White cheese sauces are very popular in Springfield in the last few years.  Here is an easy to make variation using shredded white cheddar.

2 T butter
2 T all-purpose flour
1/4 t salt
1/8 t white pepper
1 c milk
1 C white cheddar cheese, shredded

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and stir in flour to make a roux.  Stir in milk, salt, and pepper.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens.  Add cheese and cook just until melted, stirring occasionally.

This is a favorite recipe around our house when we are feeling like something a little different. Several restaurants in Springfield serve a Mexican horseshoe and this is an easy introduction to horseshoes at home because you basically can’t do it wrong.

Ingredients
1 brick Velveeta Cheese
1 can RoTel tomatos
1 tsp Garlic Salt
1 pound taco meat (ground beef browned with taco seasoning)
8 slices of white bread, toasted
1 bag frozen french fries of your choosing, bake or fry according to package
Sour Cream
Chives, sliced

In a large pan, combine the Velbeeta Cheese and the can of undrained Rotel tomatoes. Heat this until all cheese has melted, stirring frequently. Stir the garlic salt into the sauce.

On four plates, place 2 pieces of toast, cover each slice with taco meat. Place the cooked fries on top and cover generously with cheese sauce. Dab sour cream and sprinkle chives on top if you wish to.

Enjoy with a fork.

The original horseshoe was served in the Leland Hotel and consisted of toast, ham sliced in the shape of a horsehoe, potato slivers and a cheese sauce derived from Welsh Rarebit sauce. This is one of the recipes claiming to be the original.

1/2 C butter
2 T flour
1 1/4 C milk
1/4 t salt
1/8 pepper
1/2 t dry mustard
1 t worcestershire sauce
1 jar Olde English sharp cheddar spread

Great cheese sauce really makes a horseshoe.  You order a shoe by choosing the kind of meat or vegetable that you want on it.  The french fries just don’t get a lot of respect.  They should though, because a bad batch of fries can ruin an otherwise tasty horseshoe. 

Horseshoe french fries seem to come in as many variations as horseshoes themselves.  Some places use standard-fare steak fries, some use thin sticks (think fast food), some use crinkle cut fries, while others use super wide fries.  As we add recipes to the blog, where we have attempted to imitate a specific restaurant’s sauce, I’ll try to include the type of fries you should use to mostly closely replicate the restaurant experience.

Maybe part of the horseshoe’s popularity can be attributed to its
variability.  Numerous restaurants in central Illinois serve their own
unique versions of the non-sandwich.  From the breakfast-shoe to the
popular buffalo chicken-shoe, we have compiled our favorite recipes.  Give
them a try and choose the shoe that fits you best.  Or if you’re feeling
creative, invent one of your own!

Many recipes on the internet talk about using Cheese Wiz.  While this will technically get you a horseshoe, it is a far cry from the experience you would have at a restaurant.  As any pasta lover knows, a huge factor in a good  bowl of spaghetti is the marinara or meat sauce on top.  Between different Italian eateries, you will find great variation in the texture, thickness and flavor of marinara.  You can experience this in the grocery store by shopping the spaghetti sauce aisle.  The same holds true in the world of horseshoes.  No two restaurants serve the same sauce and the finest horsesheweries have taken the cheese sauce to new heights.  As this blog grows, we hope to share many different cheese sauce recipes with you as well as help you decide what to put it on.