Ingredients

For the Firehouse Joes:
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 yellow onions, chopped
  • 5 to 6 garlic cloves, grated or minced
  • Kosher salt and coarse black pepper
  • 2 pounds ground beef (80/20 blend) or two 12-ounce packages plant-based meat, such as Impossible
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
  • ¼ cup cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons light-brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons Worcestershire
  • One 28-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes, diced or crushed
  • One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup beef stock, plus more to loosen if needed
  • Hot sauce (Rach likes Tabasco Chipotle), optional
  • 6 to 8 rolls, such as Martin's Potato Rolls or Big Marty's
  • 2 dill pickles, chopped, for garnish
  • 1 white onion, diced, for garnish
For the Oil & Vinegar Slaw:
  • ⅓ cup cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons neutral oil, such as safflower oil
  • About 3 tablespoons sugar, preferably superfine white sugar
  • About 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons celery seed
  • 1 small head savoy cabbage, quartered, cored and shredded
  • 1 large carrot, shredded
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped

Yield

Serves: 6 to 8

Preparation

For the Firehouse Joes, place a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 turns of the pan of olive oil, about 2 tablespoons. Add the yellow onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper and let cook out for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the meat to the pan, while breaking up with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, until cooked through and browned, and season with salt and pepper. Add in the paprika, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander and ancho chili powder and stir together for a minute or so. Add in the vinegar and then melt the brown sugar into the vinegar, while stirring. Add the Worcestershire, fire-roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce and beef stock and let simmer to thicken over low heat. Add hot sauce, if using, and adjust seasoning.

To assemble, place a big scoop of the meat mixture on the roll bottom, followed by chopped pickles and white onion and then the roll top. 

For the slaw, in a large mixing bowl, add the vinegar, oil, sugar, salt, pepper and celery seed and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Add in the cabbage, carrot and red onion and toss together until well combined.