Animal Style Fries — The Saturday Roy Came to Dinner

Mama called me Wednesday afternoon with news. She has been dating a man for two months. His name is Roy Calloway — a Sapulpa widower in his early sixties whose late wife Patty had been one of the diner regulars before the diner closed in 2021. Patty had passed in late 2022 from cancer. Roy is sixty-one, retired electrician, two grown daughters in Tulsa, three grandchildren. Mama and he had connected through Aunt Linda’s church group six months ago and had been seeing each other quietly since January, and Mama had decided Wednesday morning that two months was the right time to tell me about him.

The Saturday Roy came to dinner formally was this past Saturday. Cody was invited. Mama wanted me to know about Roy in advance so I wouldn’t hear about it from Cody after the fact. I told Mama I was happy for her. I am.

The first Roy in our family is Aunt Linda’s husband, Roy Pemberton, who married Linda in 2019. The second Roy is now Mama’s — Roy Calloway. Two Roys is awkward but the two men have different last names, which Mama and I and Cody have already started using to distinguish them. Family-Roy-Pemberton and family-Roy-Calloway. The shorthand is going to take.

Mama texted me Sunday morning that Saturday’s dinner had gone well. Cody approved of Roy Calloway in the same understated way Mama had approved of Roy Pemberton when Linda first introduced him in 2018. Mama then asked me to develop a fries dish that Roy Calloway could be excited about for the next time he came over — she said he’d mentioned during the Saturday dinner that he loved In-N-Out animal-style fries from a trip to California in the 1990s and had been thinking about them ever since.

Sunday I made animal style fries as the recipe-development for Mama. Animal style fries are the In-N-Out off-menu item that’s reached cult status — french fries topped with melted American cheese, caramelized onions, and a Thousand-Island-leaning sauce. The dish is structurally a covered-fry indulgence and the right kind of fun-food for a Sapulpa widower trying to impress his girlfriend’s daughter.

The technique: the fries first. Three large russet potatoes cut into half-inch fries, soaked thirty minutes in cold water (the starch-removal soak), patted dry, tossed with three tablespoons of vegetable oil and salt, baked at four-twenty-five for thirty-five minutes flipping at twenty until deeply golden and crispy.

The caramelized onions: two yellow onions sliced thin, cooked in butter and a tablespoon of vegetable oil over low heat for forty minutes, stirring occasionally, until deeply browned and jammy.

The special sauce: a half-cup of mayonnaise whisked with three tablespoons of ketchup, two tablespoons of pickle relish, a teaspoon of yellow mustard, a teaspoon of white vinegar, a half-teaspoon of garlic powder, salt, pepper.

The assembly: pile the hot fries on a heat-safe platter. Top with eight slices of American cheese (the slices melt evenly across the fries from the residual heat). Spoon the caramelized onions across the cheese. Drizzle generously with the special sauce. Top with sliced pickles and a sprinkle of fresh chopped chives.

I emailed the recipe to Mama Sunday night. She’ll cook it for Roy Calloway next Saturday.

Russet fries baked at four-twenty-five. Caramelized onions slow. Special sauce. Build the pile. Here’s the build.

Animal Style Fries

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 (32 oz) bag frozen crinkle-cut or shoestring fries
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 1/2 cups shredded American cheese (or Velveeta-style, melted)
• For the special sauce:
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• For the grilled onions:
• 2 large yellow onions, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Make the special sauce. Whisk together mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, white vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Caramelize the onions. Heat butter and oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add diced onions and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for 20—25 minutes until deeply golden and soft. Do not rush this step — low and slow is the move.
3. Cook the fries. Bake frozen fries according to package directions (or fry in oil at 375°F for 4—5 minutes) until golden and crispy. Season with salt immediately out of the oven.
4. Melt the cheese. While fries are hot, pile them onto an oven-safe platter or baking sheet. Layer shredded cheese over the top and place under the broiler for 1—2 minutes until melted and bubbly. Watch closely.
5. Assemble. Spoon the caramelized onions generously over the cheesy fries. Drizzle the special sauce liberally on top. Serve immediately while everything is hot and saucy.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 520 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 31g | Carbs: 51g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 890mg