculous level of technology, just a largish place. What fun is being one of the wealthiest men in the world if that’s the best you can do with your money? Do you think it will be around in 500 years?

Not so at Longleat. You can see where the money went. However, the insanely rich interior with nearly 500 years layering in most of the public part of the house contrasts mightily with the current Lord Bath’s rather mad murals.

Daytime Mural

Disco Room

Lord Bath is something of an eccentric in the classic English sense. Known for his “polyamorous lifestyle with “wifelets” according to Wikipedia (this part was not in the Longleat literature—surprise!), he is a tireless decorator/artist of his enormous family house and a separate tour of his work can be seen when visiting the house. It takes up a special wing of Longleat.

There are also 900 acres of park designed by Capability Brown and 8,000 acres of woods and farmland. It is unfathomably enormous. There is even a Safari Park!!!

Lord Bath (in his signature colorful vest) with 75 year-old Amos the Tortoise

And the gardens… the gardens are beautifully maintained and luxuriant in July.

Orangerie

Hedge Maze made of 16,000 yew trees that takes up 1.48 acres (commissioned in 1976)

Longleat Garden

Have I mentioned that England is perfumed with lavender at this time of year? It is everywhere from the humblest cottage garden to the grandest house. I would say it perfumed my visit and I will never be able to smell lavender without remembering this time here (I had never been to England in the middle of summer before). Longleat was rich with lavender in its acres of gardens.

In honor of my scented memories, I wanted to share a recipe for Quail with Lavender that my friend and astonishing opera singer Robert Osborne shared with me a few years back ( I added the smoking element -- his recipe was simply grilled). I was an absolute coward about cooking quail. For any of you who have put this off out of fear that they are difficult to work with... let me assure you, not so!!! Just the opposite! After I made it I could kick myself for waiting so long. I am grateful the inspiration of English Lavender pushed me to do it because the combination of rosé and lavender is sensational with quail (or any poultry, I suspect).

You may wonder, where to get quail? Not to worry, the wonderful people at D’Artagnan have the loveliest little birds around and can send them anywhere for you. As I’ve mentioned before, I am lucky enough to have them as neighbors. Their quail is the most flavorful, the Coturnix breed. They are free-range and raised without antibiotics or hormones yielding a rich, flavorful meat. You can have them delivered easily by going HERE Honestly, for something so special they are very inexpensive.

Quail with Lavender Onions Serves 2 Main Course, 4 Appetizer

1 bottle rosé wine

2 T honey (preferably lavender otherwise any mild honey)

1 ½ T orange zest

1 large clove garlic, smashed

2 T olive oil

4 branches fresh lavender plus 1 t flowers

salt & pepper

4 butterflied quail

1 pound pearl or small onions

2 T butter

1 T red wine vinegar

*Smoke Mixture:

3 T jasmine tea

3 T jasmine flowers

2 tiny pine branches (8’’ size and not thicker than a toothpick) with a few sprigs of needles cut up quite small (altogether this should be 1 c worth, loosely packed)

2 T brown sugar

1. Reserve 1 cup wine. Place the rest of the wine in a saucepan, and simmer until wine is reduced to 1 ½ c. Add 1 T honey, 1 T orange zest, garlic, oil and lavender branches. Set aside until cool, then strain. Season with S & P

2. Place the wine mixture in a large bowl and add the quail and marinate 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, place the onions in a saucepan with water to cover. Simmer 3 minutes. Drain and cut off the root ends and peel.

4. Heat butter in medium skillet. Add onions, remaining honey and vinegar. Cook until onions start to brown. Add remaining wine and ½ T orange zest. Continue cooking until liquid is syrupy.

5. Line a wok with heavy foil and put the smoke mixture in it. Place quails on a rack that will fit inside the wok, put them in the wok then turn up the heat until the mixture is smoking and turn down the heat to low. Smoke for 15 to 20 minutes, turning them midway. They should only be warm to the touch. (** If you have a charcoal grill, the smoking and cooking can be done at once. Just place the smoke mixture in an aluminum toss-away container and moisten, then put on the cooler part of the grill with the lid closed till they smoke, put the birds on and cook the quails 3-5 minutes on each side until just cooked through).

6. If you are not grilling, heat the butter in a skillet (or 2) large enough to hold the birds. Pat them dry and cook till brown and lovely on the skin side and then flip them to finish cooking. This should take no more than 8 minutes
7. Remove the quails to a platter and tent. Add any pan juices to onions. Briefly re-heat onion mixture and correct seasonings. Stir in lavender flowers and serve with the quail.

Longleat House by Bluestone

Osterley Park

Petworth House

Ham House

Penshurst Place

Little Moreton Hall

Little Moreton Hall pt 2

Kedleston Hall

Calke Abbey

Knole House

Chastleton House

Chatsworth House

Lacock Abbey

Longleat House

Hampton Court