This is a recipe that I have not had before nor had I even heard of it until I went looking for some recipes that I could make for our Halloween Movie, Movie night. I love a good theme whether its for gatherings, snacks, parties, movie nights. I want to have a fun theme and make the whole thing exciting and enjoyable for everyone. So i knew I wanted to go beyond just having regular food with name cards, I really wanted to get into the movie and have food from that movie or location, that screams the movie.
So I did some research and saw the movies taking place in Illinois and they have a really popular sandwich there, so I knew this was perfect for dinner, I then paired it with some small dill pickles to round it since we had more food planned for movie night.
The recipe is pretty easy and straightforward that anyone can make it at any time. I used texas toast to keep it classic and traditional to the dish, followed up with a hamburger that’s then topped with crinkle cut fries. Now my big deviation was the cheese sauce, as you all know I don’t do dairy so I needed an alternative. I thought about making my own but I don’t have cheese sauce a lot as its not my favorite, and making plant based cheese sauce can be hit or miss. So I went for the daiya cheese sauce packs and they were great. The taste definitely takes some getting used to but it wasn’t terrible, just very different than dairy cheese.
I prefer to buy hamburger patties from Aldis, as its easier for our family most of the time, so I’ll just season with salt and pepper and sometimes some other spices, depending on my mood. If you like to make patties by hand, this is what I like to to make and I’ve added the recipe down below, along with a dairy cheese sauce.
Horseshoe Sandwich
The horseshoe sandwich is classic Midwestern bar food. It originated in Springfield, IL (not far from me!) and is a staple at many local restaurants – but these are very hard to find outside of the area. This one deserves to be shared across the world, because it’s just that good!
Ingredients
For the sandwich:
- 1 1/2 pounds 80/20 ground beef
- 1 ½ teaspoons seasoned salt
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon cracked pepper
- 24 ounces frozen french fries see notes
- 4 slices thick-sliced white bread Texas Toast
For the cheese sauce:
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt more to taste
- ½ teaspoon cracked pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground mustard
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 ounces room temperature beer see notes
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar shredded
Directions
To make the sandwich:
- Place the meat in a bowl and top with the seasoned salt, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Use your hands to combine the mixture.
- Divide the meat into 8 portions and shape into patties.
- Cook the hamburger patties on a hot skillet or grill until cooked to your liking.
- While the hamburger patties are cooking, cook the french fries according to package directions. We like to use the air fryer for the best restaurant-style results.
- Place a slice of bread each in the center of each of 4 dinner plates. Top with the hamburger patties. Divide the hot french fries evenly between the 4 plates, piling them over the hamburger patties.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the top of everything, making sure to use plenty to coat the fries and burgers.
To make the cheese sauce:
- While the burgers and fries are cooking, heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Once melted, whisk in the flour, salt, pepper, and ground mustard. Cook, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in the milk, beer, and Worcestershire sauce, cooking and stirring until the mixture has thickened quite a bit.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese a handful at a time until the cheese is completely melted.
Notes
This cheese sauce does make a very generous amount, so I would suggest cutting the recipe in half if you don’t want or need a ton or to cover the whole patty. I halve the recipe most times as I’ll find it hard to use up the cheese sauce if I’m not making home made macaroni and cheese in a few days after.
You absolutely can leave the beer out of the cheese sauce, and just replace it with more milk, it will still taste amazing, so I am told.
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