WE HAVE had a lot of things happening this week:

Shrove Tuesday for making pan- cakes; Ash Wednesday for fasting and abstinence; and the beginning of Lent, clashing with the patron saint of Wales, St David, thereby putting the Welsh in a bit of a quandary, but they can always fall back on the leek. Patron saint of Poland, St Casimir, the peacemaker, has his feastday on Saturday 4 March, then later in the month we have St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, not to mention my favourite, St Joseph, on the 19th, who I reckon is the patron saint of everything including a happy death and a happy home. What an embarrassment of riches. William Carlton of hotel fame was also born on 4 March, in 1794. He is remembered for Boeuf Tourne- dos de Carlton, which were grilled fillets of beef with a small poached egg on top, coat- ed with Bearnaise sauce and garnished with a julienne of truffle, tongue and mush- rooms. Sounds all right to me. To combine St David with Lent and pla- cate all parties, try this old dish from a brand new Taste of Wales by Gilli Davies.

Glamorgan sausages (makes 12) 5 oz fresh breadcrumbs

1 small leek, very finely chopped 3 oz Caerphilly cheese, grated 1 tablespoon chopped parsley salt and freshly ground black pepper a good pinch of dry mustard 3 eggs, 1 of them separated milk for binding plain flour extra fresh breadcrumbs for coating olive oil for frying

Mix together the breadcrumbs, leek, cheese, parsley, seasonings and mustard. Beat together two eggs and one yolk, and use this to bind the ingredients, adding a little milk if the mixture is too dry to hold together. Divide into 12 portions. Roll into sausage shapes, then roll them in flour. Beat the remaining egg white until frothy, brush this over the sausages, then coat them with the extra breadcrumbs. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Fry gently in oil (or bacon fat on ordinary days) until crisp and golden brown on all sides. Serve immediately with a sweet fruit chutney. Using the leek again, this makes a most luxurious fish dish to grace any table.

Trout cooked in leeks

4 good-sized fresh trout, gutted and cleaned 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley salt and freshly ground black pepper 8 large but tender leek leaves 8 rashers of streaky bacon, de-rinded 8 lemon wedges and some parsley sprigs

It is quite handy to have the backbone removed for this receipt. It is not a difficult task, ask your fishmonger to oblige. Alter- natively open up the fish, skin side facing you, and press your fingers firmly along the backbone; this will encourage it to break away from the flesh. Now turn it over and with a sharp knife cut the backbone through at the head end and the tail end, then tease it away from the flesh, taking care to remove all the bones. Sprinkle some parsley, salt and pepper into the cavity of each fish. Wash the leek leaves and wrap two round each trout. Do the same with the bacon (no washing). Secure with a tooth-pick if necessary. Place the fish close together in a gratin dish and bake in a preheated oven at Gas 4, 350F, 180C, for 20 minutes when the bacon should be crisp and the trout cooked. Serve with lemon wedges and a few sprigs of parsley for colour.

I can't manage the Poles but I am sure they have their own delicacies, so let us leap forward to St Patrick for this Gaelic treat, handed down through an Irish family.

Irish Coffee Pudding

4 eggs 4 oz caster sugar, or less if preferred

1/2 pint very strong cold coffee (espresso)

3 tablespoons Irish whiskey

scant 1/2 oz gelatine 1/2 pint double or whipping cream

extra whipped cream and chopped walnuts

Separate the eggs. Put the yolks and half the sugar into a bowl. Whisk until quite smooth, then add three-quarters of the cof- fee. Stand the bowl over a saucepan of hot but not boiling water and stir briskly until you achieve a thickened custard which will coat the back of the spoon. Mix in the whiskey. Sprinkle the gelatine into the rest of the coffee and let it stand for 5 minutes, then dissolve it over hot water. Blend with the cof- fee custard and leave to cool and stiffen slightly. Whip the cream into peaks. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold in the remaining sugar. Fold the cream and then the egg whites into the jellied mixture and spoon the lot into a lovely dish or six sepa- rate ones. Chill and set, top with cream and walnuts. Yum.

Jennifer Paterson