When it comes to regional food, there are very few thing more regional than the horseshoe. I grew up in Eastern Illinois and had never heard of the culinary creation until I moved to Peoria. It’s a dish you can’t get outside of a 100 mile radius of Springfield, IL where the “sandwich” was created.
Like most dishes, there is some conflicting reports on who actually invented it. The most common and generally accepted story is that the sandwich was invited by two guys working at the Leland Hotel in Springfield in 1928. That recipe lives on at Godfather’s Pizza.
It’s not very often I blog about my adventures in the kitchen, but I thought this one might be interesting to people who have never heard of this artery clogging disaster of a meal. It’s not something I would want every night, but it’s a good “sometimes food”
The sandwich starts with two slices of toasted bread. On top of that, just a regular hamburger. I used some angus 80/20 I picked up at Kroger. The next layer is a handful of fries. I like to bake my fries in a 500 degree oven for 25 minutes….and yes, I cut my fries fresh.
The final layer is what makes a horseshoe a horseshoe is the cheese sauce. The recipe I’m using is supposed to be close to the original recipe. It’s called a Welsh Rarebit sauce and uses white cheddar. I don’t have white cheddar, so I’m just going to substitute regular Cheddar. I also halved the recipe since I’m just cooking for myself.
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup beer
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 cups grated white cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard
- dash of cayenne
- salt
- Beat egg yolks and beer together
- Melt butter and cheese together over a double boiler stirring in only one direction with wooden spoon
- Add Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt, and cayenne
- Stirring constantly, add beer/egg mixture to cheese mixture a little at a time
- Keep mixture hot a you stir, but don’t let it bubble.
And this is what the final product looks like…..
Heart Attack on a Plate
Mid-Michigan Dining 
That looks almost as healthy as a Pitts-burgher from Primanti Brothers. If you go down to the Strip in the ‘burgh though, never ever ask for the fries, slaw or tomatoes off the sandwich or on the side. Ever.
I always put hot sauce in my Welsh Rarebit, but that looks pretty good. Is Godfather’s still around? They pretty much disappeared on the east coast, except in some gas stations.
This style of comfort food is still not as bad for you as poutine imo.
I’ve heard of Primanti Burgers and always wanted to make a trip to Pittsburgh just to get a burger…
There’s still some Godfather’s Pizza’s in Central Illinois. I have no idea if it’s all the same chain or even if the Godfather’s in Springfield is or ever was part of the chain.
[…] know it was going to be three inches thick. The sandwich was sort of put together like a horseshoe as the fries were ON the sandwich, not on the side then covered in cheese and condiments. When it […]
you’ve got awesome post here, keep ’em coming.
[…] was delicious and everyone walked away saying they would order it again. It reminds me a lot of a horseshoe…but then again, anything covered in cheese is probably going to get rave reviews from […]
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The Elusive Horseshoe | Mid-Michigan Dining