Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Root Beer Float Milkshake Will Highlight Dairy Bar Menu During State Fair

The Indiana State Fair is still a few months away — but we know what will be on the menu at the always popular Dairy Bar. 

The American Dairy Association of Indiana held its first grilled cheese contest last year to determine what sandwich will be served this year. Michelle Plummer, relationship specialist for ADAI, says the winner is northern Indiana dairy farmer Andrew Keenert.

"He came up with this Mousetrap, and it is Texas toast with Havarti, cheddar and Colby on it," Plummer says. "It is so cheesy and so delicious.”

This year’s featured milkshake is Root Beer Float. 

“The idea was to bring that illusion of the root beer float and the flavor all together so it’s just a milk shake," Plummer says. "So it’s not gonna look like a float but it is going to have the flavor and smell of root beer,  and taste like our great shakes that we are known for.”

The theme of the 2017 State Fair is The Wonderful World of Food, but products served at the Dairy Bar are 100 percent  Hoosier.

“Our dairy that provides the ice cream, the milk, the shake mix is Prairie Farms they are right up there in Anderson," Plummer says. "Our cheese maker is Dutch Kase House which is right in Middlebury.”

The people that staff the Dairy Bar are local too.

“It’s bands, it’s FFA, it’s 4 H.  Many of those groups have been with us for decades," Plummer says. "They come, they eat, they have a good time, they wait on our customers with great joy and enthusiasm. We might hear a cheer of their school now and then. But it’s all to make the fair fun.”

And a product that’s worth the wait.

“We have 10 windows, which is more than anybody else at the state fair. With a little bit of patience you’re gonna get a good product," Plummer says. "And we try to honor our dairy farmers. We have 1,100 of them in the state with over 174,000 cows producing that great dairy product every day.”

The quest for the 2018 grilled cheese is underway. 

“We’re looking for a nice bread, a nice cheese ratio. If you want to add some additives like a salsa or mustard or topping, by all means," Plummer says. "If you add meat, that’s fine. You’re not going to get dinged on that, but we want it mostly dairy and little bit of everything else.”

You can enter the contest thru the end of the month at the American Dairy Association’s website    winnersdrinkmilk.com