Now that the heat of summer is just a memory, I’m debating turning on the heating. It means that it is time to make some autumn and winter food. Slow-cooker Goulash is currently at the top of my list.
My first choice is to pull out the slow cooker and purchase some nice beef chunks for goulash from the butcher. I prepared all the ingredients before starting. What I didn’t know, until recently, is that this is a classical French cooking method called mise en place. It helps me organise the cooking process and make sure I don’t have to frantically cut or prepare something in the middle of cooking that I had neglected.
My cast-iron pan has been freshly seasoned and was used to heat and brown the beef (using the Maillard reaction). After that, the onions and garlic were caramelised, and the pan was deglazed, then the rest of the ingredients were cooked and transferred to the slow cooker.
Then my actual work was done, and all that remained was to wait 24 hours for the Goulash in the slow cooker to cook and simmer into a tasty treat for cold winter days.