Patty Melt

Method

1. slice6 min
   onions cut thin, pole to pole rather than into rings
   onions sliced thin along the grain. Pole to pole follows the cell structure so the pieces hold together through forty minutes of cooking; cut across the equator they break down into shreds
2. caramelize40 min
   2 tbsp butter, medium-low, stirred every few minutes, 40 minutes
   onions + a pinch of salt cooked slowly until deep brown, jammy and reduced to a fraction of their volume. This is the step everything else is built around and it cannot be rushed — fifteen minutes gives soft golden onions, which is a different and much thinner thing. If they catch, add a splash of water and scrape; that deglazing is where a lot of the flavour is
3. score5 min
   meat divided in two, pressed thin to the shape of the bread, dimpled in the centre
   beef + salt + pepper (+ worcestershire) formed into two flat patties matching the bread's outline, slightly larger since they shrink, with a shallow dimple in the middle. Handle it as little as possible — worked hard, ground beef develops the sticky protein that makes a patty springy. Shape to the bread or the corners of the sandwich end up empty
4. sear5 min
   same pan, high, patties undisturbed 2-3 minutes a side
   patties seared hard in the onion pan and left alone until a deep crust forms, then turned once. The residue from the onions is already there and browns onto the meat. Thin patties cook through in the time it takes to build that crust, which is why they are thin
5. saute6 min
   medium-LOW, buttered outer faces, assembled in the pan, 3-4 minutes a side
   sandwich built — bread, cheese, patty, onions, cheese, bread (+ thousand island, + mustard on the inner faces) — with butter on the outer faces, and griddled slowly. Cheese on both sides of the filling glues the sandwich together as it melts. Low and slow for the same reason as a grilled cheese: the cheese has to melt before the rye is done, and high heat reverses that order irreversibly
6. rest2 min
   wire rack, 1-2 minutes, then cut on the diagonal
   briefly on a rack so the molten cheese sets enough to hold and the steam escapes from underneath. On a flat plate the crust you just built goes soft in under a minute