Irish cheese is hot, and I don't mean only when it's melted. Popular brands like Kerrygold's Blarney, Swiss, Vintage Cheddar, and its latest, Dubliner, along with some newer imports from farmhouse cheesemakers, are a great way to bring a touch of home to the Irish abroad. Even if you don't live in an Irish neighborhood where you can run to the corner deli for a cheese "fix," thanks to on-line shopping, keeping Irish cheese in your fridge is only a click away. As soon as you find it, try it in these delicious recipes, two this week and two next, or order from the on-line sources provided.

Where to order cheese on the Web

Traditional Irish Foods Inc., FoodIreland.com, stocks Irish dairy and delicatessan products (Kerrygold cheeses and butter, some farmhouse cheeses, bacon, sausages, black and white puddings, smoked salmon) baked goods, grocery items (biscuits, soups, teas, Lakeshore Wholegrain mustards), gift hampers.
Phone orders to 1-877-IRISHFOOD.

Galtee Irish Breakfasts sells all the ingredients for an Irish breakfast (a fry-up), including rashers (Irish traditional bacon), bangers (sausages), black and white breakfast puddings, Irish dairyspread, marmalade, and brown bread.
Phone orders to 1-800-386-7577.

Dean & Deluca, www.deandeluca.com, the New York gourmet store, offers four Irish farmhouse cheeses on the Web - Cashel Blue, Carrigaline, Durrus, and Gubbeen - as well as several others including Cratloe Hills, Bolie, Adrahan, St. Tola, Crozier Blue, St. Killian, Coolea, Rathgore Blue, and Dubliner in its retail store at
560 Broadway, and by phone order to 1-800-999-0306, ext. 268.

Select Irish farmhouse cheeses can be ordered from www.wholefoods.com and from
Murray's Cheese Shop, 257 Bleecker St., New York
Phone order only at 1-888-692-4339.

This Week's Recipes
Blue Cheese, Bacon and Zucchini Soup
Cheese topped Portabello Mushrooms

Last Week's Cheese Recipes
Dubliner Cheese Tart
Baked Pasta with Cheese and Stout