St David and St Patrick were celebrated on March 1 and 17 respectively. We all know about St Patrick’s Day, the patron saint of Ireland – those silly green hats, shamrocks and bars awash with Guinness should have given us a clue – but St David, the patron saint of Wales, is more of a mystery.

He died at the age of 100 in the 6th century and supposedly founded several churches during his lifetime. He then became an archbishop and was canonised in the 12th century, but how much of his life is legend or true is open to debate.

And how leeks became a symbol of Wales, along with the daffodil and red dragon, is also lost in the mists of time, although it is said that Welsh soldiers pinned leeks to their helmets so they could be easily identified in the carnage of medieval battle.

Leaving these two fellows aside, I’ve been searching for culinary saints, and there are quite a few. I’m sure most cooks know that St Honoré is the French patron saint of bakers and pastry cooks, if only by virtue of Gateau St Honoré, that glorious confection made with shortcrust pastry, choux pastry, vanilla pastry cream and caramel. But did you know that St Anthony the Abbot, who is often depicted with pigs, became the patron saint of bacon? Or that St Elizabeth of Hungary is associated with bread?

And so, too, is St Nicholas, but he’s a particularly busy chap because he’s also the patron saint of children, pawnbrokers and Greece!

Then there is poor old St Lawrence of Rome, the patron saint of chefs, who was roasted alive on a gridiron. He obviously liked his meat well done, as half way through the procedure, he apparently told his tormentors to turn him over as he was done on one side!

If you’ve been imbibing a little too freely, a quick prayer to St Bibiana might help as she deals with hangovers, and if things get really bad, you can always turn to St Monica, the patron saint of alcoholics.

All this useless information comes from a website I discovered that’s full of wonderful trivia, and I could go on ad infinitum, but I’ll end where I started and just give a few recipes from Ireland and Wales. And very good they are too!

Irish apple pie

(Serves 4)

50g sultanas
4 tbsps whisky (preferably Irish)
20g butter
5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered and cored
90g soft light brown sugar
Large pinch powdered cloves or cinnamon
350g plain flour
175g butter
2 tbsps caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
Whipped cream to serve

Put the sultanas into a small dish and pour over two tablespoons of whisky. Melt the 20g of butter in a large frying pan and, when it’s foaming, add the apples. Sprinkle with the soft brown sugar, the cloves or cinnamon and the rest of the whisky. Stir and turn the apples over high heat for about five minutes until they are starting to caramelise, then let them cool.

Sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the 175g of butter, then stir in one tablespoon of the caster sugar. Reserving a tablespoon of the eggs for glazing, add the rest to the bowl and mix to a dough, adding a tablespoon of iced water if necessary. Reserve a third of the dough for the lid and wrap it in clingfilm, then roll the rest out to line a 23-cm tart tin. Chill both the tart and reserved pastry in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Drain the sultanas, stir them into the apples, then spread the fruit into the tart. Roll out the rest of the pastry large enough to cover the tart.

Brush round the edges of the tart with the beaten egg, cover with the lid and flute the edges. Prick the top with a fork, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of caster sugar.

Bake for 45 minutes, laying a piece of foil gently on top if it starts to brown too quickly. Serve warm with whipped cream. Delicious!

Braised chicken legs with leeks

(Serves 4)

4 medium-sized leeks
20g butter
200ml chicken stock
4 chicken legs
Salt and pepper
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tbsp chopped parsley
4 tbsps crème fraîche or cream

Trim the leeks and using the white and pale green parts only, cut them into 6 or 7-cm lengths, then wash them well. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and fry the leeks over medium heat, turning until they are lightly browned. Transfer them to a casserole, pour over the chicken stock, cover with a lid and put them in the oven while you prepare the chicken.

Split the legs into drumsticks and thighs, remove the excess bone from the thighs (or ask your butcher to do it for you) and season with salt and pepper.

Working in batches, fry the chicken pieces until well browned all over, adding a little more butter if necessary, then add them to the casserole, together with the thyme.

Cover with foil and a lid, then return the casserole to the oven for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Discard the thyme, transfer the chicken and leeks to a serving dish and keep warm.

Pour the juices into a pan and add the parsley and crème fraîche. Bring to the boil, then simmer until slightly reduced.

Season to taste, pour the sauce over the chicken and serve. This really only needs some plain boiled potatoes to go with it.

Glamorgan sausages

(Serves 4)

My husband maintains that you cannot call a sausage a sausage unless it contains meat. Well, you can if it comes from Glamorgan! These Welsh vegetarian sausages are made with Caerphilly cheese, leeks and breadcrumbs and go well with all sorts of chutneys like mango, tomato or red onion. If you can’t find Caerphilly, use a mature Cheddar.

20g butter
150g finely chopped leek
150g fresh white breadcrumbs
150g grated Caerphilly or mature Cheddar cheese
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves or ½ tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper
2 large eggs
1½ tsp Dijon mustard
4 heaped tbsps dried breadcrumbs
3 tbsps sunflower oil

Melt the butter in a small pan and fry the leek gently until soft but not browned. In a bowl, mix together the fresh breadcrumbs, the cheese, parsley and thyme and season well with salt and pepper.

Separate the eggs, reserve the whites, and beat the yolks with the mustard, then stir the yolks into the breadcrumb/cheese mixture. Add the leeks and mix it all together well. It should be firm but not too dry, so if necessary, add a drop of milk.

Divide into eight and roll each piece into a sausage shape. Whisk the egg whites until frothy, then tip them on to a plate. Spread the dried breadcrumbs on to another plate, then roll the sausages first in the egg white and then in the breadcrumbs, then egg and crumb them all again.

Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the sausages over medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning frequently until golden brown.

These are nice served with some chutney and a salad, or with buttery potatoes and a green vegetable.

Irish stew

(Serves 4)

Originally, this one-pot meal would have been made with just neck of lamb, potatoes and water, but now lots of other things have found their way into it.

Salt and pepper
1 kg boned shoulder or leg of lamb, cut into 2-cm cubes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 sticks celery and 2 carrots, sliced
2 heaped tbsps pearl barley
1 tbsp each chopped parsley and celery leaves
Approx. 1 litre lamb or chicken stock
4 large potatoes, cut into chunks
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the meat in batches until it’s well-browned, then transfer it to a plate.

Add the onion, celery and carrots to the pan and fry gently until the onion starts to soften, then return the lamb to the pan.

Sprinkle over the pearl barley, stir in the parsley and celery leaves and season well with salt and pepper, then pour over enough stock to just cover the meat. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer gently for about an hour, or until the meat is tender when tested with a fork.

Stir in the potatoes and continue to cook until they are tender, then serve the stew in warm bowls and sprinkle with chopped mint.