Excerpted from ‘Salt Hank’ by Henry Laporte. Copyright © by Salt Hank, LLC. Photography Copyright © 2024 by Ed Anderson. Published by Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

I made these at home one time and lost my shit. They’re almost identical to the ones from In-N-Out —but made with fries that are actually good. Also wanted to include this recipe ’cause I know most of you probably don’t have an In-N-Out in your state. Now you can finally see what the hype is about.

SERVES: 2 TO 3; PREP TIME: 1 ½ HRS; COOK TIME: 2 HRS; TOTAL TIME: 3 ½ HRS (INCLUDING THE CARAMELIZED ONIONS RECIPE)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Yukon gold potatoes
• 4 cups vegetable oil Kosher salt
• 6 slices American cheese
• Caramelized Onions (see recipe below), for garnish
• Feral Sauce (see recipe below), for garnish

METHOD:

Prepare a large pot of boiling water and a parchment- lined sheet pan.

Slice a thin section off the side of each of your potatoes so that you can lay them flat on the counter. Cut the potatoes lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices or planks. Stack those and then cut 1/4-inch fries, lengthwise.

Boil the fries until they are just becoming tender, about 5 minutes.

Drain the fries and spread them out onto the prepared sheet pan. Pat them dry and allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Place them in the freezer for 1 hour or until frozen.

Heat the oil in a pot or deep skillet over medium heat to 350ºF.

Carefully add the frozen fries to the oil and fry, in batches if needed, until golden and crispy, about

8 minutes. If they don’t seem crispy enough, just put them back in the fryer; it’s basically impossible to overcook fries (unless you burn them). Set them aside to drain on paper towels and season with salt.

ASSEMBLY: Plate your fries and top with 2 slices of American cheese per serving. Place the plate in the microwave and cook on high until the cheese melts, about 1 minute. Top with Caramelized Onions and a big ladle of your Feral Sauce and serve!

CARAMELIZED ONIONS

MAKES: 3 ½ CUPS; PREP TIME: 10 MIN; COOK TIME: 1 HR 30 MIN; TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 40 MIN

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 2 red onions, thinly sliced
• 2 white onions, thinly sliced
• 1 ½ tablespoons plus 1 pinch kosher salt, divided
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ½ cups (½ bottle) dry red wine, dry cabernet works well

METHOD:

In a large saucepan over medium to medium-low heat, place the butter and the olive oil. Once the butter is melted, add the sliced onions. Season with 11/2 tablespoons of the salt and the freshly ground black pepper and mix everything together. Allow the onions to slowly start to caramelize, stirring occasionally. As they start to take on some color, after about 30 minutes, add the Worcestershire sauce. Mix everything to combine and continue to caramelize. Make sure to stir the onions every 5 minutes to avoid burning. Once the onions are almost fully caramelized, about 1 hour into the overall cooking, add the wine and a generous pinch of salt. Cook until the wine is reduced all the way down and the onions are dark brown and reach a sticky, mushy texture, about 30 more minutes. Remove them from heat and set aside. Serve immediately, or the onions can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

FERAL SAUCE

MAKES: ABOUT 2 CUPS; PREP TIME: 20 MIN; COOK TIME: 45 MIN; TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 5 MIN

While this recipe is my favorite version of this type of sauce, found on so many fast-food burgers,

at the end of the day it’s really the names that set all these burger sauces apart. They’re all just variations of one mother sauce, and as much as I don’t want to admit it, that sauce is Thousand Island dressing. No matter what your favorite burger place names their special sauce, they’re all just elevated versions of that same shitty salad dressing. Thousand Island dressing is like Viagra. Viagra was a huge failure for its intended purpose of helping with heart disease but a gigantic success in another way. Thousand Island’s original purpose of dressing salads is a disaster, but it just happens to be great on burgers.