Lunch with Mister Quail,

“Are you ready Sam?”, “I thought you said half past?!”, “No Sam, I said quarter past!”, “ARGH, SORRY! Give me 5 minutes”. So 4¼ minutes later, my nearly forgotten hair bands and the whereabouts of my missing pig (don’t ask) found, we were on our way to getting well a truly lost en-route to meet the Quails, Tim and Clare.

Our second call to Tim for help and we were told it was right at The Bell, then left down another lane which wasn’t the right way.  An expert poultry farmer he may be, but a Sat Nav he is not! A wave for help from Karen got us a lovely smile and wave back, but unfortunately for us, this farmer and his quad bike did not stop! Third call for help to Tim...“I’ll send out the father in law. Turn right at the top the road and then wait in the lay-by”. Five minutes later a chap asks “Are you the chef then? Follow me.” with real west county twang.  So finally we make it to the Lower End Farm.

“Tim’s down the Shed”...now shed doesn’t really do it justice! It’s £75,000 worth of shed! And its full of happy, egg-laying chickens, complete with wind turbine, solar panels, food, light and lay times, all pre set and controlled by the man in the know, Tim. These really are happy and confident chickens, each looking absolutely beautiful.  But I’m here to see the quails Tim!

On to the new bit of the setup, Sunny Side Organics. Just born, the quails are tiny, about the size of our thumb, and really quite sweet if you like that sort of thing...but I don’t! So where are the ones we’ll have on the menu next week?! A short walk away and I’m introduced, talk about noisy! But again, confident and healthy looking little birds.

Now you can’t really keep them outside as they are on everything’s menu including the very friendly farm dog! He has spent his whole life being tormented by chickens, and after finally having something he can boss around, they’re looked away from him! Life’s hard for jack russells!

So what Tim has done is; Take a 20ft by 15ft pen and turf half of it (which is replaced monthly) then there’s a little step and a gritted area with raised feed pots and the water pot, which were suspend off the ground, but the quails didn’t like it so they now rest in the grit. The pen is amazingly clean with plenty of free space, enough that the four of us could happily pose for a photo after lunch. Aah lunch, the reason I was there.

So Tim had approached Clare Hargreaves, a food journalist, and she agreed to write a piece for The Independent on why people should eat quail. This is where I come in. I’ve known about Tim’s quail plans for a good three months, so wanted to help out, and they loved the idea, so invited me to cook lunch. 

I had six very fresh birds to use, they could maybe have done with a few more days in the fridge, but never the less they were lovely.  Under the watchful eye of Tim’s Mother in law, I set about preparing them - wishbone out, legs off and carcass cut for sauce; a simple jus roti. I then caramelised the crown, set them aside to rest and cooked the legs separately, ensuring they were well-done. To the same pan I added button onions and some little carrots, and once cooked I added some wild mushrooms and braised lentils. This cheeky mix became one with my jus roti and was finished with some black kale, chives and tarragon. Quick taste, S&P sorted, the breast of the crowns whipped, and the dish assembled and there you have it...wild mushroom and puy lentil ragout, with one of Tim’s quails perfectly roasted, magic! Plus, I only used 2 pans - that’s a record!

A couple of pics and a pre-order of 24 birds for next Friday, and I was on my way back to the hotel, kindly this time with Clare, thankful she knew the way! Favourite restaurants was the conversation for the journey. On our return, a quick tour of the the Priory for Clare and my day out was complete. So the remaining question, what to do with those quails next week?!

Sunny Side Organics and Tim Mister Quail can be reached on misterquail@hotmail.co.uk