Adam,

You have to come and try this local creation in Springfield, IL. I watch your show religiously and you are the man when it comes to trying some crazy ****!!!. You can go to most local restaurants and try this creation. Would love to meet you and join you in a MAN vs FOOD challegne. I am pasting where this all started and the recipe that satisfy your hunger pains after a night out on the town.

By: hopeful
Mar 28, 2002

"Horseshoes" are a Springfield, Illinois original, first created by the chef at the "The Red Coach" for his luncheon clientèle. The story goes that he had a lot of extra cheese sauce left over one day and decided to throw it over the "chopped steak" and gravy sandwiches the patrons were always ordering. He added some shoestring potatoes on top, and a sensation was born! This recipe is a update of the original (which called for a whole cup of flour!) and your family will positively beg for more. Don't skimp on the cheese sauce. If your appetite is smaller, cut this in half. Then you have what we call around here, a "pony shoe"!
SERVES 4 -6 (change servings and units)

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Ingredients

FOR SANDWICH
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 (28 ounce) package frozen french fries (or homemade)
6 pieces Texas toast thick bread or other thick bread
FOR SAUCE
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
4 cups milk
2 lbs Velveeta cheese or 1 1/2 lbs sharp cheddar cheese
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
2-3 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
2-3 dashes hot sauce
salt and pepper (taste before adding)
Directions
1SANDWICH PART: Form 6 hamburgers and season to taste.
2Cook them, trying to keep them as evenly flat as you can.
3Keep warm.
4Begin to fry french fries.
5Keep warm.
6Toast bread until crisp.
7SAUCE: Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan.
8Stir in the flour.
9Cook, stirring, 5 minutes.
10Gradually stir in the 4 cups milk.
11Stir and cook until thick.
12Transfer to a large microwave-safe bowl.
13Whisk in the evaporated milk until smooth.
14Add the cut up Velveeta (OR Cheddar).
15Microwave for 6 minutes.
16Take out and stir.
17Add the Worcestershire and hot pepper sauce.
18Microwave for another 3 minutes or so, or until the sauce is smooth and hot.
19Take out and taste for Worcestershire and hot sauce.
20Place spoon you were stirring with on a clean plate, away from the stove.
21If mixture seems to harden too fast upon cooling, add a bit more milk.
22Note: I know this seems like a lot of cheese sauce and you may cut it down if you wish, but the cheese sauce is the main attraction here.
23It is hard to have "too much"!
24Assembly is in this order: toast, hamburger, lots of cheese sauce and french fries.
25I promise, you'll have no leftovers

the cheese sauce is indeed the crucial part of the horseshoe; I tend to think that the best cheese sauce of all was Joe Schweska's Horseshoe Sauce as quoted in the Best Recipes of the State Journal-Register

half a pound of butter
half a pound of flour
quart and a cup of milk
tablespoon salt
quarter teaspoon cayenne pepper
quarter teaspoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 pounds chopped Old English cheese
1 pint beer

melt the butter, then add the flour and milk,
then add the rest of the ingredients except for the beer, stir while cooking to a smooth cheese sauce, add beer to the sauce just before serving

also, it is impossible to put too much sauce on the sandwich; if the waiter does not leave a trail of golden splotches on the floor between the kitchen and your table, the chef did not put enough sauce on!

also, the State Journal-Register, located in Springfield IL (www.sj-r.com) at one time, sold a compact disc with the best local recipes that had collected by the staff of the State Journal-Register; there are at least four or five versions of the Horseshoe cheese sauce ranging from the simple all the way up to a Welsh Rarebit version