Currabinny Cooks: How to make the ultimate cheeseburger 

And other clever and delicious ways to use up all that lovely extra cheese we buy at this time of year

This delicious burger is all you need this weekend. 

It is common for us (and we are sure many others) during the festive period to stockpile a whole cheese monger's-worth of Parmesan, brie, goats’ cheeses, Comté, Cheddars, camembert, various farmhouse varieties, ricottas and mascarpone in the fridge over Christmas which even the most fervent cheese fiends would struggle to get through.

Although cheese generally lasts a long time, the hard ones at least, they do eventually succumb to mould and drying out until often they are thrown in the compost bin. We try our best to think of clever ways of using up all this cheese as best we can and if you are anything like us, the idea of spending December and January eating cheese is not such a terrible thing.

Ireland has come such a long way with cheese. There is evidence that cheesemaking was as sophisticated and varied as continental Europe in our long history of dairy production, right up until the later plantations by English and Scottish settlers which saw much of our land and traditions around food greatly diminished. By the 1950s, cheese mostly took the form of factory-made, highly processed cheddar style cheese. The arrival of mostly German and Dutch settlers in places such as West Cork, buying up old dairy farms and producing cheeses based on family recipes, was the catalyst for Ireland's great food revolution which continues to this day. The reclaiming of proper traditional farmhouse methods of making cheese in this country has resulted in a huge variety of amazing, quality, award-winning cheeses in every county in Ireland. Irish farmhouse cheeses are now winning awards in France, Italy, Spain and Germany.

The following recipes hopefully show the versatility and range of Irish Farmhouse cheeses and the wonderful things you can do with them. So if you do find yourself with a whole lot of gorgeous cheeses in your fridge over the Christmas period, you can look beyond the cheeseboard for ideas on how to use them.

Blue cheese winter salad

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Blue cheese crumbles perfectly and pairs wonderfully with bitter chicory leaves and sweet pears

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 10 mins

Course

 Starter

Ingredients

• 2 white chicory, leaves separated

• 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and finely sliced, herb set aside

• 2 firm conference pears, cored and sliced thinly

• 1 lemon

• 200g blue cheese

• 100g yoghurt

• 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

• 1 clove of garlic, crushed

• Pinch of sea salt

• Black pepper

Method

1. Make the dressing by whisking together the yoghurt, juice of half the lemon, mayonnaise, pinch of salt and pepper in a medium-sized mixing bowl until well combined. The dressing shouldn’t be too thick and you can thin it out with a little water if you need to.

2. Arrange the chicory leaves and the slices of fennel and pear in a larger mixing bowl and squeeze the lemon juice over them and sprinkle this with a small pinch of sea salt. Arrange the leaves, fennel and pear on a serving platter and crumble a generous amount of blue cheese all over. Finally, drizzle the dressing over, garnish with the reserved fennel herb, and serve.

Kimchi grilled cheeseburger on brioche

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

The unlikely pairing of Korean kimchi and Irish mature Cheddar on top of a delicious burger somehow makes for one of the most addictive flavour combinations

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 500g good Irish minced beef

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped

• 1 tbsp cream

• 2 tbsp fine breadcrumbs

• Good pinch of sea salt

• Black pepper

• 200g kimchi

• 400g Irish Cheddar such as Derg or Mount Leinster, cut into slices

• 4 brioche buns, halved

• 5 tbsp mayonnaise

• 1 tsp pickle juice

• 1 pickle, finely chopped

• 1 tsp chopped dill

• Small pinch of cayenne pepper

Method

1. First, make the burger, Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat, and cook the onion until soft and slightly browned. Leave to cool.

2. Spread the beef out and sprinkle the onion over it. Add the cream, breadcrumbs and seasoning and mix together with a fork, being careful not to overwork it. Form the burgers into four burger patties.

3. Make the pickle mayo by stirring together the mayonnaise, pickle juice, cayenne pepper, chopped pickle, and dill in a small mixing bowl.

4. Cook the burgers on a medium-hot griddle pan. Leave them undisturbed for the first three minutes so they build up a good seal on the bottom, then carefully turn them over. Place a slice of cheese on each burger and a tablespoon or so of kimchi. Leave to cook for around 5- 6 minutes for a medium-well done burger which also gives the cheese a chance to melt and the kimchi time to warm up. Remove the burgers to a warm platter and you can toast the brioche buns on the same griddle — just 30 seconds should be enough. Generously spread some of the mayo on each side of the brioche bun and place the burger topped with cheese and kimchi in between. Serve straight away.

Baked onions with durrus

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

It takes a little time to melt into the warm cream but it will get there, creating a truly unctuous sauce for the onions.

Servings

4

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 4 medium onions, peeled but kept whole

• 2 bay leaves

• 6 black peppercorns

• Extra virgin olive oil

• 80g butter

• 6 sprigs of thyme

• 200ml double cream

• 150g Durrus

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.

2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil on a medium-high heat. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns to the pan, and then the peeled whole onions. Leave to simmer for around 30 minutes, lowering the heat if the water starts to boil over. The onions should be soft all the way through but intact enough so you can lift them out with a slotted spoon. Place the drained onions in a medium-small baking dish.

3. Drizzle a little olive oil over the onions and add the butter in chunks in and around the onions. Scatter 3 of the sprigs of thyme over this and season the onions lightly with salt and black pepper. Place in the preheated oven for around 40 minutes. Baste them in the buttery juices around twice during the cooking process.

4. In a smaller saucepan, warm the cream over a medium-low heat add the three reserved sprigs of thyme to the cream. Cut the Durrus cheese into small pieces and leave to melt in the cream, this could take around 10 minutes: make sure you don’t let the cream boil.

5. Serve the onions whole with the cheesy sauce poured over with a sprinkle of sea salt.